Vietnam expects to take delivery of coast guard ships from Japan early next year, the communist country's vice defense minister said Sunday, as Hanoi looks to boost its defenses amid a territorial row with Beijing in the South China Sea.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday that Tokyo would provide Southeast Asian nations its "utmost support" in their territorial disputes in the South China Sea, in a speech that received a hostile response from China.
In the area, scores of Vietnamese and Chinese ships, including coast guard vessels, have continued to square off around a Chinese oil rig in contested waters.