Japan, Vietnam vow to deepen security cooperation
Senior foreign and defence officials of Japan and Vietnam on Thursday (December 4) agreed to flesh out cooperation in the field of security to realise a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
- Japan and Vietnam held their first vice-ministerial "two-plus-two" meeting, involving both foreign and defense officials, to enhance security ties.
- Key areas of cooperation discussed included defense equipment and technology transfer, personnel exchanges, disaster relief, and Japan's Official Security Assistance (OSA) program.
- The officials addressed shared regional security concerns, specifically China's actions in the East and South China Seas and North Korea's weapons programs.
At their first vice minister-class "two-plus-two" meeting covering the foreign and defence areas, the Japanese and Vietnamese officials discussed bilateral personnel exchanges, disaster relief, defence equipment and technology cooperation, and Japan's official security assistance (OSA) program, which is designed to provide defence 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 defence for international affairs, from the Japanese side, and their Vietnamese counterparts, Nguyen Minh Vu and Hoang Xuan Chien, respectively.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
