[Asia Pacific] Kishida to visit Vietnam in late June, eyes ties in maritime security

Source: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/140522/kishida-visit-vietnam-late-june-eyes-ties-maritime-sec

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to visit Vietnam from late June to early July to promote cooperation in ensuring maritime security in the East and South China seas, government sources said Thursday.

In a planned meeting in Hanoi, Kishida and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minster Pham Binh Minh are likely to agree to speed up consultations on Japan's provision of patrol ships for Vietnam to better cope with China's rising maritime assertiveness in the South China Sea, the sources said.

China has increased tensions in the sea by deploying an oil rig off the Paracel Islands that are disputed with Vietnam, leading to clashes between Chinese and Vietnamese vessels.
In the East China Sea, China has repeatedly sent patrol ships into territorial waters around the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhibited islets it claims.

In reference to China's muscle-flexing in the East and South China seas, Kishida and Minh are expected to affirm that Tokyo and Hanoi will never tolerate any attempt to alter the status quo through coercion or force, according to the sources.

The two ministers are also likely to agree to increase communications with the Philippines and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to keep Beijing's territorial ambitions in check, they said.

Claiming the South China Sea almost entirely, Beijing has been asserting control over the land features and waters encompassed by its U-shaped "nine-dash line" in territorial disputes with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Kishida and Minh are likely to agree to urge the 10-member ASEAN and other regional powers at a regional security forum slated for early August in Myanmar to act in unison over such moves by China.

Kishida is considering visiting Cambodia before or after the planned trip to Vietnam, according to the sources.

==Kyodo