At the “8th Vietnam - Australia Defence Policy Dialogue,” held in Hanoi on August 12, under the co-chair of Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Minister of National Defence and Mr. Hugh Jeffrey, Deputy Secretary at the Australian Government Department of Defence, the former emphasized that since the 7th Vietnam - Australia Defence Policy Dialogue in March 2024, the defence cooperation between the two countries has been actively and effectively implemented across various areas, being commensurate with their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien affirmed that Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence supports the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and appreciated Australia’s proactive role in regional multilateral mechanisms such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+), as well as in organizing the first-ever Australia-ASEAN High-Level Defence Dialogue in May 2025.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien also stressed that training cooperation remains a cornerstone of the bilateral defence relations. Vietnam hopes that the Australian Department of Defence will consider increasing the number of undergraduate and master’s scholarships in the fields where Vietnam has demand, while also welcoming Australia’s continued dispatch of military personnel to study Vietnamese at the Military Science Academy and to attend the International Defence Officials’ Course at the National Defence Academy.

For his part, Mr. Hugh Jeffrey also reaffirmed that defence relations are a key pillar in the overall development of the bilateral ties, and expressed appreciation for the recent progress in Vietnam–Australia defence cooperation. He also conveyed Australia’s desire to explore additional forms and areas of closer cooperation in the future to jointly address common challenges.

Within the dialogue, the two sides also signed a defence cooperation plan for the 2025–2027 period.

Along with that, both sides exchanged views on global and regional issues of shared concerns. Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien affirmed that Vietnam remains steadfast in its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation, and development, guided by the “Four No’s” Defence Policy.

Vietnam is committed to resolving all disputes in the East Sea peacefully, based on international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), respects the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and promotes the early conclusion of a substantive, effective, and practical Code of Conduct (COC).

In the coming times, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien proposed that both sides continue to strengthen cooperation and effectively implement activities such as delegation exchanges, branch-to-branch and military medicine cooperation, remediation of post-war aftermaths, defence industry, border management. He also proposed that the two sides effectively implement the 2025 - 2027 cooperation plan within the framework of the recently signed Peacekeeping Partnership Agreement, while closely coordinating in multilateral activities, especially within ADMM+.