DEFENCE MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by Ministerial Support and Public Affairs, Department of Defence, Canberra, ACT
Phone: 02 6127 1999, Fax: 02 6265 1545
MSPA 343/09
Thursday, 15 October 2009
AUSTRALIA-CHINA DEFENCE STRATEGIC DIALOGUE HELD IN
CANBERRA TODAY
The Chief of the Defence Force (CDF), Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, and the Secretary
of Defence, Dr Ian Watt, today hosted Australia and China’s annual Defence Strategic
Dialogue with the People’s Liberation Army Chief of General Staff, General Chen Bingde.
This is the 12th Defence Dialogue held between China and Australia, and the second at this
level. The talks were upgraded to the Chief of Defence/Secretary level last year in recognition
of the developing ties between the two militaries.
Dr Watt said that the Dialogue was an opportunity to exchange views on emerging strategic
trends and establish a new series of engagement initiatives in education and areas of shared
interest such as disaster relief and maritime security.
“I am pleased to welcome General Chen to Australia and look forward to us consolidating and
building our bilateral defence relationship,” Dr Watt said.
“Our discussions today have been frank and productive and reaffirm that we both view our
defence engagement as an important part of the broader bilateral relationship.”
Air Chief Marshal Houston noted that the Strategic Dialogue enabled the senior leadership of
the Australian and Chinese defence organisations to hold regular discussions on common
security challenges, improve our understanding of each other's approaches and advance
bilateral defence cooperation.
"This type of dialogue is a major strategic asset for both countries. Our discussions today and
those at the working-level reflect a mutual commitment to addressing challenges that face our
region,” Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
“The ability of countries to respond to strategic challenges in a cooperative and coordinated
way is imperative. You only have to look to multilateral counter-piracy efforts off the Horn of
Africa, to which both China and Australia contribute, to see the value of solid defence
engagement and dialogue.”
Media Note:
Vision of CDF meeting General Chen has been sent to all networks via Parliament House.
Media contact: Defence Media Liaison: 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664
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