The EU will soon sign a Framework Participation Agreement (FPA) with Vietnam to establish the Southeast Asian nation’s participation framework in the bloc’s crisis management activities, said a senior official.

Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich attended a meeting between the US Secretary of Defence and ASEAN defence ministers on the sidelines of Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 31.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Tran Viet Thai, PhD from the Viet Nam Diplomatic Academy spoke to the newspaper Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) about the situation in the East Sea following the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last week.

 VietNamNet Bridge – It is impossible for anyone in the 21st century to bring “swords and knives” to others’ houses and do everything he wants, Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh has said.

 East Sea tensions following China’s illegal placement of its drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone were hotly debated at the recent 13th Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore.

 Vietnam Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh on May 31 held separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the US, UK and France on the sidelines of the 13th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

 Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh has demanded China immediately remove its oil rig out of Vietnam’s waters and sit down for negotiations to maintain peace, stability and friendship between the two nations.

China’s deployment of the oil rig to drill in Vietnam’s EEZ has once again ratcheted up tensions in the East Sea. This move is seen by many commentators as the latest example of Beijing’s increasingly assertive approach to its regional interests.

 The Vietnamese delegation has held several meetings with foreign partners on the sidelines of the 13th IISS Asia Security Summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, after their arrival in Singapore on May 30.

VietNamNet Bridge – A string of diplomatic activities in September reflected the Viet Nam's commitment to jointly building a safer and better world, and stronger ties with countries around the globe.

VietNamNet Bridge – Many countries, organisations and scholars from across the world have spoken highly of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 12th Shangri-La Dialogue.