Modern Japan-Vietnam’s Relations: Trends and Problems

The article examines the state and prospects of relations between Japan and Vietnam, two key East Asian states, in the trade and economic field, as well as in the field of security in the context of the international situation in the Asia-Pacific region. By now, the two countries have become closely linked in both trade and investment. Japan and Vietnam have complementary economic structures and comparative advantages that create opportunities for the development of mutually beneficial economic relations. Vietnam is a very attractive target for Japanese investment and the largest recipient of Japanese ODA (Official Development Assistance). At the same time, Vietnamese investments are beginning to flow into the high-tech sector of the Japanese economy. An important factor in the bilateral ties is the large number of Vietnamese labour migrants in Japan.

In light of the growing confrontation between the United States and China, relations with Japan are becoming an important direction of Hanoi's multi-vector foreign policy, called “bamboo diplomacy”. In recent years the two countries’ cooperation in the field of security has come to the fore in the overall complex of bilateral relations with the goal of jointly opposing China’s “maritime expansion”. The important role of two countries for each other in the basic areas of international cooperation in the foreseeable future will increase and create prerequisites for the emergence of an informal Tokyo-Hanoi axis.