This year is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of friendly and cooperative relations between Japan and ASEAN, and as the Japan-ASEAN special summit to be held in Tokyo in December approaches, Japan has begun to intensify its efforts to strengthen ties with ASEAN countries. According to the Japanese news agency Kyodo News reported on the 13th, the Japanese government is considering Vietnam and Djibouti as “government security capacity strengthening support” (OSA) of the new support candidates.
According to Japan’s “Sankei Shimbun” reported on the 14th, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno announced at a press conference in the morning of the same day, Vietnam’s President Vu Van Sang and his wife will visit Japan from 27 to 30 November. During the visit, Vu Van Rieu will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and will meet with Japan’s Emperor Tokujin and his wife. According to Matsuno, “Japan and Vietnam have close ties and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. We look forward to further deepening the friendly and co-operative relations between the two countries through President Vu Van Sang’s visit to Japan.” Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun disclosed in October that Japan and Vietnam are discussing upgrading bilateral relations to the highest level of “comprehensive strategic partnership”, the same level as the Vietnam-US relationship. It is expected that the two sides will reach a consensus on this during Vu Van Sang’s talks with Fumio Kishida in Japan.
In addition to the possible escalation of Japan-Vietnam relations, the Japanese government also plans to increase support for Vietnam. According to Kyodo News Agency on the 13th cited Japanese government sources, based on the OSA mechanism, the Japanese government intends to Vietnam in the South China Sea and China’s sovereignty dispute, as well as the Japan Self-Defence Forces have a stronghold in the eastern African country of Djibouti as a new candidate for support. The specific content of the support will be based on the results of the survey. Previously, the Japanese government named the Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Fiji as OSA support recipients for 2023.
While strengthening bilateral relations with ASEAN member states, Japan has not forgotten to strengthen defence cooperation with ASEAN. According to the Japanese Ministry of Defence website, Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara announced that the 8th Japan-ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting will be held in Indonesia on the 15th. Minoru Kihara will participate in the meeting online in Tokyo, and Japan’s Vice Minister of Defence Hiroyuki Miyazawa will travel to Indonesia to participate in the meeting offline.On the 16th, Hiroyuki Miyazawa will go on to participate in the 10th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Expanded Meeting in Indonesia.
Lv Chao, director of the Institute of American and East Asian Studies at Liaoning University, told the Global Times on the 14th that Vietnam’s relations with China have been developing smoothly this year, and it is also one of the most influential countries in Southeast Asia. This time, Japan is considering including Vietnam and Djibouti in the so-called security cooperation, obviously wanting to pull Vietnam and other countries to fight for it against China. Lu Chao mentioned that China and ASEAN countries are getting closer and closer in terms of comprehensive political and economic co-operation, and it is difficult for Japan to change the latter’s basic trend of friendship with China by pulling in ASEAN countries with some small favours.
