On June 6, DP President Renho met with the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a Tokyo hotel during the latter’s recent visit to Japan.
At the start of the meeting, Phuc said that Vietnam had been developing rapidly based on the strategic partnership formed between Vietnam and Japan, and expressed his appreciation in particular for the efforts made by the DP to strengthen bilateral links in the fields of economics, official development assistance and trade.
Renho conveyed her condolences on the death of an elementary student of Vietnamese nationality, who was murdered earlier this year in Japan. Following this, she expressed her appreciation for the warm welcome that the entire Vietnamese nation gave to the Japanese Emperor and Empress on their visit to Japan in March, as well as for the fact that the first visit to Vietnam under the terms of the party-to-party exchange agreement with the Communist Party of Vietnam had been realized last month, with the visit of a DP delegation led by Standing Officer Yukio Edano.
Following this, Renho stated that actions by China in the South China Sea threatening the rule of law were unacceptable for Japan. She also stressed that Japan would like to strengthen cooperation and communications with countries such as Vietnam and China regarding North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile launches.
In response, Phuc expressed the opinion that such matters should be resolved by peaceful means based on international law, for the sake of peace, prosperity and stability. Both sides agreed to further strengthen bilateral ties of friendship and cooperation in the run-up to the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Vietnam in 2018.
The meeting was also attended by Standing Officer Yukio Edano, Next Minister of Defense Yoichiro Aoyagi, and International Department Director-General Hiroe Makiyama for the DP.