Chinese DM meets senior military officials from Mongolia, Vietnam

BEIJING, Sept. 24 -- Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie and his Mongolian counterpart Luvsanvandan Bold held talks on Thursday on the regional security situation and bilateral military ties.

Liang spoke positively of China-Mongolia relations and bilateral military ties.

He said the China-Mongolia good-neighborly partnership of mutual trust had developed comprehensively and steadily in recent years, and cooperation in various fields had achieved remarkable results.

China attached great importance to the bilateral military relations, he said, adding the two sides should proceed from a strategic height and long-term perspective to push forward the ties and jointly make a contribution to regional and world peace.

Bold said his country valued the traditional friendly and cooperative relations with China.

"The two armed forces held their first joint peace-keeping training this July, which marked the increasingly enhanced mutual trust between the two countries," Bold said.

He said the Mongolian armed forces was willing to make concerted efforts with the People's Liberation Army of China, to constantly deepen the friendship and cooperation between the two armed forces.

Earlier Thursday, Liang also met with the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Vietnamese People's Army Tran Quang Khue.

"Friendly relations between the two countries have grown in various fields, the two militaries have also carried out fruitful exchanges," Liang noted.

The China-Vietnam friendship, initiated by the founding fathers of both countries Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh has developed to a new stage, Defense Liang said.

"China would like to make a concerted effort with Vietnam to further bilateral relations and military ties," Liang added.

Khue said his country placed great importance to the bilateral relations, nurturing the traditional goodwill between the two countries.

"I hope the two sides expand exchanges and cooperation in various areas, military in particular," Khue said, "Vietnam will give full play to the bilateral security consultation mechanism to enhance productive cooperation between the two militaries."

Khue is in Beijing for the third security consultation between both defense ministries.

The previous two, held respectively in 2005 and 2006 were mainly about international and regional security situation as wellas bilateral military ties.