On the afternoon of May 27, General Ngo Xuan Lich hosted an official reception for the Chinese Defense Minister at the Headquarters of the Vietnamese Defense Ministry. After the reception, the two defense ministers had talks.
At the talks, the two sides exchanged views on domestic, regional, and international situations as well as the bilateral defense cooperation. They also reviewed the implementation of the protocol on bilateral defense cooperation signed in 2003 and the joint vision statement on defense cooperation toward 2025 between the two defense ministries.
    |
 |
|
The two defense ministers at the reception |
|
|
 |
|
Defense delegations of the two countries pose for a joint photo. |
The two sides agreed that the bilateral defense cooperation has seen positive development with high political trust, deserving to be an important pillar of the Vietnam-China overall relations.
Over the past time, the two countries maintained high-level delegation exchanges and visits of defense leaders, established new cooperation mechanisms, and fostered defense cooperation via different channels, including defense strategy dialogues, young officer exchanges, joint patrols in the Gulf of Tokin, border defense friendship exchanges, cooperation in Party and political work among others.
They said that 2019 is an important milestone in the relations between the Vietnamese and Chinese militaries as the two countries are preparing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties.
At the event, the two sides agreed to foster cooperation in the Party and political work, military medicine, defense industry, and UN peacekeeping operations, continue the organization of the Vietnam-China border defense friendship exchange, and promote the relationship between border, naval, and air forces and between Vietnamese military regions and Chinese Southern Theater Command.
|
|
 |
|
The two ministers hold talks. |
Regarding current issues of the two countries, both sides agreed to solve disagreements by peaceful means and join efforts to build a peaceful environment in the East Sea (South China Sea) for interests of each country and for the development of their partners.
After the talks, General Ngo Xuan Lich and his Chinese counterpart witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements between agencies of the two defense ministries, including a memorandum of understanding on military medical cooperation and an agreement on military staff education in the 2019-2020 period and a memorandum of understanding on military education between Vietnam’s National Defense Academy and China’s Defense University. On the occasion, the Defense Ministry of China presented a batch of medical and search and rescue equipment to Vietnam’s Defense Ministry.
|
|
 |
|
Two ministers witness the signing of some important agreements. |
|
|
 |
|
Two ministers check medical and search and rescue equipment. |
General Lich thanked the Chinese side for the gifts, considering them a significant symbol of the development of the Vietnamese and Chinese militaries.
The Vietnamese Defense Minister invited his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe to attend the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus and send its ships to join the maritime security drill and the international fleet review in Vietnam in 2020 when the country takes over the ASEAN Chair.
As scheduled, the Chinese delegation will visit President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, the National Defense Academy, and Military Central Hospital 108.
Translated by Tran Hoai