Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien and Hugh Jeffrey, Deputy Secretary of Strategy, Policy, and Industry at the Australian Department of Defence, co-chaired the 8th Vietnam – Australia Defence Policy Dialogue in Hanoi on August 12.
Chien highlighted the active and effective development of bilateral defence ties since the 7th edition of the dialogue in March 2024, in line with the Vietnam - Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Cooperation has progressed in various areas, including delegation exchanges, military training, UN peacekeeping, military medicine, collaboration between armed services, settlement of war consequences, intelligence sharing, search and rescue, and defence industry, he noted.
Chien reaffirmed Vietnam’s support for the ASEAN – Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and praised Australia’s efforts to enhance defence relations with ASEAN, especially through the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) and the inaugural ASEAN – Australia Defence Ministers’ Dialogue held in May 2025.
Looking ahead, the Vietnamese officer proposed strengthening high-level exchanges, deepening collaboration in armed services, military medicine, border management, and defence industry development, and effectively implementing the newly signed 2025–2027 defence cooperation plan. He also stressed the need to deploy the Peacekeeping Partnership Agreement signed in July 2025 and to enhance coordination within multilateral frameworks, particularly ADMM+.
Training remains a key pillar of the bilateral ties, he underlined, urging Australia to expand undergraduate and postgraduate defence scholarships in priority fields and welcomed the continued deployment of Australian personnel to learn Vietnamese at Vietnamese institutions, including the Military Science Academy and the National Defence Academy.
The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern. Chien reiterated Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, multilateralisation and diversification.
Vietnam is ready to cooperate with all countries and international organisations for peace, cooperation and development, he said, highlighting the country’s consistent "four no’s” defence policy - no joining military alliances, no siding with one country against another, no allowing another country to build its military bases or use Vietnamese territory to oppose the other, and no using or threatening to use force in international relations.
On the East Sea issue, Chien reaffirmed Vietnam’s stance on the settlement of disputes through peaceful measures in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and early finalisation of a substantive, effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
For his part, Jeffrey agreed with Vietnam’s assessment of bilateral defence ties, expressing his satisfaction with the growing relationship. He underscored defence cooperation as a key pillar of the Australia - Vietnam relationship and expressed Australia’s interest in expanding defence collaboration to address shared security challenges.
On the East Sea, he stressed the need to maintain respect for each country's sovereignty, international law, and common principles.
The dialogue concluded with the signing of the Defence Cooperation Plan for the 2025 - 2027 period./.
