Member of Japan’s Ruling Party Meets with Vietnam Prime Minister to Strengthen Ties

By Takafumi Yamasaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

15:43 JST, July 11, 2023

HANOI — Koichi Hagiuda, chairperson of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Policy Research Council, held talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Vietnam on Monday.

Hagiuda met Chinh at the prime minister’s office in Hanoi, where they agreed to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in a wide range of areas, including security and economic matters.

“Vietnam is an important partner in realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific.” Hagiuda said at the meeting. Chinh responded that he would like to strengthen relations with Japan in areas such as social infrastructure and digital technology. With China’s increasing hegemonic behavior in mind, the importance of cooperation when countering attempts to change the status quo through force or intimidating behavior were also affirmed at the meeting.

Hagiuda also visited an organization on Sunday that sends technical interns to Japan and observed new trainees learning Japanese.