Many countries expressed their desire to bolster defence cooperation with Vietnam during bilateral meetings on the sidelines of Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore from May 30 to June 1.

Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh held separate meetings with his counterparts from New Zealand, Singapore, the US , France, Japan  and Australia.

Thanh said during the meetings, Vietnamese defence leaders openly shared information about the ongoing East Sea situation with foreign military officials.

Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh meets French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian

Other issues discussed included matters related to support of English language training for Vietnamese officers and sea police cooperation with Japan and the US, Thanh said.

Countries also expressed a sincere appreciation of the Vietnam People’s Army for their active international integration and responsibility for bilateral and multilateral cooperation in line with mechanisms of the ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM.

At the regional security forum, Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieut.Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh, also held separate working sessions with Russian counterpart Anatoly Antonov, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Wang Guanzhong and Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey.

Japan backs Vietnam’s solution for East Sea issue

Japan supports Vietnam's proposals for deescalating tensions in the East Sea by resolving the dispute through diplomatic dialogue and its ardent opposition to the use of force.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera asserted this at a meeting with Vietnamese counterpart Phung Quang Thanh on June 1 on the sidelines of the 13th Asia security forum (Shangri-La Dialogue) in Singapore.

Japan’s Kyodo News reported that the two ministers agreed to strengthen defence cooperation to maintain regional peace and security.

It also quoted Minister Thanh as saying that territorial issues should be resolved peacefully in line with international law.

Earlier, in a speech at Shangri-La Dialogue on May 30, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe voiced his nation’s support for ASEAN in handling sovereignty disputes with China in the East Sea.

VOV/VNN