Government officers and scholars from Japan and ASEAN member countries,
including Vietnam, discussed common security challenges in the
Asia-Pacific region at a conference in Tokyo on March 14.
The event, the fourth of its kind, focused on the role and cooperation
between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan
in an environment of changing regional security.
Addressing the event, Nyan Lynn, Deputy Secretary General for ASEAN
Political-Security Community, said that ASEAN plays a central role in
regional security dialogue through the ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting
Plus (ADMM +) and the deputy-ministerial level ASEAN–Japan defence
cooperation conference.
Japan is now one of
ASEAN’s leading partners, with bilateral relations developing in all
fields. The two sides need to continue strengthening cooperation in
politics, security, economics and disaster prevention to deal with
common challenges, including traditional and non-traditional security
issues, in the region and the world.
Participants
highlighted the central role and success of ASEAN in solving regional
security issues, suggesting it take a broader view to cope with
challenges, including territorial land and sea disputes, maritime
security and the process of denuclearisation.
The
association should build a common foundation for all member nations to
work with each other to solve domestic, regional and international
issues to establish the ASEAN Community, including the Security
Community, through their strategies.
The two sides
need to exchange views on common security issues and further intensify
cooperation at regional forums to solve these concerns.-VNA