Japan, Vietnam Vow to Deepen Security Cooperation

Tokyo, Dec. 4 (Jiji Press)–Senior foreign and defense officials of Japan and Vietnam on Thursday agreed to flesh out cooperation in the field of security to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region. At their first vice minister-class “two-plus-two” meeting covering the foreign and defense areas, the Japanese and Vietnamese officials discussed bilateral personnel exchanges, disaster relief, defense equipment and technology cooperation, and Japan’s official security assistance (OSA) program, which is designed to provide defense equipment free of charge to like-minded countries. They also exchanged views on the situation in the East and South China seas, where China is intensifying its coercive actions, and on North Korea’s nuclear and missile development programs. At a summit in Hanoi in April, Japan and Vietnam agreed to set up a vice-ministerial-level meeting. The day’s meeting was attended by Hiroyuki Namazu, senior deputy minister for foreign affairs, and Koji Kano, vice minister of defense for international affairs, from the Japanese side, and their Vietnamese counterparts, Nguyen Minh Vu and Hoang Xuan Chien, respectively. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]