@Viet 
My friend: Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!
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HANOI (Kyodo) -- Japanese and Vietnamese defense chiefs agreed on Friday that a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel make a port call at a strategic Vietnamese naval base in the South China Sea, Japanese officials said.
© Kyodo
With the base in Cam Ranh Bay being relatively close to the disputed Spratly Islands -- roughly 460 kilometers -- the port call by a Japanese defense vessel will not go unnoticed by China, which has created artificial islands in the waters to the annoyance of other claimants.
At the same meeting in Hanoi, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and his Vietnamese counterpart Phung Quang Thanh also confirmed plans to conduct the first maritime exercise between the MSDF and the Vietnamese military.
Like several of its neighbors, Vietnam has been locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea with China, which claims almost all of the sea. Japan, which heavily depends on sea-borne trade, views the South China Sea as an important sea lane.
If the Vietnamese naval base can be used as a supply base for the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, the scope of potential SDF activities in the South China Sea could expand.
Vietnam plans to build new port facilities to receive MSDF and other vessels. The Japanese minister hopes to realize the port call within the next year, according to the officials.
Even if the port call happens, however, the MSDF is unlikely to undertake full-fledged patrols in the waters lest such operations alarm China excessively. Instead, it is believed it will limit port calls to when its vessels embark on ocean voyages.
During Friday's meeting, Nakatani and Thanh also agreed on the importance of resolving disputes peacefully in accordance with international law, including freedom of navigation, according to the officials.
Reference: Kyodo News, Nikkei Asian Review
My friend: Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!
-----
HANOI (Kyodo) -- Japanese and Vietnamese defense chiefs agreed on Friday that a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel make a port call at a strategic Vietnamese naval base in the South China Sea, Japanese officials said.
© Kyodo
With the base in Cam Ranh Bay being relatively close to the disputed Spratly Islands -- roughly 460 kilometers -- the port call by a Japanese defense vessel will not go unnoticed by China, which has created artificial islands in the waters to the annoyance of other claimants.
At the same meeting in Hanoi, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and his Vietnamese counterpart Phung Quang Thanh also confirmed plans to conduct the first maritime exercise between the MSDF and the Vietnamese military.
Like several of its neighbors, Vietnam has been locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea with China, which claims almost all of the sea. Japan, which heavily depends on sea-borne trade, views the South China Sea as an important sea lane.
If the Vietnamese naval base can be used as a supply base for the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, the scope of potential SDF activities in the South China Sea could expand.
Vietnam plans to build new port facilities to receive MSDF and other vessels. The Japanese minister hopes to realize the port call within the next year, according to the officials.
Even if the port call happens, however, the MSDF is unlikely to undertake full-fledged patrols in the waters lest such operations alarm China excessively. Instead, it is believed it will limit port calls to when its vessels embark on ocean voyages.
During Friday's meeting, Nakatani and Thanh also agreed on the importance of resolving disputes peacefully in accordance with international law, including freedom of navigation, according to the officials.
Reference: Kyodo News, Nikkei Asian Review
