Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn.- VNA/VNS
HANOI (Vietnam News/ANN): Newly-appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn on Wednesday held separate online conversations with Australian foreign minister Marise Payne, Malaysian foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr.
During the conversations, Sơn said Australia, Malaysia, and the Philippines are important and reliable partners that share many strategic interests with Vietnam.
He expressed his satisfaction with positive development steps in Vietnam s Strategic Partnerships with Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines in the recent years, with political trust enhanced and trade and investment maintained despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday discussed with his Philippine counterpart China’s recent positioning of “militia vessels” near the Philippines in the South China Sea.
AP News in Brief at 12:04 a m EDT | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan s News Source infotel.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from infotel.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Saturday discussed with his Philippine counterpart China’s recent positioning of “militia vessels” near the Philippines in the South China Sea.
Austin spoke by telephone with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana while Austin was flying from Washington to Israel to begin an international trip.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Austin and Lorenzana discussed the situation in the South China Sea, and the recent massing of Chinese vessels at Whitsun Reef.
The Philippines has protested against the presence of the Chinese boats inside its 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone in the strategic waterway,