Tokyo, 27 April, /AJMEDIA/
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrived in Vietnam on Sunday, kicking off a four-day trip that will also take him to the Philippines to boost security and economic ties with the Southeast Asian countries as China extends its reach in the region.
It is Ishiba’s third visit to Southeast Asia since taking office in October and comes as the fast-growing bloc has been rattled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and an escalation of trade tensions between the United States and China.
“We hope to further strengthen security cooperation” with the two Southeast Asian countries, Ishiba told reporters before departing Haneda airport in Tokyo, highlighting China’s “unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force” in the East and South China seas.
Noting that Trump’s tariffs would have a “large impact” on the economies of both Vietnam and the Philippines, Ishiba also said he plans to hear from Japanese companies operating in the two countries so he can address their concerns and opinions through government policies.
Later Sunday in Hanoi, Ishiba is slated to hold a meeting with Vietnamese leader To Lam, who is general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party. He will also meet Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday.
Japan plans to convey its intention to provide Vietnam with defense equipment under its “official security assistance” program launched in 2023 targeting like-minded partners for support, according to Japanese government sources.
An outcome document is expected to be released after the talks between Ishiba and Chinh, which are likely to touch on economic cooperation and setting up a dialogue framework between the two governments’ foreign and defense officials, the sources said.
During his stay in Manila from Tuesday, Ishiba will hold talks with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and is expected to agree to start discussions on an intelligence-sharing pact and to hold joint drills by the two countries’ coast guards.
They will also agree to begin negotiations for an agreement to facilitate the exchange of defense supplies and logistical support between the two countries’ defense forces, according to the sources.
Japan has been ramping up security ties with ASEAN nations in recent years as China intensifies its military activities in the resource-rich South China Sea, home to important shipping lanes.
Vietnam and the Philippines, along with other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have overlapping territorial claims with Beijing in the South China Sea. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire area.
Japan shares concerns over China’s maritime assertiveness, as Chinese coast guard ships have repeatedly entered waters around the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
While Trump’s moves since returning to power have cast uncertainty over the global economic outlook, including through a barrage of tariffs, Chinese President Xi Jinping has recently visited Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, which have been deepening their cooperation with Beijing through its signature Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative.
Many ASEAN members have been among U.S. trade partners targeted by Trump’s tariffs, with Vietnam facing a so-called reciprocal levy of 46 percent and the Philippines, a U.S. security ally, facing 17 percent.
A reciprocal tariff on Japan, another close U.S. ally, has been set at 24 percent.
The Japanese government aims to increase its commitment to Southeast Asia, which it views as “geopolitically important” and the world’s engine of growth, at a time of “increasing uncertainty” in international affairs, a Foreign Ministry official said.
Ishiba visited Laos in October, on his first overseas trip as the prime minister, to attend a series of summits related to ASEAN. He also traveled to Malaysia and Indonesia in January for bilateral talks.
