Defense officials of ASEAN, other countries discuss security, cooperation

Senior defense officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and eight other countries discussed regional security and cooperation in unconventional security here on Thursday.

Permanent Secretary of Brunei's Defense Ministry Colonel Pg Dato Paduka Haji Azmansham bin Pg Haji Mohamad hailed the achievements by the enlarged meeting of ASEAN defense ministers in boosting practical cooperation and capacity-building in unconventional security.

Bilateral and multilateral cooperation between defense ministries is conducive to enhancing mutual understanding and trust to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, Azmansham said.

The second enlarged meeting of ASEAN defense ministers is scheduled for late August in Brunei.

For his part, Qi Jianguo, deputy chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), called on Asia-Pacific countries to increase consensus and resolve differences and disputes through cooperation.

Cooperation should be aimed at safeguarding security and based on strategic mutual trust and equality, centered on the concerns of each party and supported by regional cooperative mechanism, added Qi, the Chinese representative to the second enlarged meeting of ASEAN senior defense officials.

Qi pledged that China will, as always, support and participate in the enlarged meeting of the ASEAN defense ministers and cooperate with others to secure the sound development of the mechanism.

China will dedicate itself to jointly safeguarding peace, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region, he said.

Besides the ten ASEAN members, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the United States also sent representatives to the meeting.