News Report: Vietnam Slams China Over Live-Fire Drills in South China Sea

Chinese Navy Warships on patrol

Vietnam on Tuesday again strongly criticized China’s military live-fire exercises in the disputed South China Sea amid escalating tensions between the two Asian nations.

The Maritime Safety Administration of China's southern province of Hainan, which oversees the South China Sea, announced last month that live-fire drills would take place around the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, until September 2.

"Vietnam strongly objects to this action by China and seriously requests China to respect Vietnam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa [Paracel] archipelagos," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a newly released statement.

"Vietnam once again asserts that [we] will resolutely protect our sovereignty and our legitimate rights and interests in the East Sea [South China Sea] through peaceful measures that are suitable with international laws," the statement said.

News Story: Defence links – crucial pillar in Vietnam-Japan ties - Minister

Hanoi (VNA) – Defence cooperation between Vietnam and Japan has deepened and become a key pillar in the bilateral relations, said Defence Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich. 

At a reception for visiting Honorary Chairman of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation Yohei Sasakawa on July 10, the minister said defence links between the two countries have been fostered through regular meetings of the two armies’ senior leaders. 

Exchange activities and experience sharing among naval, coast guard, and air forces of the two sides have been expanded, contributing to enhancing mutual understanding and trust between the two armies, Lich said. 

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Report: Vietnam Faces New Oil Dispute With China After Beijing Cuts Visit Short

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI — China and Vietnam face a stiff new test in avoiding a showdown over undersea oil drilling after Beijing cut short a high-level meeting last week, but experts say the two sides will eventually patch things over.

Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission left early from a “defense border meeting” in Vietnam Thursday due to “working arrangements,” the official Xinhua News Agency in Beijing reported. Fan had met earlier in the week with Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary, president and prime minister.

Talks cancelled

Neither side is saying officially whether something else led to the cancelation. Analysts who track Vietnam believe it comes down to a disputed South China Sea oil exploration tract in Vietnam’s hands as well as Hanoi’s recent contact with Chinese rivals Japan and the United States.

“Most analysts believe China was either sending Vietnam a signal about its deepening ties with the U.S. and Japan or pressing it to stop exploring for oil near China’s nine-dash line or maybe both,” said Murray Hiebert, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.

News Report: China, Vietnam Cancel High-Level Meeting Over South China Sea Disputes

Not long after Chinese and Vietnamese state-run media announced that senior military officials from Beijing and Hanoi would meet, the arrangements fell through at the last minute.

In a short statement released Tuesday, the Chinese Defense Ministry said that "reasons related to working arrangements" caused the cancellation, with some analysts suggesting that representatives from Beijing cut their Vietnam trip short after a contentious closed-door meeting about South China Sea territorial disputes.

Both Vietnam and China are "very committed to showing the other their own resolve" on territorial issues, Vietnam specialist Alexander L. Vuving, of Hawaii’s Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, told the New York Times. 

"You can say both sides miscalculated," he added about the sudden cancellation.

News Story: Vietnam, Japan defence cooperation to grow further

Tokyo (VNA) – Vietnam and Japan will exchange experience in UN peacekeeping activities and join hands to handle post-war consequences as well as promote cyberspace and maritime security.

Deputy Minister of Defence Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh and his Japanese counterpart Ro Manabe reached the agreement during their meeting on June 5 as part of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to Japan and attendance of the 23rd International Conference on the Future of Asia.

This year, Japan receives 12 trainees from Vietnam’s Ministry of Defence to pursue BA, MA, PhD in information and technology, telecommunication-electronics engineering, international relations and strategy research.

The Japanese side is working with the Vietnamese defence ministry to test dioxin settlement technology. In addition, the two sides have strengthened collaboration in sea search and rescue.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Story: Japan emperor, empress arrive in Vietnam for 1st trip

HANOI (Kyodo) -- Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for their first trip to the Southeast Asian country to promote goodwill and soothe some of the wounds from World War II through exchanges with Vietnamese wives of former Japanese soldiers.

The weeklong tour will also take the imperial couple to Thailand to pay their respects to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died last October.

"In our relations with Vietnam, we welcomed as state guests to Japan, His Excellency President Nguyen Minh Triet in 2007 and His Excellency President Truong Tan Sang in 2014, and we have been kindly offered invitations to visit Vietnam," Emperor Akihito said at Tokyo's Haneda airport before departure.

"It is our hope that our visit to Vietnam will contribute to the further development of the mutual understanding and friendly relations between our two countries," he said.

Referring to their planned stopover in Thailand, the emperor said, "The empress and I enjoyed a close friendship of over 50 years with the late king."

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Story: Vietnam-Japan defence ties effective

Hanoi (VNA) – The defence cooperation between Vietnam and Japan is comprehensive, effective, pragmatic and mutually trustworthy, said Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh.

The officer told the Vietnam News Agency on the sidelines of the fourth Vietnam-Japan Defence Policy Dialogue that took place in Tokyo on November 29 that the two countries share common concerns about negative impacts on peace in Asia-Pacific in general and on stability and development in each nation in particular.

He stressed that the bilateral defence affiliation has become increasingly important as it helps build mutual trust between the two countries in a sustainable manner.

At the previous dialogues, the two sides discussed regional security and expressed their shared concern in order to raise voice and take actions together to ease the risks of uncertainties in the region and each country, Vinh said.

During this year’s event, Vietnam and Japan agreed on the need to raise a strong voice to protect peace and collaboration processes in the region and the world at large.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Story: PM Abe wants closer ties between Japanese, Vietnamese parties

Tokyo (VNA) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on November 30 that he wants stronger cooperation between his country’s Liberal Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

Meeting with head of the CPV Central Committee’s Organisation Commission Pham Minh Chinh in Tokyo, Abe express his delight at the growth of the two countries’ relations, stressing that their increasing political trust is a solid foundation for effective cooperation and will bring about practical interests for the two peoples.

Japan will keep its high attention and priority for the comprehensive cooperation with Vietnam, he said, noting that he will direct Japan’s authorised agencies to actively assist Vietnam in training officials. 

He added his country is ready to cooperate with and help the Southeast Asian nation to build high-quality infrastructure.

He voiced his hope for the best possible conditions for a visit to Vietnam by the Japanese Emperor and Queen next spring.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Story: Vietnam-Japan defence ties effective

Hanoi (VNA) – The defence cooperation between Vietnam and Japan is comprehensive, effective, pragmatic and mutually trustworthy, said Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh.

The officer told the Vietnam News Agency on the sidelines of the fourth Vietnam-Japan Defence Policy Dialogue that took place in Tokyo on November 29 that the two countries share common concerns about negative impacts on peace in Asia-Pacific in general and on stability and development in each nation in particular.

He stressed that the bilateral defence affiliation has become increasingly important as it helps build mutual trust between the two countries in a sustainable manner.

At the previous dialogues, the two sides discussed regional security and expressed their shared concern in order to raise voice and take actions together to ease the risks of uncertainties in the region and each country, Vinh said.

During this year’s event, Vietnam and Japan agreed on the need to raise a strong voice to protect peace and collaboration processes in the region and the world at large.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus