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 in
the 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 of
the Foreign Relations Department under the Ministry of National Defence, made
the remark in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s reporter.
Thang said the Vietnamese delegation led by Minister of
National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich participated in all sessions within the
meetings, where he delivered a speech highlighting the message of building and
enhancing strategic trust.
In the
speech, the minister affirmed that an environment is actually peaceful and stable only when it is built on strategic
trust and desire for cooperation of involved parties. He called on countries to
strengthen coordination via specific activities to increase mutual trust and
understanding.
Gen. Lich also mentioned fishermen-related issues, stressing
that in addition to seeking comprehensive legal measures for these matters,
countries should provide humanitarian treatment and pay attention to education
solutions 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 new
members, which are expected to make practical contributions to the development
of ADMM as well as regional peace, stability and development.
Thang revealed that at ADMM, representatives of countries
adopted 10 Concept Papers, including the ADMM work programme for the 2017-2019
period, focusing on enhancing defence-security cooperation in ASEAN and
promoting 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 aims
to step up marine security efforts of ASEAN member countries and build measures
to manage sea conflicts comprehensively based on trust building, preventive diplomacy
and 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 safety
of navigation and aviation in the East Sea in addition to addressing disputes
via peaceful measures without complicating the situation and abiding by
international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS).
The Joint Statement also underlines the need to respect and
fully 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 East
Sea (COC), Thang said.
The ADMM is the highest defence consultative and
cooperative mechanism in ASEAN whereas the ADMM is a platform for ASEAN
defence ministers to engage their dialogue partners from Asia and the Pacific
regions.
Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.-VNA