Lieut. Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich, Head of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA)’s General Department of Politics held talks with Sen. Lieut. Gen. Li Jinai, Director-General of the China People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s General Political Department, in Beijing on Sept. 15.

At the talks, Lieut. Gen. Lich, who is also Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Member of the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission, recalled outstanding milestones in the time-honoured traditional friendship and cooperation between the two Parties, States, armies and people of Vietnam and China .

He expressed the gratitude of the Vietnamese Party, State, army and people to the Chinese Party, State, army and people for their assistance to Vietnam during the resistance wars for national liberation in the spirit of “both comradeship and brotherhood”.

Lich also reviewed outstanding results in the military-defence cooperation between the two countries, especially the effective cooperation between the VPA General Department of Politics and the PLA General Political Department in various fields.

According to the Vietnamese senior military official, the political trust as well as the solidarity and close relations between the two countries are an important factor to foster the solidarity, friendship and cooperation between the two Parties, two States and two peoples.

At present and in the future, the defence cooperation will continue playing a core role in Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership under the motto of “friendly neighbourliness, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability and looking towards the future” and the spirit of “good neighbours, good comrades, good friends and good partners”.

To improve the effectiveness of the cooperation between the VPA General Department of Politics and the PLA General Political Department, Lich suggested the two sides boost the exchange of political delegations to study each other’s experience in Party and political work.

He said the two sides should strengthen coordination in guiding the mass media of the two countries’ armies to disseminate information and educate people on the solidarity, friendship and close relations between the two Parties, two States, two armies and people of Vietnam and China as well as fight against distortions and incitements that aim at dividing and undermining the solidarity and friendship between the two countries.

The two sides need to increase exchanges and cooperation activities between VPA and PLA newspapers, he said, urging the Chinese side to help the Vietnamese army in building its radio-TV broadcast centre and training cultural and art officials.

In the spirit of frankness, comradeship and fraternity, Lieut. Gen. Lich affirmed the consistent stance of the Vietnamese Party, State, army and people on solving the East Sea dispute, saying this is a complicated issue left by history and is the only issue of which the two countries have different perceptions.

“Vietnam and China should keep calm, exercise restraint and patiently pursue negotiations to solve disputes through peaceful measures, abide by and fully implement international laws, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC),” he stressed.

He said leaders of Vietnam ’s Ministry of National Defence and the VPA General Department of Politics hope that the concerned parties will not use or threaten to use force in order to prevent armed conflicts from happening.

He expressed his belief that with the high determination of the two countries’ leaders and in the spirit of comradeship and fraternity, it is quite possible for the two sides to reach sound solutions to solve disputes.

In this issue, the two armies should uphold their exemplary role and work as the pillar in realising the two countries’ high-level agreements, Lich said, adding that those disputes between the two countries should be resolved by themselves and issues relating to the interests of many countries should be discussed for settlement by all concerned parties.

For his part, Sen. Lieut. Gen. Li Jinai agreed with the Vietnamese guest on his assessment of the development of the solidarity, friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and China , saying that the relationship, which was fostered by late President Mao Jedong and late President Ho Chi Minh, is really a valuable asset of both nations.

Li, who is also member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and member of the CPC Central Military Commission, was highly unanimous with the proposals of the VPA General Department of Politics on expanding forms of cooperation in Party and political work and in the fields of information, press, broadcasting, literature and arts.

The two sides should exert efforts to deepen that cooperation, bringing practical results, he noted.

He also applauded Lich’s straightforward opinions on the East Sea issue, saying that this is only part of the bilateral ties between the two nations.

Despite different perceptions, the two sides should not let this issue affect and worsen their fine relationship, he said, agreeing that they should be patient in dealing with the disputes through peaceful measures.

The two sides should not act unilaterally but collectively, he said.

Li expressed his belief that China and Vietnam , as both comrades and brothers are able to successfully resolve this problem./.