Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Aims to Pull In Vietnam Amid China’s Approach; Japan Seeks to Provide Help in Economic, Security Issues

By Masashi Yamaguchi and Shunpei Takeuchi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

16:22 JST, April 29, 2025

HANOI — Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba aims to strengthen ties and deepen cooperation with Hanoi amid ongoing confusion caused by tariff measures implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump.

China, which has tried to become closer to Vietnam in the wake of the tariff measures, is also in mind. Ishiba wants to maintain friendly ties with Vietnam, which vows omnidirectional diplomacy, by deepening bilateral relations in both fields of economy and security.

At a joint press conference after a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday, Ishiba said, “The world economy is increasingly uncertain, and negative impacts on the Southeast Asia are feared. Listening to the opinions of Vietnam is an important objective of my visit.”

With these words, Ishiba emphasized his stance on strengthening relations with Vietnam.

At the meeting, Chinh welcomed Ishiba’s stance saying, “This is an important visit [by Ishiba] for not only our bilateral ties but also this region.”

In recent years, Vietnam has achieved economic growth partly because of the “China plus one” strategies of many countries, which have been shifting production bases from China to other places.

The export industry accounts for about 90% of Vietnam’s gross domestic product. However, the United States, which is Vietnam’s largest export destination, sees this strategy as a problem and has imposed reciprocal tariffs of 46%, far exceeding the rate set for Japan at 24%.

At their meeting, the leaders discussed the importance of free trade and negative impacts of tariffs measures, while avoiding criticism against Washington.

The two leaders hammered out a stance that the two countries will raise the level of Vietnam’s industrial structure in a way to heighten the country’s resilience against external shocks.

Japan will cooperate in developing Vietnam’s human resources in the semiconductor industry and in achieving energy security and decarbonization. Through these efforts, Japan will help Vietnam’s stead economic growth as the country aims to join industrialized countries by 2045. Ishiba also aims to assist about 2,000 Japanese companies which operate businesses in Vietnam.

In the middle of this month prior to Ishiba’s visit to Vietnam, Chinese President Xi Jinping also visited the country and agreed on investments in infrastructure and other economic projects in the country. Even though China and Vietnam are engaged in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, they have strong economic ties and share a border.

The Japanese side is worried that China’s coercive actions may escalate further if Vietnam is pulled further toward China.

Vietnam announced that it will positively consider defense equipment cooperation with Japan, though Hanoi had previously been cautious about the subject.

To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and supreme leader of the country, and Chinh separately held ceremonial dinner meetings for Ishiba. A senior official of Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office said it was “an unprecedentedly red-carpeted treatment.”

Japan’s presence is growing among countries trying to keep a balance between the United States and China. The Japanese government aims to build trustful relations with such countries by carefully meeting their needs.