Chinese Defense Minister visits Vietnam to discuss the East Sea

The Vietnamese Defense Minister and his Chinese counterpart both said that the two countries' militaries need to control the situation in the East Sea well.

Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh, left, receives his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan. Photo: VNA

Welcoming Mr. Thuong Van Toan on his official visit to Vietnam today, Minister Phung Quang Thanh andexchangefrankly about the maritime dispute, saying that the two countries need to continue to handle it through peaceful and friendly negotiations,VNAsaid.

According to the two ministers, Vietnam and China need to base on the legal regime and principles determined by international law, inincluding the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) whenefforts to find fundamental and long-term solutions that are acceptable to both sides.

General Thanh and Mr. Thuong agreed that the two countries' armies must exercise restraint, control the situation well, not threaten to use force, not allow conflicts to occur, and together maintain peace, stability, cooperation and the interests of the two countries, the region and the world.

Vietnam and China also need to strictly comply with the agreements and common perceptions reached by the two countries' senior leaders, seriously implement the principles and spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and move towards building a Code of Conduct (COC).

Building the East Sea into a sea of ​​peace, friendship and cooperation will contribute to developing relations between the two countries and maintaining peace and stability in the region.

The two ministers witnessed the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations between the two countries' defense ministries.

Mr. Thuong's visit to Vietnam lasted from March 26 to March 28.

According to VNE