By Ouyang Hao
BEIJING, Oct. 29 (ChinaMil) -- General Xu Qiliang, Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC), held several talks with defense ministers attending the 8th Beijing Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on Oct 26. These include Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Defense of Singapore, Mohamad Sabu, Minister of Defense of Malaysia, Ishwor Pokhrel, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Nepal, Ngo Xuan Lich, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party and Defense Minister of Vietnam, and Tea Banh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for National Defense of Cambodia.
During his meeting with Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Defense of Singapore, Xu Qiliang said that China attaches great importance to the development of bilateral military relations and is willing to further enhance strategic mutual trust on the existing basis, strengthen multilateral cooperation, deepen pragmatic cooperation in maritime search and rescue as well as joint exercise and joint training, and ultimately make positive contributions to promoting the development of bilateral relations and creating a good regional security environment.
Ng Eng Hen expressed congratulations to China for successfully hosting the 8th Beijing Xiangshan Forum. He said that Singapore is willing to work with China to maintain the good momentum of the development of relations between the two countries and the two militaries, strengthen communication and coordination, enhance the level of cooperation so as to better benefit both countries' people, and better safeguard regional peace and stability.
During his meeting with Mohamad Sabu, Minister of Defense of Malaysia, Xu Qiliang said that China and Malaysia are important partners to each other. In recent years, the Chinese and Malaysian militaries have achieved fruitful results in high-level exchanges, and joint exercise and training. Xu hopes that the two sides will strengthen strategic communication, promote exemplary cooperation and closer multilateral interaction, jointly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea and constantly create new situation of friendly cooperation between the two countries and the two militaries.
Mohamad Sabu said that peace and stability in the South China Sea are in line with the common interests of all parties. The Malaysian side is willing to work with China to establish a high-level defense cooperation committee between the two countries as soon as possible, carry out cooperation in joint exercise and training as well as military technology and military trade, and contribute to the development of relations between the two countries and the two militaries.
During his meeting with Ishwor Pokhrel, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Nepal, Xu Qiliang said that the two countries are linked by mountains and rivers and have a friendship of long history. China is willing to work with Nepal to firmly implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, maintain a good momentum of exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries, further enhance the level of cooperation in counterterrorism, stability maintenance, joint exercise and training, border control and other areas, and push the bilateral military relations to a new level, said Xu.
Ishwor Pokhrel said that Nepal attaches importance to China's security concerns and will never allow any force to use Nepalese territory to engage in activities that endanger China's security. The Nepalese military is willing to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with the Chinese military in various fields and strive to push the relations between the two countries and the two militaries to a higher level.
During his meeting with Ngo Xuan Lich, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party and Defense Minister of Vietnam, Xu Qiliang said that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Vietnam. The Chinese military is willing to work with the Vietnamese military to implement a series of important consensus reached by the leaders of the two parties and the two countries, promote closer high-level exchanges and pragmatic cooperation, strengthen coordination and cooperation in multilateral affairs, boost new greater development of bilateral military relations and contribute to the traditional friendship between China and Vietnam, said Xu.
Ngo Xuan Lich expressed thanks to the invitation to the 8th Beijing Xiangshan Forum and congratulated the success of the forum. He said that the Vietnamese side attaches importance to the development of relations between the two countries and the two militaries. The Vietnamese People's Army (VPA) is willing to strengthen solidarity and friendship with the Chinese military, carry out closer exchanges and cooperation, and strive to be the pillar and leader of the development of bilateral relations.
During his meeting with Tea Banh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for National Defense of Cambodia, Xu Qiliang said that the two countries have traditional friendly relations and have always supported and helped each other and they are hardcore friends. The Chinese military is willing to work with the Cambodian military to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen high-level exchanges, enhance strategic mutual trust, continue to deepen all-round pragmatic cooperation, learn from each other, constantly enrich the relationship between the two countries and the two militaries, and play a bigger role in maintaining regional peace and stability, said Xu.
Tea Banh said that the Cambodian side thanks China for its long-term selfless help to the construction of the country and the development of the military. The Cambodian military is willing to deepen close exchanges and cooperation with the Chinese military in various fields, jointly tackle various challenges and safeguard their common interests.