U.S. Defense Secretary Gates, Chinese Defense Minister meet in Vietnam

U.S. Defense Secretary Gates, Chinese Defense Minister meet in Vietnam

2010-10-11 23:01:33 GMT+7 (ICT)

HANOI, VIETNAM (BNO NEWS) -- As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, Pentagon's Robert Gates and Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie met on Monday to work on renewing fragile military ties.

The talks took place on the sidelines of a ADMM, which is gathering defense ministers from 10 ASEAN countries and eight partners under the theme “Strategic Cooperation for Peace, Stability and Regional Development.â€

U.S. Defense Secretary Gates described the meeting as being constructive, and stated that he had accepted an invitation to visit China in 2011.

China previously protested against a proposition by the U.S. - which remains as Taiwan's largest arms supplier - of a $6.4 billion arms package to self-ruled Taiwan, which heightened misunderstandings between the nations.

"Why the military relationship should be held hostage to what is essentially a political decision seems to me curious," Gates said. "And I believe it should not be. If there is a discussion to be had, it is at the political level," he added, underlining that defense ties would not be damaged.

"Minister Liang pointed out that arms sales to Taiwan were an impediment to wider and deeper bilateral defense relations," Guan Youfei, deputy director of the external affairs office of China's Defense Ministry, told reporters.

Vietnam Minister of National Defence Phung Quang Thanh emphasized the need to build a cooperative mechanism at defense ministerial level to conserve peace and common security against the increasing threat of non-traditional security.

Gates also met with Thanh during his visit. Thanh went on the welcome Gates' participation in the meeting and expressed his belief both sides will work closely to boost bilateral cooperation in national defense and contribute to the success of the ADMM.

ADMM is targeting solidarity and determination of ASEAN countries in expanding external defense co-operation for the sake of peace and stability in the region, marking the start of a new defense and security co-operation mechanism.

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