Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (right) receiving China's Defence Minister Wei Fenghe. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Xinhua): Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah met here on Wednesday (Sept 9) with visiting Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and the two sides discussed bilateral relations and cooperation.
The Sultan said the peoples of Brunei and China had enjoyed close ties in history. Brunei cherishes the friendly relations between the two countries and sees China as an important cooperation partner.
The Brunei side highly appreciated the support and help of the Chinese government and military during the difficult time when Brunei fought the Covid-19 epidemic, said the Sultan, adding that Brunei is willing to continue carrying out exchanges and cooperation with China in the fields of defence, economy and trade, energy and culture as well as people to people exchanges.
The Sultan hoped that the defence ministries of both countries will continue to conduct mutual visits, joint exercises and training, and promote pragmatic cooperation so as to further push forward the development of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two sides.
For his part, Wei Fenghe said that under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries, the bilateral relationship between China and Brunei has maintained good momentum, setting a good example for joint consultation, co-construction and sharing among countries with different social systems.
China is willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation with Brunei in the field of defence and further advance the development of ties between the two militaries, Wei said.
Stability in the South China Sea serves common interests of both countries, and the two sides should continue to strengthen communication and consultation, and promote maritime cooperation so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the South China Sea, Wei added.
Earlier in the morning, Wei Fenghe held formal talks with Brunei's Second Minister of Defence Awang Halbi. The two sides reached important consensus on maintaining strategic communication and deepening military exchanges and cooperation, among others.
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