'Every country, big or small, must comply with international law'

At the dialogue, delegates discussed urgent global security issues, restoring strategic stability and building future security capacity.

The world is entering a new period of instability.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien delivered an important speech at the second plenary session on the topic "Reducing military tensions and establishing long-term trust". He said that this is a matter of current and strategic significance in the context of a rapidly changing and unpredictable world today.

- Ảnh 1. — Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien speaks at plenary session 2

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien stated that in recent years, the world has entered a new period of instability. These challenges have caused countries to fall into a spiral of suspicion and loss of strategic trust, leading to escalating military tensions and an arms race.

International historical experience shows that multilateral mechanisms and forums play an important role in reducing military tensions and building long-term strategic trust. Currently emerging are the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, the Seoul Dialogue, the Shangri-La Dialogue, the Moscow International Security Conference and especially the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+) have become important security dialogue mechanisms, helping to reduce the risk of strategic misunderstanding not only in the region but also at the global level.

According to Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, over the years, Vietnam has always persistently pursued a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace , cooperation and development, and is ready to be a friend and reliable partner of every country in the world.

In the field of defense, Vietnam has always adhered to the "four no's" policy. Regarding the East Sea issue, Vietnam's consistent stance is that all maritime disputes must be resolved by peaceful means.

5 solutions to reduce military tensions and establish lasting trust

In order to reduce military tensions and establish long-term trust, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien proposed five groups of solutions.

First, it is necessary to comply with international law. Every country, large or small, must comply with international law, especially the United Nations Charter, international treaties, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and internationally recognized general principles of law.

Second, continue to promote multilateralism, promote the role of international organizations, and jointly maintain and expand strategic dialogue on defense, security, and diplomacy at all levels. These are pillars in international relations. Dialogue helps to resolve misunderstandings, control crises, and enhance cooperation.

Third, respect independence and territorial sovereignty. All countries, big or small, need to respect each other’s independence, sovereignty and legitimate interests. Any unilateral action or imposition of power politics will only increase suspicion, conflict and hinder cooperation.

Fourth, enhance transparency in policies and strategies. According to Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, there should be mechanisms to encourage countries to be transparent in their policies and strategies, as well as military activities such as large-scale exercises, freedom of navigation and aviation activities, etc., while promoting the establishment of hotlines to handle emergency situations.

Fifth, commit to cooperate, maintain peace, stability, and build strategic trust in the region and internationally. Countries need to strengthen and expand international cooperation in all fields, especially cooperation in responding to non-traditional security challenges.

"Reducing military tensions and establishing long-term trust is not only a political choice, but also an objective necessity to maintain peace, stability and development in the 21st century. Vietnam believes that "when tensions subside, trust will sprout". With sincerity, genuine trust and a sense of responsibility, the parties will together push back the risks of conflict, join forces to build peace, maintain a stable environment for cooperation and prosperous development for each country and for the whole world," Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien emphasized.

The SDD Dialogue is a major international forum on regional and world security, organized annually by the Korean Ministry of National Defense since 2012 with the participation of many senior officials, experts and scholars researching defense and security from many countries and international organizations.

The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense has sent delegates to all previous SDD Dialogues. This year’s SDD Dialogue was attended by more than 1,000 officials from 68 countries and international organizations.

This year's SDD-14 includes three plenary sessions, three special sessions, expert sessions and two working group meetings on the sidelines of the dialogue.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/moi-quoc-gia-du-lon-hay-nho-deu-phai-tuan-thu-luat-phap-quoc-te-185250909131114427.htm