James Kon
Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) Major General Pengiran Dato Paduka Seri Aminan bin Pengiran Haji Mahmud attended the Chiefs of Defence Conference (CHOD) 2020 via video conference with the theme ‘Advancing Free and Open Indo-Pacific’.
The two-day conference, held since Tuesday was chaired by Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (US INDOPACOM) Admiral Philip Davidson and co-chaired by Acting Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Rear Admiral Viliame Naupoto.
RBAF Chief of Staff, Director of Intelligence and the Chief Medical Officer were
also present.
The conference focussed on the collaboration status of materialising the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ (FOIP) strategy. The opening remark was delivered by Prime Minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama, followed by a keynote address by the United States (US) Secretary of Defense Dr Mark Esper.
The chiefs of defence also discussed the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to the strategic environment including the national security implications of COVID-19, health-related transnational threats and national security implications of 5G mobile technology.
The conference consisted of 27 participating countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, China, France, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the US and Vietnam.
