According to the Asahi Shimbun and other reports, Takaichi will travel to Vietnam starting May 1 and hold talks May 2 with To Lam, the Vietnamese Communist Party’s general secretary and state president, and Prime Minister Le Minh Hung.
The two sides plan to reaffirm efforts to strengthen their “comprehensive strategic partnership,” including cooperation on energy, critical minerals and economic security. Takaichi is also scheduled to deliver a speech on a revised version of Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” strategy.
Takaichi will then visit Australia from May 3 and meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on May 4. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said that with this year marking the 50th anniversary of the Japan-Australia Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, the two countries plan to deepen cooperation across a wide range of areas — security, the economy, economic security and people-to-people exchanges — and elevate ties to a “special strategic partnership.”
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, the government’s top spokesman, told a news conference that strengthening relations with Vietnam, “which is showing notable growth in Southeast Asia,” and with Australia, “a key partner in allied cooperation,” is “very important.”
Separately, former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to visit the Philippines on April 30 to deliver a letter from Takaichi to President Ferdinand Marcos.
The Philippines is this year’s chair of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Kishida is reported to be traveling as the senior adviser to a parliamentary group for the Asia Zero Emission Community initiative on energy resilience.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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