Lieutenant General Vu Chien Thang, Director of the Foreign Relations Department under the Ministry of National Defence (Photo: VNA)Clark (VNA) – Vietnam has actively partaken inthe 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and the fourth ASEAN Defence Ministers’Meeting Plus (ADMM+) which freshly concluded in Clark city of the Philippines.
Lieutenant General Vu Chien Thang, Director ofthe Foreign Relations Department under the Ministry of National Defence, madethe remark in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s reporter.
Thang said the Vietnamese delegation led by Minister ofNational Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich participated in all sessions within themeetings, where he delivered a speech highlighting the message of building andenhancing strategic trust.
In thespeech, the minister affirmed that an environment is actually peaceful and stable only when it is built on strategictrust and desire for cooperation of involved parties. He called on countries tostrengthen coordination via specific activities to increase mutual trust andunderstanding.
Gen. Lich also mentioned fishermen-related issues, stressingthat in addition to seeking comprehensive legal measures for these matters,countries should provide humanitarian treatment and pay attention to educationsolutions without using violence or forces against fishermen.
As some ASEAN partners expressed their wish to join ADMM ,Vietnam proposed study and put forth appropriate Concept Papers to admit newmembers, which are expected to make practical contributions to the developmentof ADMM as well as regional peace, stability and development.
Thang revealed that at ADMM, representatives of countriesadopted 10 Concept Papers, including the ADMM work programme for the 2017-2019period, focusing on enhancing defence-security cooperation in ASEAN andpromoting the grouping’s collaboration with China, the Republic of Korea,Japan, the US, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand.
The Concept Paper on Guidelines for Maritime Interaction aimsto step up marine security efforts of ASEAN member countries and build measuresto manage sea conflicts comprehensively based on trust building, preventive diplomacyand tensions management in a peaceful manner, he added.
The ASEAN countries also adopted a Joint Statement,reaffirming the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and safetyof navigation and aviation in the East Sea in addition to addressing disputesvia peaceful measures without complicating the situation and abiding byinternational law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS).
The Joint Statement also underlines the need to respect andfully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC)and welcomes the adoption of a framework for the Code of Conduct in the EastSea (COC), Thang said.
The ADMM is the highest defence consultative andcooperative mechanism in ASEAN whereas the ADMM is a platform for ASEANdefence ministers to engage their dialogue partners from Asia and the Pacificregions.
Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.-VNA
