(source: China Miltary online)

BEIJING, Oct. 16 (ChinaMil) -- The China-ASEAN Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting was held in Beijing on October 15 and 16, 2015. leaders from defense ministries of the 10 ASEAN countries and official from the ASEAN Secretariat, attended the meeting.

Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, attended the welcome dinner party for the informal meeting on October 15. Chang Wanquan, state councilor and defense minister of the People's Republic of China (PRC),presided over the meeting and delivered a keynote speech on the morning of October 16.

Centering on the theme of “Building towards China-ASEAN Community of Shared Destiny, Strengthening Defense Security Cooperation”, General Chang Wanquan put forward five proposals on promoting the China-ASEAN defense and security cooperation during the meeting.

The first proposal is to jointly ensure a good general orientation of cooperation, which means to implement the consensus reached by leaders of China and ASEAN countries, deepen the China-ASEAN strategic partnership and build a closer China-ASEAN community of shared destiny.

The second proposal is to jointly maintain the regional security and stability, which means to adhere to the common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept in Asia, constantly push forward dialogue and cooperation, jointly maintain the regional peace and stability, and create better security environment together.

The third proposal is to jointly push forward the building of security mechanism, which means to continue the China-ASEAN Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting, strengthen the coordination and cooperation under such multilateral mechanism as the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting – Plus and the ASEAN Regional Forum, push forward the building of an open, comprehensive, transparent and equal framework of regional security cooperation.

The fourth proposal is to jointly deepen the pragmatic cooperation in defense fields, which means to strengthen the pragmatic cooperation in such fields as humanitarian aid, military medicine, peacekeeping, anti-terrorism, anti-piracy and border defense, and constantly consolidate the security foundation for China-ASEAN community of shared destiny.

The fifth proposal is to jointly and properly deal with disputes, manage and control risks. The Chinese side is willing to hold the Joint Training on Code for Unalerted Encounters at Sea (CUES) and the Maritime Search and Rescue and Disaster Relief Joint Exercise together with ASEAN countries in 2016, in a bid to cope with the common risks and challenges, according to Chang.

Leaders from the defense ministries of ASEAN countries positively responded to General Chang's speech and suggestion. Hishammuddin Hussein, defense minister of Malaysia, the rotating presidency of ASEAN, said that the countries in the region face common challenges of terrorism, disasters and accidents, therefore, ASEAN and China should actively carry out pragmatic cooperation in defense security areas and maintain the regional security and stability together.

Ng Eng Hen, defense minister of Singapore, the coordinating country for China-ASEAN relations, said that the Singapore side attaches great importance to the idea of building a community of shared destiny for all mankind , elaborated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his speech at the UN General Assembly in September, welcome and support the building of a closer China-ASEAN community of shared destiny, and is willing to play an active role inside the ASEAN to promote the China-ASEAN cooperation in defense areas.

It is said that this meeting is a concrete measure to implement the proposals put forward by Chinese state leaders during visits to ASEAN countries and also the first China-ASEAN Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting held in China. Delegations from the ASEAN will also be invited to participate in the relevant activities of the Sixth Xiangshan Forum, according to sources.