菲律宾国防部长吉尔伯托·特奥多罗二世周三在东盟国防部长会议（ADMM）开幕式上对东南亚各国国防部长表示，东盟“必须不允许分歧从内部分裂我们”。他在菲律宾宿务市主持第20届东盟国防部长会议开幕式时发表上述言论。
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Wednesday told Southeast Asian defense chiefs that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) “must not allow differences to divide us from within.”He made the remarks while addressing the opening ceremony of the 20th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM), which he chaired in the Philippine city of Cebu.
东盟秘书长高金洪和成员国国防部长出席了会议，东盟在美资社交媒体公司X上的帖文中表示。作为11国集团现任主席，菲律宾以“共同驾驭未来”为主题主办此次峰会。会议发表了东盟国防部长联合声明，纪念《东南亚友好合作条约》签署50周年和东盟国防部长会议成立20周年。
ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn and the defense ministers of the bloc’s member states attended the meeting, ASEAN said in a post on US social media company The Philippines, the current chair of the 11-member bloc, is hosting the summit under the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together.”The meeting issued a joint statement by ASEAN defense ministers commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and the 20th anniversary of the ADMM.
各国国防部长还就多项新的东盟国防部长会议倡议和活动达成一致。
The defense ministers also agreed on various new ADMM initiatives and activities.
特奥多罗敦促成员国通过“和平与法律途径”解决地区争端，包括南海争端。据当地英语新闻媒体《Rappler》援引，特奥多罗表示：“东盟建立在‘我们的力量源于多样性’这一信念之上。因此我们绝不能让分歧从内部分裂我们，凡存在分歧之处，包括在南海，我们都应通过和平与法律途径加以解决。”
Teodoro urged member states to settle regional disputes, including those in the South China Sea, through “peaceful and legal means.”“ASEAN was founded on the belief that our strength lies in our diversity. We must therefore not allow our differences to divide us from within, and where such differences exist, including in the South China Sea, we shall settle them through peaceful and legal means,” local English-language news outlet Rappler quoted Teodoro as saying.
东盟国防部长还将举行第13届东盟国防部长会议扩大版（ADMM-Plus），并分别与美国、印度、日本、澳大利亚和韩国国防部长举行会谈。
The ASEAN defense chiefs will also hold the 13th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus, along with separate meetings with defense chiefs from the US, India, Japan, Australia, and South Korea.
中国国防部长董军缺席峰会，由中国驻马尼拉大使馆武官代为出席。
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun skipped the summit, with the defense attache of China’s Embassy in Manila attending in his place.