Japan, Vietnam Improve Security Cooperation

The Japanese Defense Minister and his Vietnamese counterparthave agreed to boost cooperation in maritime security amid concern over China’s growing naval activities

Japan, Vietnam agree to beef up maritime security cooperation

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and his Vietnamese counterpart Phung Quang Thanh agreed Monday to boost cooperation in maritime security amid concern over China’s growing naval activities, Japanese officials said.

During their talks in Hanoi, Onodera was quoted by the officials as telling the Vietnamese defense minister that the rule of law and dialogue are vital in settling issues to secure stability in the Asian region.

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Amid China’s growing assertiveness at sea, Japan has been keen to strengthen ties with nations such as Vietnam, given that Japan is involved in a territorial row with China in the East China Sea and Vietnam is embroiled in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.

Onodera, who is in Vietnam as part of a five-day trip from Sunday that will also take him to Thailand, met Thanh most recently late last month on the sidelines of a defense ministers’ meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their dialogue partners in Brunei.

Source: Global Post

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2 Replies to “Japan, Vietnam Improve Security Cooperation”

  1. mary pham

    Given well demonstrated Chinese territorial aggression throughout Asia, these joint partnerships between regional neighbors should be encouraged and strategic coordination should be prioritized to proactively, isolate and confront China. While China is clearly a global danger, the Asian leadership will eventually open the passage way for future western engagement. Appeasement and diplomatic reasoning have not worked so, the choice is unfortunately narrowed to few countries ( Australia, Japan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam ) that must stand up to China before it’s too late.

  2. Clint Richards

    I agree that this is an interesting development, and further evidence of Japan testing the boundaries of Article 9. However, while Japan and Vietnam share a common maritime security concern in China, neither possess the naval ability to assist each other in any real sense. This is simply a tactic to show solidarity between two of the most vocal opponents of China`s recent South China Sea and East China Sea forray`s.

    Cooperation between either of these countries and the Philippines would pose a more coherant and strategic threat to China, even though the Philippines navy remains vastly undersized. A clear security agreement with the Philippines would constitute a block to one of China`s as yet unrealized blue water routes. I would expect any such agreement to be viewed as a strategic threat by both the CPC and the PLA and challenged accordingly. Agreements like the one between Vietnam and Japan pose no real risk to China and thus can be left largely challenged.

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