On the first official overseas trip for Dong Jun in four weeks and his first since Beijing publicly denied he was under a corruption probe, China’s defence minister has met Vietnam’s General Secretary To Lam in Hanoi.
On Friday, China’s defence ministry said Dong was in Hanoi to attend that day’s celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army. It is not known how long he will be in Vietnam.
On Thursday, To Lam called for expanded cooperation with China’s military in training, ideology and border defence in a meeting with Dong in Hanoi on Thursday.
To Lam praised defence cooperation between China and Vietnam as “increasingly practical and effective”, according to a report published by Vietnam News Agency on Thursday.
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The two countries’ militaries should step up exchanges at all levels and explore new areas for potential cooperation, he reportedly told Dong.
To Lam emphasised “the need for expanding cooperation in political and ideological education, personnel training and border defence” while calling for more defence cooperation and better ways to control and settle disputes over contested waters, according to the report.
The visit is Dong’s first foreign visit since Beijing denied media reports he was under a corruption probe. In November, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said a Financial Times report that said Dong was under investigation and cited US officials was “shadow chasing”.
His last international visit was to Laos for the annual at the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus in November.
His visit comes as Beijing increasingly looks to Hanoi as an important middle power to balance defence ties with its other neighbours in the South China Sea and steps up high-level exchanges, including a slew of defence engagements, between the communist neighbours.
China’s vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, General Zhang Youxia, travelled to Vietnam in October where he met To Lam and expressed Beijing’s willingness to deepen relations with Hanoi, including political, economic and cultural ties. It was Zhang’s third international trip since becoming vice-chairman of the CMC in 2017, having made two previous trips to Russia.
Vietnam was the destination for Dong’s first foreign trip after becoming China’s defence minister in December 2023.
In April, he visited to meet his Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Van Giang. They signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a hotline between the PLA Southern Theatre Command and the Vietnamese navy to manage the risk of conflict over the South China Sea.
Dong’s visit to Vietnam this week was hailed by To Lam as bringing about “high-level common perceptions on strengthening bilateral defence and security cooperation as a key pillar in Vietnam-China relations”, according to Vietnam News Agency.
Dong affirmed the PLA’s readiness to work with the Vietnam People’s Army for substantive and comprehensive cooperation in the meeting, it said.
Beijing has laid claim to the resource-rich South China Sea – one of the world’s busiest shipping routes – which has been contested by the Philippines and Vietnam as well as Malaysia and Brunei. In recent months, Beijing has encountered frequent stand-offs with Manila as the territorial row escalates.