Government officers and scholars from Japan and ASEAN member countries, including Vietnam, discussed common security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region at a conference in Tokyo on March 14.
The 4th Tokyo Seminar on Common Security
Challenges.
The event, the fourth of its kind, focused on the role and cooperation between
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan in an environment of changing
regional security.
Addressing the event, Nyan Lynn, Deputy Secretary General for ASEAN
Political-Security Community, said that ASEAN plays a central role in regional
security dialogue through the ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting Plus (ADMM +)
and the deputy-ministerial level ASEAN–Japan defence cooperation conference.
Japan is now one of ASEAN’s leading partners, with
bilateral relations developing in all fields. The two sides need to continue
strengthening cooperation in politics, security, economics and disaster
prevention to deal with common challenges, including traditional and
non-traditional security issues, in the region and the world.
Participants highlighted the central role and success of ASEAN in solving
regional security issues, suggesting it take a broader view to cope with
challenges, including territorial land and sea disputes, maritime security and
the process of denuclearisation.
The association should build a common foundation for all member nations to work
with each other to solve domestic, regional and international issues to
establish the ASEAN Community, including the Security Community, through their
strategies.
The two sides need to exchange views on common security issues and further
intensify cooperation at regional forums to solve these concerns.
VNA
