Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission of Việt Nam and Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen Phan Văn Giang and Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and the two countries' delegations pose for a commemorative photo at the border landmark No. 1369 on the Vietnamese side on Saturday. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

QUẢNG NINH — The sixth Việt Nam-China border defence friendship exchange took place in Dongxing city, Guangxi Province of China, and Bình Liêu, the northern province of Quảng Ninh, on Saturday.

The event was co-chaired by Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission and Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen Phan Văn Giang and Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister Wei Fenghe.

It was meant to foster political trust, friendship, solidarity and cooperation between the border guards, authorities, and peoples of the two countries in border areas, contributing to building a borderline of peace, friendship, stability, cooperation, and development.

During talks before the welcome ceremony at Dongxing border gate in the morning the same day, both sides affirmed that over the past more than seven decades since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, friendship and cooperation had been a mainstream of ties between the two Parties and nations. Exchange activities had contributed to strengthening Việt Nam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership that meets the aspirations and interests of the two peoples.

The two countries’ border guards have also promptly discovered and informed each other of illegal entries, helping effectively control COVID-19 infections across the border, creating favourable conditions to maintain border trade.

Giang hailed the Chinese Central Military Commission and Defence Ministry for providing support for the Vietnamese Defence Ministry, including border guards, in terms of medical supplies and anti-pandemic expertise.

He suggested the two defence ministries maintain the event to further boost ties between the two armies, border guards and peoples in border areas, adding that both sides could hold drills to cope with disasters and epidemics across the border. 

The Vietnamese minister proposed building and upholding values of friendship works, and assisting poor households in border areas via the provision of livelihood support and scholarships.

The two sides affirmed that the friendship exchange also manifests determination, solidarity and friendship between the two Parties, States and armies. Việt Nam and China will do their best to continue maintaining and fostering cooperation and friendship between the two peoples and border guards.

Following the talks, they witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on further cooperation in scientific research between the Vietnamese Defence Ministry’s Institute for Military Strategy and the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Earlier on Friday, Việt Nam and China held their seventh defence strategy dialogue at the deputy ministerial level.

The dialogue was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoàng Xuân Chiến and Lt. Gen. Shao Yuanming, Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission of China. The Vietnamese delegation also saw the participation of Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Chí Vịnh.

During the dialogue, the two sides exchanged views on the world and regional situation and issues of mutual concern.

They held that Asia-Pacific had become an intersection point of interests and competition for influence among big countries both in and outside the region.

The emergence of non-traditional issues such as pandemics, the environment, natural disasters, extreme nationalism, terrorism and transnational crime had deeply affected peace, stability and development of nations, they said, adding that international cooperation in coping with the common challenges had become an essential need.

In that context, together with partners outside the region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had made important contributions to peace and stability in the region. Cooperation mechanisms led by ASEAN, especially the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+), had increasingly upheld its efficiency, reflected by the fact that a growing number of partners outside the ASEAN region want to join the mechanism.

Both sides agreed that defence cooperation between Việt Nam and China had been continuously expanded and conducted via various forms, focusing on different fields such as the exchange of delegations, training, military medicine, UN peacekeeping, and the exchange of experience in Party and political work in the army.

The two sides also frankly discussed sea-related issues. Chiến said that as the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) is the lifeblood sea route of the world, which has not only strategic economic, trade and defence-security values but also geographic strategic values, countries involved should actively cooperate with each other and maintain peace and stability in order to bring common interests.

"Việt Nam’s consistent stance is to address disputes at sea through peaceful measures, in the spirit of common perceptions reached by the two countries’ senior leaders, and with respect to each other’s legitimate rights and interests, on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) fully and effectively, working to reach a practical and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC); and to well control disagreements at sea to avoid complicating the situation and using force or threatening to use force," he stressed. — VNS