First defense ministers' meeting among ASEAN, dialogue partners draws wide attention

by Han Qiao
09 Oct, 2010
(Xinhua)

HANOI -- The upcoming ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) has drawn wide attention as it for the first time gathers defense chiefs from 10 Southeast Asian countries and eight dialogue partners including China and the United States.

As Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Defense Nguyen Chi Vinh puts it, the meeting marks the start of a new defense and security cooperation mechanism in the emerging security architecture.

The ADMM-Plus, or 10 plus eight, will be held on Oct. 12, with participation of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, and their eight dialogue partners -- Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie has confirmed to attend the meeting. He will elaborate on China's defense policy and proposals on regional security cooperation at the meeting.

Analysts held that the meeting is important to enhance trust among Asia and Pacific countries in military affairs as it provides a platform for countries to seek common points in securities policies for cooperation.

Guan Youfei, deputy director of foreign affairs office of Chinese Defense Ministry, said China has witnessed increased exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN in military field in recent years.

China and ASEAN has seen frequent exchanges of high-level military delegations, said Guan. China has established defense and security consultation mechanisms with a number of ASEN countries including Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Nguyen Duc Thinh, director of Defense International Relations Institute of Vietnam, held that the ADMM-Plus is also important to address non-traditional security challenges to the region.

Challenges like natural disaster, pandemic, terrorism, climate change and environmental deterioration have posed increasing threat to the world, said Thinh.

Thinh said no country could tackle these problems by itself. ASEAN would like to join hands with China, a big country in the region, to address these challenges and contribute to the regional peace and development.

Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie is scheduled to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the sidelines of the meeting, according to Chinese Defense Ministry.

The meeting draws particular attention as it will be the first meeting between the defense chiefs of the two countries after bilateral military ties were damaged in January following the Pentagon's decision to sell a nearly 6.4-billion-U.S.-dollar arms package to Taiwan, an inalienable part of China.

China and the United States have the common wish to develop military relations, but there are always twists and turns. Analysts held that only the two countries respect each other's core interests, could they have a solid political foundation to develop military ties.