LookAtVietnam – National Assembly deputies yesterday, June 16, re-examined the issue of which Government agencies should bear responsibility for cryptography.

Photo: VNA

Discussion centered on whether the Government Committee on cryptography should be put under the auspices of the Ministry of National Defence Ministry, the Ministry of Home Affairs, or the Ministry of Public Security, with concerns that a secret structure developed over the course of a 64-year history could not be easily moved.

Phu Yen deputy Trinh Thi Nga, Hai Phong deputy Le Thi Mai, Dak Nong deputy Vo Van Du and Nghe An deputy Nguyen Huu Cuong agreed to it would be better to consider the committee as an independent agency directly under Government control, but Ba Ria-Vung Tau deputy Tran Van Thuc disagreed.

He said the Ministry of Public Security should administer the committee because it had been assigned to help the Government manage security and protect confidential information.

“I will also be favour of greater international co-operation on methodologies to minimise the possibility of making a mistake,” Thuc said.

Dong Thap deputy Le Quang Xuan said it would be better to put the committee under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of National Defence rather than the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Minister of Home Affairs Tran Van Tuan told deputies that the draft law on cryptography had recommended that the committee be placed under the auspices of the Ministry of Home Affairs, but that was for consideration at this point. There were currently cryptography units under the ministries of defence, public security, foreign affairs, and the office of the Party Central Committee.

Discussing militias

In the afternoon, NA deputies discussed the draft Law on Militia which regulates people’s obligation to join civil defence activities and organisations, the tasks and operations of the forces and the State’s management of them.

They discussed various issues, including the time required to perform the services, the organisation of the forces in businesses and policies supporting the forces.

Many deputies agreed the four-year period to perform the services, as required by the draft law, was enough to ensure training and operational efficiency of the forces.

Deputies Duong Van Trang, from the Central Highland province of Gia Lai, and Nguyen Huu Cuong, from the central Nghe An Province, said the four-year requirement, one less than the current regulation, was suitable to ensure training and operational efficiency and create a force to meet any national defence needs during peace or war.

Nguyen Xuan Thuyet, from the northern Vinh Phuc Province, said the draft law requiring three kinds of businesses to organise the forces was not effective in mobilising enterprises’ participation and was unfair with so many different businesses in the market-oriented economy.

Regulations on the organisation of the forces in businesses were unclear and lacked legal framework, which led to a limited number of businesses that organised civil defence forces.

Deputy Quang Thi Xuyen, from the northern mountainous Son La Province, said there was a need to issue regulations to require foreign-invested businesses to organise the forces.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News