Contemporary Vietnam-Japan Relations from
Regional Perspectives

Lam Thi Giang
Master of Area Studies, Vietnam Japan University, Vietnam National University, Hanoi
ベトナムと日本は2014年以来、戦略的パートナーとして良好な関係を築いてきた。中国の覇権主義的な動きに対抗する上でも、この良好な関係を維持・発展させることが重要だ。

Abstract

The diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan was elevated to the higher level of extensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia in 2014, reflecting the mutual political trust and deep development in thebilateral cooperation and marking Tokyo as Hanoi’s first extensive strategic partner. The political trust rooted in no
conflict in national interests and no political uneasiness, the cultural similarities, interest compatibility, and economic interdependence has helped to build up the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Japan. Besides, the
new challenges arising from the China’s assertiveness in the East and South China Seas have brought considerable
regional security concerns in general and placed Vietnam and Japan under pressure in protecting their maritime
territorial sovereignty in particular. The two countries have been closely working in the field of security in bilaterallevel, as well as under the regional framework to counter China’s hegemony in Asia Pacific region. With its geostrategic position as the hub of sea routes connecting Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific, maritime conflicts in theSouth China Sea attract attentions of all relating parties, especially big powers in preserving freedom of navigation
and regional peace. This paper examines the internal and external factors in tightening the Vietnam-Japan relations
and highlights the importance of multilateral cooperation to protect the regional peace and prosperity.
Keywords

Vietnam-Japan relations, diplomacy, maritime conflict, East Asian security

Introduction

Vietnam was chosen to be the first official foreign
visit when Suga Yoshihide became the Japan’s head ofgovernment in 2020, which was the same choice for Abe
Shinzo in 2013. This visit can be seen as a continuationof Abe’s foreign policy in Suga’s administration andreaffirms the importance of Vietnam in Japan’s South
Policy and its links with ASEAN countries to ensure
regional peace and security. Unlike complicated relations of neighboring countries in the region such as
between Japan and China, or between Japan and Korea,
the Vietnam-Japan relations has been extended to a newheight with various areas. Upon welcoming JapanesePrime Minister Abe Shinzo in his first overseas visit toVietnam in 2013, the then Vietnamese Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung declared that the Party andGovernment of Vietnam showed strong determination
in intensifying and consolidating the cooperative relationship with Japan. Prime Minister Nguyen also addedthat the bilateral tie is not only the “consistent guideline
and top priority of the foreign policy but also the strategic choice” of Vietnam. It can be explained that theVietnamese people share a common consensus of opinion on the problem-free relationship with Japan while acloser move to China or the United States can bringdomestic arguments such as territorial disputes with
China or ideological differences with the United States.
On the Japanese side, the extensive cooperation with119Lam Thi Giang

Vietnam is in accordance with its looking south policy,
which carries out the stronger engagement with ASEAN
countries. With this approach, this paper aims to analyze factors which consolidate the Vietnam- Japan relations with two sections. The first section provides an
overview of the bilateral relations with the internal factors. The second one explores the regional politicallandscape with external factors, focusing on the strategies of China and the United States.

Internal factors

Cooperation for development
Vietnam and Japan relations can be said to be in such
intimate period that never ever experienced in past history. It is the common judgment of leaders, diplomats,researchers, and entrepreneurs of the two countries.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations on
September 21, 1973, the two countries have constantly
cultivated to build and consolidate bilateral friendshipand cooperation, with an important milestone being
establishing the relationship “Vietnam-Japan extensive
strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia” inMarch 2014. The milestone is significant in strengthening trust and deepening furthermore the strategic partnership between the two countries, not only in the fieldof economics, but also in politics, diplomacy, and national
security. The partnership was lifted to the new height,
thus ushering in the prospects of trustfulness in politics,
and comprehensiveness, effectiveness in economics.
Japan is the country with the 3rd biggest economy in
the world, and is assessed as a partner with cultural similarity, interest compatibility and economic interdependence with Vietnam. There is no political uneasinessbetween the two countries, which consolidated thehighly mutual political trust. The two countries focus oncooperation to strengthen political trust, promote economic connection and support in international issues.
Japan is a leading and long-term strategic partner andnow occupies an especially important role in Vietnam’s
industrialization and modernization strategies.
Economically, Japan has prioritized economic development aid for Vietnam. ODA funds are about 100 billion yen for North-South expressway projects, seaport120

projects. The focus areas of development include transport infrastructure development, energy, supporting
industries, human resource training, and agriculture.
Infrastructure is one of the top priorities in Vietnam’s
development strategy. The projects supported by Japan
contribute positively to promoting socio-economic
development and modernization of infrastructure in
Vietnam. Currently, through JICA, Japan is actively
supporting Vietnam in implementing projects to promote economic growth and enhance international competitiveness in three main areas: transportation,
electricity, energy, and human resource training.
Outstanding projects such as Nhat Tan Bridge, NorthSouth expressway, Hoa Lac hi-tech park, Tan Vu crosssea bridge have become vivid symbols of Vietnam-Japanfriendship. In Ho Chi Minh City, the first urban railway
project (line 1) of the subway line is under construction.
JICA is currently supporting the construction of 5
important international ports with ODA since 1990. The
Lach Huyen Port construction project inaugurated in2018 is the first PPP project between Vietnam and Japan.
Regarding electricity and energy, if including the generating plants in the construction process, the electricity
output of power plants built from Japanese ODA willreach 4640 MW, accounting for nearly 10% of the total
output of electricity produced throughout Vietnam. So
far, Japan has implemented 6 projects to build thermal
power plants, 6 hydroelectric power plants, including
Da Nhim plant, built with war compensation money inthe 1960s. In terms of human resources, Vietnam Japan
University established in 2014 is a symbol of theVietnam-Japan strategic partnership with the hope of
becoming the leading prestigious research university in
Asia in various fields, especially in advanced technology and interdisciplinary sciences aiming at promoting
the strengths of Vietnam and Japan.
Japan has been involved in all economic fields ofVietnam not only as investors but also created a favorable investment environment to attract investors fromJapan and other countries. Japan- Vietnam joint initiative to improve Vietnam’s investment environment
since 2003 has resulted with significant efficiency. The
economic connection is one of the key points in bilateral6th AFC Best Papers

cooperation, in which the two sides aim to make up for
their weaknesses, promote their advantages and sharedifficulties for mutual development. In other word, theeconomies of Vietnam and Japan are connected to complete each other. Vietnam is in its industrialization process requiring for advanced science- technology, highproduction capacity, good development strategies andskilled human resources which are Japan’s advantages.
For the connection in development strategy, Japaneseexperts continue to help Vietnam draw up the line ofindustrial strategy and planning schemes for specificfields as following Vietnam’s industrialization strategy
within Vietnam-Japan cooperation framework to 2020,
vision to 2030. The two countries have agreed on six
selected industries including electronics, agricultural
machinery, agricultural and fisheries product processing, shipbuilding, environment and energy saving, production of auto and auto spare parts.
Namely in the field of agriculture, the two sides agreed
on signing the “vision on mid-term and long-term cooperation” to connect the two countries’ economies in thehope of promoting Vietnam’s potential and Japan’s
strengths in agriculture. While Japan can only self-supply less than 40% of food, Japanese investors areencouraged to directly invest in agricultural production
in chains, and apply Japanese hi-tech and then export
products to Japan. This helps to increase Vietnamese
product quality and price, thus increases Vietnam’s
export turnover. Japan now has a tendency to transfer
some production sectors to other countries including
high-tech agriculture due to the fact that the Japanese’s
life span is getting higher and the number of farmers is,thus, gradually reducing. Moreover, Vietnam is helping
to ease Japan’s very serious labor shortage: around
300,000 Vietnamese people live and work in Japan. The
number of Vietnamese ‘technical trainees’ is the largest
among foreign workers and the number of Vietnamesestudents is the second largest after China.
Regional security environment
In terms of security, Vietnam with its geopoliticalsignificance and its firm position in ASEAN has been
put into an important place in Japan’s diplomatic

strategy. As explained by Japanese Ambassador toVietnam Kunio Umeda, the first reason for the strengthened bilateral relation is that the importance of Vietnam
has been increasing for Japan. Both Japan and Vietnam
share fundamental maritime principles that are important in the South China Sea, one of the most importantsea-lanes for Japan. Therefore, the two sides supported
and promoted measures to strengthen political trust,connect two economies, support sustainable development, promote cooperation in national defense andsecurity, and enhance cooperation in regional and international issues.
Apart from the similarity in national interests,
Vietnam and Japan share the common awareness about
the current situation of the region and the world. The
two countries have no conflict in interest, thus cooperation is for mutual interest and contributes to ensure
security and safety of the region and the world. Therefore,
the two sides have strengthened their activities in order
to raise the spirit of respecting the law in maritime security, ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight.
With the goal of building a peaceful, stable, cooperativeand developing Asia-Pacific region, the two countries
work closely on regional and international security
forums to resolve disputes through peaceful means inline with international law.
In the year of 2020, when the world is facing with the
pandemic of Covid19, Vietnam was seen as a symbol ofsuccess in curbing the virus spread and chosen as thefirst destination to visit for the new Japanese Prime
Minister Suga Yoshihide. The visit to Vietnam in thecontext of the global pandemic has shown the positionof Vietnam and ASEAN in the Japan’s foreign affairs
strategies after the Abe Shinzo’s administration. In his
speech, the new Prime Minister affirmed the ASEAN
Outlook with its common points with the Free and Open
Indo-Pacific, which showed Japan’s strong support andcommitment to work in hand with ASEAN countries tobuild up “a peaceful and prosperous future”.
Enhancing national position
The effective cooperation with Vietnam affirms
Japan’s southern policy in the context that Japan does121

Lam Thi Giang

not have a peaceful neighborly relationship with China,
North Korea and South Korea. Vietnam and Singapore
are countries publicly supporting Japan as a permanent
member of the United Nations. Geographically,
Vietnam, with its geopolitical advantage, is the gateway
to the Asian continent and serves as the bridgehead on
the mainland of the sea and air trade route across the
Pacific. Building strategic relations with Vietnam
ensures the enhancement of Japan’s political role in theregion. As Japanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Yutaka Yokoi said on the visit to Vietnam by Prime
Minister Abe Shinzo, “For Japanese people, Vietnam isalways a good choice.” Strategic cooperation with fourASEAN countries, including Vietnam, Thailand,
Indonesia, and the Philippines, which attaches special
importance to relations with Japan. In ASEAN, Vietnam
as the 2nd populated country after Indonesia with its
growing market is an attractive destination for Japanese
investors. Moreover, Vietnam is actively deploying economic reforms which have gained big achievements andgradually affirms it important positions in the region.
Cementing cooperation with Hanoi is a part of Tokyo’s
looking south policy with the aim of gaining trust andconfidence from Southeast Asian countries.
In the view of the Japanese people, North Korea is
one of the biggest threats to national security. The conflict between Japan and North Korea relating to theabduction of Japanese citizens from 1977 to 1983 has
not been solved yet due to the North Korean closure.
Recently, Vietnam has shown its ability in settling international disputes with successfully hosting the 2nd
meeting between US President Donald Trump with
North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un in Hanoi. Withthe traditional relationship with North Korea as communist countries, Vietnam can be considered to be an unofficial middleman between Japan and North Korea. Some
reports declared about the secret meeting between
Japanese and North Korean representatives in Hanoi.
On the Vietnamese side, Japan is an important partner, apart from the socialist bloc that helped Vietnam
integrate. In 1973, despite the objections of the UnitedStates before the end of the Vietnam War, Japan had
secretly negotiated bilaterally to establish diplomatic122

relations with Vietnam since 1973 by with an analysis
that a united Vietnam will contribute to stability anddevelopment of Southeast Asia. Bilateral relations experienced ups and downs, especially relating to the
Cambodia issue. However, when the issue was settled,
Japan started taking initiatives to make economic recovery of Indochinese countries. As early as 1992 when the
United States still surrounded Vietnam’s embargo,
Japan took the first bold step out of the shadow of thecold war by resuming ODA development assistance toVietnam, and establishing a friendly relationship with
Vietnam. The promotion of relations with Japan in thefollowing years helped Hanoi break the difficult situation caused by the USA’s embargo. Japan is the first G7
Group, which supports Vietnam to join the World Trade
Organization by recognizing the market economy
status. Being an official full member of the WTO in2007 remarked Vietnam’s integration period into theglobal economy.

External factors

Rising threats from China’s rise
Since Xi Jinping came to power in November 2012,
China has been pursuing two foreign policy principles
which are the “path of peaceful development” and “protection of core interests.” The former is manifested with
the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the latter shows
the ambition of not hesitating to engage in conflicts witha slogan of “major country diplomacy with Chinesecharacteristics.” Global observers see it as China’s aspiration to re-organize the international order. As the second-largest economy, China has muscled up its military
as a great power and called for a “new security outlook”
and the construction of a “new type of international
relations” and the “community of a shared future formankind.”. The conception of China’s core interest has
expanded from domestic issues to sovereign territorialconstraints in the East China sea (Senkaku Islands) andSouth China sea (Spratly and Parcel Islands). China hastranslated economic strength into military power by its
rapidly growing defense budget. China as of 2015 outspent Japan in defense two and a half times over andwith its annual 9% of increase China now is ranking as

6th AFC Best Papers

the 2nd highest military spending nation after the US.
Beijing’s willingness to use its emerging maritime
power to put pressure on Tokyo over conflicting territorial claims in the East China Sea has been manifested asof the primary maritime challenge to Japan’s security.
Additionally, China’s territorial claim enforcement in
the South China Sea has strengthened Japan’s conviction about the coercive inclination and the challenge tochange the current regional order.
As a maritime state, Japan has voiced its concern
about Chinese growing assertiveness in the South China
Sea, especially in relation to its own tensions about the
Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. There is a general perception of the Japanese government that China
is trying to change the current maritime regional orderby force with salami slicing tactic strategy with increasing its presence in both the South and the East China
Sea, and carrying out militarization of islands in theseregions. China attempts to change the status quo by
force but not by international law or norms supported byother countries, which raises great concern to Japan. In
September 2010, the incident of a Chinese fishing boatcrashed into a Japan Coast Guard vessel near Senkaku
became thorny in two countries diplomatic relations.
Two years later, the situation even became more severe
when Japan declared to nationalize the Senkaku Islands.
The decision of the Japanese government led to largescale protests against Japan, which fueled the burning
nationalism in China. Thousands of Chinese took to thestreets to protest, lighted flags, destroyed cars imported
from Japan, and chanted the slogan “turning Japan into
a province of China”. In 2013 alone, more than 200
anti-Japanese films were produced by China. China
declared that the maritime identification zone in the
East China Sea covering the archipelago, the disputed
entity with other countries including Japan. Beijingescalated to challenge Tokyo by sending its Coast Guard
vessels into Japan’s waters around the Senkaku Islands,
which urged Tokyo to response with measures to protect
its territorial sovereignty. The recognition about China’s
aggressive reactions recently becomes firmly with incidents in the South China Sea. The Japanese government
has seen the linkage between these two conflicting areas

in China’s strategic thinking. In the 2017 white defense
book, the Japanese Ministry of Defense expressed“strong concerns over China’s activities in the East andSouth China Seas, where China “continues to display
what may be described as heavy-handed attitude, including its attempts to alter the status quo by force.”
Explaining for the rapid progress in Vietnam – Japan
relations, H.E. Mr. Kunio Umeda, Japanese Ambassador
to Vietnam has pointed out that the first reason is theincreasing importance of Vietnam to Japan while thetwo countries share fundamental maritime principles in
the South China Sea. While the conflicts in the East
China Sea are directly associated with Japanese territorial rights, those in the South China Sea in Tokyo’s vieware relating to trade, and regional stability. Clearly, as a
trading nation with heavy dependence on imports forthe supply of foods and resources, Japan needs to protect maritime security. The US Energy Information
Administration in its 2015 report showed that Japan
conducted 81% of its crude oil imports, 75% of its total
supply through the South China Sea. Moreover, Japaneseleaders can see that if China can persuade other claimants in the South China Sea about the so-called claimed
historical rights, and made it as international legal
norms, they could do the same in the East China Sea
relating to the Senkaku Islands. In sum, to protect its
own interests as well as to protect the regional security
environment, Japan cannot be seen as an outsider ignoring Chinese displays of expanding maritime ambitions.
As a neighbor with China, Vietnamese leaders see
threats from the North as main challenges, allies in thesafeguarding of the nation. While the border issues
between the two communist comrades have been settled
through arduous negotiations, thorny concerns now
focus on maritime conflicts. China’s ambition in theSouth China Sea has been increased since 2007 with theestablishment of the prefecture-level city of Sansha toadminister the Spratly, the Parcel and Macclesfield
Bank. In May 2009, the China government officiallypresented a nine-dash-line map to the United Nations as
a basis of its maritime claim. The so-called nine-dashline map covering most of water which is shared between
many other ASEAN countries. In 2011, The Chinese123Lam Thi Giang

ships cut seismic cable of Vietnam’s survey vessel Binh
Minh 02 and Viking 2 within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. One year later, China opened international
bids for 9 blocks within Vietnam’s EEZ and allowed
Hainan police to board and search ships in disputed
waters in the South China Sea. The two-country relations went badly in 2014 when China anchored its
Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnamese EEZ and deployedover 80 vessels including naval warships to protect therig. Recently, China has continuously constructed artificial islands in Spratlys, which changed the status quo. In
October 2019, when Vietnam extended the operation of
the Japanese-owned semi-submersible Hakuryu-5 oil
drilling rig on Vanguard Bank, China sent Haiyang
Dizhi 8 survey ship accompanied by at least two China
Coast Guard vessels to the southern area of the South
China Sea that violated Vietnam’s exclusive economic
zone and continental shelf (Ministry of Foreign Affairs,2019). It is likely to say that China will continue to send
its ships and oil rigs to the South China Sea to prevent
Vietnam and other countries from conducting legal
operations inside its own economic exclusive zone.
Asia’s pivot strategy of the United States of America
From the viewpoint of American government, theirinterests in the South China Sea are at risk due to China’s
economic and military rise. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton declared in 2011 that “the future of politics will
be decided in Asia” and reiterated the US’s national
interests in protecting the freedom of navigation. It canbe interpreted that if there is any maritime conflict leading to blockage or interference in this region, the US
government will intervene to protect its own interests.
With the geostrategic position as the throat of theWestern Pacific and the Indian Ocean, the South China
Sea is the hub of sea routes for world trade accounting
for USD 1.2 trillion annually. This area called as “thesecond Persian Gulf” is estimated to provide oil reservesof seven billion barrels, and about nine hundred trillion
cubic feet of natural gas. Aiming at containing China’s
growing power, the American government has madeefforts to build stronger bilateral security and defensewith Vietnam through annual bilateral non-combat

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naval exercises in 2010, and signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding on advancing bilateral defense cooperation in 2011. As a traditional alliance of the USA in the
Asia Pacific, Japan’s approach to close cooperation with
Vietnam is in accordance and complement the USA’s
Asia rebalancing. Japan aims to protect and strengthen
the US-led liberal order in East Asia. Vietnam waschosen as Abe Shinzo’s first destination in his first overseas trip during the second term as Japanese Prime
Minister. In this visit, Japanese Prime Minister pledged
to follow 5 principles to protect free and open seas as
public goods, governed by the rule of law and not by useof force as well as supporting the U.S rebalancing
toward the Asia Pacific. In line with the alliance with the
U.S., Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force vessels
were sent to the South China Sea for joint operations
with the United States Navy for the first time in 2015 toemphasize its interest in freedom of navigation to facewith China’s militarization of disputed features.
The United States has been actively tightening thedefense-security cooperation with a variety of measures. Especially after the declaration of Hilary Clinton
at ARF 2010, two former foes have been speeding up
their security cooperation with initiates on maritime
and organizing high- level defense dialogues as mentioned in the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding on
U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Defense Cooperation. The focus
of cooperation includes maritime security, search andrescue program, peace-keeping, humanity and disaster
relief. Vietnam is opening a part of Cam Ranh port to let
it be an international civil and commercial port. Cam
Ranh welcomed the U.S Minister of Defense in 2012and other visits of US Navy’s warships in recent years.
Explaining for the growing defense ties, Dr. Tran Viet
Thai shared in an interview that the mutual politicaltrust and the importance of Vietnam as an importantpartner in the US’s Asia Pivot consolidated bilateraldefense cooperation. The Obama administration in 2016
declared to remove the ban on lethal arms sales toVietnam, which represented for the full normalization
between the two former allies and give Vietnam anotheroption for satisfying its defense needs. In 2018, USS
Carl Vinson anchored Da Nang port as the U.S biggest

6th AFC Best Papers

military appearance in Vietnam since 1975. This visit
sent a clear message that the South China Sea is an open
space in which all parties with interests need to respectmaritime freedom to maintain regional security andpeace. On the other hand, the Asia pivot strategy is one
way to counter the China’s rise and its hegemony in theregional maritime disputes. Observing the Chinese
assertiveness in the Haiyang Shiyou 981 incident,
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in his 2015 visit,
expressed the confirmation for funding Vietnam Coast
Guard to enhance its maritime enforcement capabilities.
Following that, six patrol boats with total worth of USD
12 million was delivered to Vietnam Coast Guard in
April 2019. The two Hamilton-class cutters, the largest
classes of vessel in U.S Coast Guard have been transferred to Vietnam with the hope “to enable Vietnam toassert its sovereignty and deter China.”
Free and Open Indo-Pacific is a remarkable strategy
initiated by Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo toengage the US, India, Australia, ASEAN, Europe andMiddle East countries to improve the connectivity of
Africa and Asia with ASEAN as “the hinge of two
oceans.” Aims at promoting the freedom of navigationfor economic prosperity and protecting peace and stability, this initiative focuses on the engagement of the
US. It was ratified by the Trump Administration andused as a regional strategy with the stronger cooperationof U.S, Japan, Australia and India (or Quad). The initiate is a counter to their Belt and Road Initiative by calling for open logistics and infrastructure and oppose to
Chinese hegemony with an emphasis on freedom ofnavigation. In terms of security, attending ASEAN-U.S.
Ministerial Meeting in Singapore in August 2018,
Secretary of States Mike Pompeo informed a $300 million security funding to express the US’s commitmentin the Indo-Pacific region. He repeated his concerns
about China’s growing militarization in the South China
Sea and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining therule of law.

Conclusion

Through the examination of the internal and external
factors that play crucial roles in tightening theVietnam-Japan relations, it can be concluded that theconvergence of national interests between Vietnam andJapan is the main motivation for the bilateral relations
enhancement in all fields. Vietnam sees Japan as a trustful partner proving source of funds, technology for its
industrialization and economic innovation. In turns,
Japan looks at Vietnam as a promising market with its
competitive advantage of cheap labor costs and the population of 97 million. On one hand it is the political trust
rooted in no conflict in national interests and no politicaluneasiness, the cultural similarities, interest compatibility, economic interdependence which have built up thebilateral relationship between Vietnam and Japan. On
the other hand, sharing a convergence of interests incountering the China’s rising threat to territorial sovereignty is another reason for the cooperation of Vietnam
and Japan especially in terms of defense and security.
Vietnam places an important position in ASEAN countries thanks to its geopolitical significance and also
experiences in the long history in fighting against
Chinese hegemony. However, it would be a tough choice
for both Vietnam and Japan in the competition with
China as their big trade partner. In the context of thecurrent US- China tensions, both countries cannot makethe economic relation curve but need to stabilize theirconnection with China but not compromise with themaritime sovereignty.
Additionally, it is complicated for Japan to consider
to pursuit different ways to protect its sovereignty basedon alliance with the USA or self-reliance. From the
China side, it can be seen that its government also needs
to calculate about the economic benefits and its territorial assertiveness which can make Vietnam and Japan
become closer to the United States, a scenario that China
never wants to face. The American engagement in settling the disputes in the Asia Pacific region is still underquestion and depends on each administration in thecompetition with China. Japan and Vietnam are suggested to promote both traditional and non-traditional
security cooperation to adapt with constant changes,
volatility, and unpredictable events. The traditional
security cooperation helps the two countries protect
their national interests which are directly related to125Lam Thi Giang

territorial sovereignty facing with unfriendly hegemony
from the giant neighbor – China. While the world isfacing with new threats, non-traditional security cooperation contributes to protect human beings, living environment, as well as economy and culture. Generally,
due to shifts in Asian strategic order, each country with
its own national interests is adapting its strategies flexibly to avoid being disoriented in the chess board of big
countries. It is of utmost importance for Vietnam andJapan to accelerate their diversified cooperation for themutual benefits and more broadly for the regional peaceand stability.

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