Japan, Vietnam to bolster maritime security cooperation

Japan and Vietnam have agreed to bolster their security ties through Japanese-funded projects including the upgrading of Vietnamese coastal patrol capabilities, defence equipment and technology transfer amid concerns about China's increasingly assertive activity in regional seas.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, held talks in Tokyo today and shared "deep concern over the complex developments" involving China in the South China Sea.
They urged China, without referring to it by name, to avoid taking actions to change the status quo and escalate regional tensions.
Japan and Vietnam signed more than a dozen agreements, including Japan's provision of 38 billion yen (USD 350 million) in development aid to upgrade Vietnamese coast guard vessels and their patrol capability.