Vietnam attends ASEAN Defense Senior Officials Meeting Plus in Brunei

Friday, April 5, 2013 | 18:10:09

(VOVworld)- The ASEAN Defense Senior Officials Meeting Plus (ASDOM+) opened in Brunei yesterday/ on Thursday with the participation of Deputy Ministers, General Secretaries, and representatives from the 18 members countries of ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) which includes 10 ASEAN countries and eight dialogue partner countries – China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, New Zealand, Australia, Russia, and the United States.

ASEAN Defense Senior Officials Meeting Plus in Brunei

During the meeting, delegates focused their discussions on regional security, the crisis on the Korean peninsula, and other issues relating to sea security, peace keeping, and disputed sovereignty. Speaking at the event, Deputy Defense Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh who heads the Vietnamese military delegation, said that, as a country with a long coast on the East Sea, Vietnam is always aware of its responsibility to help maintain peace and security in this region. Vietnam called on all parties to join its pledge to resolve disputes on the East Sea by peaceful means on the basis of international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and ASEAN's Six-Point Principles on the East Sea, and work to complete the Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea. Vietnam asked other countries not to use armed forces against fishermen. Qi Jianguo, Head of the Chinese delegation and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army said the COC negotiations are the key to resolving issues in the East Sea. The head of the US delegation, Mark Lippert, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (APSA) said that Washington is willing to support free navigation and the Code of Conduct.

Representatives agreed to Vietnam’s suggestion to establish a mission group for humanitarian mine action, and added it to the joint communiqué of the ADMM+. They also supported Vietnam and India to co-chair this initiative.