TOKYO (AP) – Japan can now provide defense equipment and technology to Vietnam under an agreement signed on Saturday, as the two countries step up their military cooperation amid concerns over China’s growing military influence.
Japan’s Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the agreement elevates its defense partnership “to a new level” and that Japan and Vietnam plan to deepen defense ties through joint multinational exercises and other means. Details on the transfer of specific equipment, including naval vessels, will be worked on in later talks, the ministry said.
Kishi’s meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Van Giang, in Hanoi coincided with a two-day visit to the Vietnamese capital by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. He ended his visit by saying that China plans to give 3 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine to Vietnam..
The deal comes two weeks after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Vietnam to strengthen ties with the Southeast Asian nation. During the tour, Harris urged countries to defend themselves from China’s “intimidation” into the South China Sea.
The Ministry of Defense of Japan said in a statement that Kishi and Giang agreed on the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as cooperation in various areas of defense, including cybersecurity.
Tokyo regularly protests the presence of the Chinese Coast Guard near the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands, which China also claims and calls Diaoyu. Japanese officials say Chinese vessels routinely violate Japanese territorial waters around the islands, sometimes threatening fishing vessels.
During the talks, Kishi expressed Japan’s strong opposition to “any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by coercion or any activity that intensifies tensions,” referring to China’s increasingly assertive activity at sea. of East and South China, but without identifying any country by its name. .
Vietnam is the eleventh nation with which Japan has signed an agreement to transfer equipment and defense technology. Tokyo wants to expand military cooperation beyond its longtime ally in the United States and has signed similar agreements with Britain, Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
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