HANOI
(Kyodo) – Japanese government pledged to give Vietnam six vessels that can
be used as patrol ships to aid Hanoi's efforts to heighten its law enforcement
capability in the South China Sea.
In the Vietnamese capital at a time when Vietnam is
bolted in a maritime territorial dispute with China, Japanese Foreign Minister
Fumio Kishida signed the grant-in-aid deal with Bui Quang Vinh, Vietnam's
minister of planning and investment.
The six (6)
ships are expected to be supplied to Vietnam by the end of the year, in a deal
worth 500 million yen, according to Japanese officials.
Kishida
expressed Japan's intention to assist Vietnam's drive to boost its coast guard
capability in a meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister Pham Binh Minh, the officials said.
Kishida and
Minh have both agreed to maximize cooperation in ensuring maritime security as
both countries are locked into China's territorial claims in the East and South
China seas.
FM Minh
welcomed Japan's security policy review, including a July 1 decision by the
Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to permit Japan to use the right to
collective self-defense, according to the officials.
