Seminar spotlights Vietnam-China defence friendship exchange

• Vietnam-China border defence friendship exchange begins
• Vietnam-China talks on sea area off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin
• Vietnam – China friendship singing contest helps strengthen relations

At the seminar, delegates reviewed cooperation between the two countries’ border guard forces and people and discussed measures to increase the effectiveness of bilateral border defence collaboration in the coming time.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh said the defence exchange is co-chaired by the two defence ministries, but the beneficiaries are the people, especially those in border areas.

Through the exchanges, mutual understanding between commanders, officers and soldiers has improved, helping them build trust and work together to safeguard their nations.

Lieut. Gen. Shao Yuanming, Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of China's Central Military Commission, said relations between the two countries and armies have enjoyed positive development this year. High-level meetings between the two armies have been held, during which their leaders exchanged views on issues of shared concern and reached agreements.

Contributing ideas to increasing the effectiveness of cooperation between units along the China-Vietnam borderline, Colonel Yang Binbin, Commander of Mengzi Border Guard Force in China’s Yunnan province, said the force has worked to help tighten ties between the two armies to protect the border as well as security and stability between the two countries.

To diversify cooperation, he suggested both sides expand cultural and sport exchanges, and strengthen coordination between local authorities to increase trust between the armies and people in border areas.

After the seminar, Vietnamese Minister of National Defence Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich and his Chinese counterpart Sen. Lieut. Gen. Wei Fenghe signed a memorandum of understanding and agreed to hold the sixth edition of the exchange in 2019.

The two ministers are scheduled to visit the Pac Bo historical relic site in Cao Bang provinces, before wrapping up all activities of the fifth exchange.

The first Vietnam-China border defence friendship exchange programme was held in 2014 in Quang Ninh province, the second took place in Lao Cai in 2015, the third in Lang Son in 2016 and the fourth in Lai Chau last year.