Presenting war relics to the US Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Minister of National Defense , and Mr. John Noh, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense of the United States, chaired the 13th Vietnam - US Defense Policy Dialogue this morning.

The dialogue took place in the context of the 30th anniversary of Vietnam-US diplomatic relations.

The Vietnam-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace , Cooperation and Sustainable Development continues to develop positively, increasingly going into substantial depth in all fields, including defense.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien emphasized that cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war continues to be a bright spot, with strong commitments from senior leaders of the two countries, considering this a priority in bilateral relations.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien welcomed the US Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense.

Mr. Hoang Xuan Chien highly appreciated the US announcement of a new aid package worth 130 million USD for the dioxin contamination treatment project at Bien Hoa airport area, thereby increasing the total non-refundable aid from the US Government from 300 million USD to 430 million USD.

Since the previous dialogue, the two sides have coordinated to conduct four joint excavations and unilaterally returned eight boxes of remains believed to be related to US soldiers.

Since August 2024, with the support of Harvard University, the two sides have coordinated to return 43 sets of war relics related to Vietnamese soldiers to the martyrs' relatives.

The two sides will continue to strengthen cooperation and effectively implement a number of cooperation focuses, including maintaining the effectiveness of existing dialogue and consultation mechanisms; training, military medicine, and UN peacekeeping; and continuing to consult and support each other at multilateral defense forums.

Vietnam - US Defense Policy Dialogue.

The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense welcomes American servicemen to study Vietnamese at the Academy of Military Science and the International Defense Officers Class at the National Defense Academy.

The two sides hope that cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war will continue to be implemented according to the roadmap. They propose to promote propaganda on cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war, so that domestic and international public opinion can better understand the model of Vietnam - US relations in this deeply humane and humanitarian field, contributing to "putting the past behind and opening up a future of peace, cooperation and development".

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien emphasized that Vietnam consistently pursues a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations; persistently struggles to resolve all disputes and disagreements by peaceful means on the basis of international law; and persistently pursues the "four no's" defense policy...

Regarding the East Sea issue, Vietnam's consistent stance is to comply with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); comply with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and promote the early conclusion of negotiations and the signing of a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC) in a substantive and effective manner.

The two sides signed the minutes of the 13th Vietnam - US Defense Policy Dialogue.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien presented a war souvenir, an American soldier's identity card, to Mr. John Noh.

Recalling the phone call between the two countries' Defense Ministers in February, Mr. John Noh said that US Defense Secretary Hegseth reaffirmed support for a strong and independent Vietnam.

The US strongly supports the work of overcoming the consequences of war, highly appreciates the results of cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war, and the effectiveness of MIA activities. These activities demonstrate the goodwill and desire of the US in promoting peaceful cooperation and partnership with Vietnam.

Mr. John Noh hopes that in the coming time, the two sides will effectively implement the agreed contents of the Vietnam - US Joint Vision Statement on Defense Cooperation signed in September 2024, and at the same time expand areas of cooperation of mutual interest.

The US highly appreciates Vietnam's role in the region and wishes to strengthen and promote cooperation for peace, stability and development in the region as well as the world.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien presented a letter from the Vietnamese Minister of National Defense to the US Secretary of Defense, in which he highly appreciated the development of Vietnam-US defense cooperation, and at the same time requested the US Department of Defense to support and influence to create favorable conditions for the negotiation process of trade and tariffs in accordance with the interests of the two countries.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/trao-ky-vat-chien-tranh-cho-quyen-tro-ly-bo-truong-quoc-phong-my-2399009.html