Wary about Beijing, Tokyo and Hanoi celebrate their friendship
Hanoi (AsiaNews) - Tensions in the South and East China Seas dominated talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Vietnamese hosts. The Japanese leader was on an official visit to the Southeast Asian nation on Wednesday and Thursday as part of a regional tour designed to bolster Japan's economic and strategic ties with the region in order to contain China. During the visit, a US$ 500 million loan to Vietnam was announced to fund infrastructural projects in the country.
During his visit, Prime Minister Abe met Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other high ranking Communist officials.
Their talks included discussions over the Spratly/Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, which sparked violent protests in Vietnam against China's imperialist policy, and the Senkaku/Diaoyu in the East China Sea, which has pit China against Japan.
In recent days, Japanese leaders and media have tried to ease tensions to protect Japan's economic and trade interests in the region. Hence, Abe's Southeast Asia tour and former PM Yukio Hatoyama's visit to China have kept a low profile in the Japanese media.
In fact, both Vietnam and Japan agree that disagreements and disputes ought to be settled in accordance with international law to ensure "peace, stability and development".
Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng and his Japanese counterpart also agree that the framework of relations between the two countries must be part of a strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia that will include official visits, summits and closer bilateral cooperation at the highest levels.
With this in mind, the two leaders announced that 2013 would be the 'Year of Friendship between Vietnam and Japan'.
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