Japan will give Vietnam six in-use patrol ships worth 500 million yen (4.9 million dollars) as part of an aid donation, in order to boost maritime security, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said during a visit to Hanoi Friday, according to dpa. Kishida held talks with his counterpart, Pham Binh Minh, and met Vietnamese president Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during a two-day visit. Kishida's visit comes after months of heightened tensions between Vietnam and China, after Beijing deployed an oil rig to waters claimed by both countries in May. Vietnam and Japan elevated their bilateral relations to a strategic partnership in 2009. Tokyo is Vietnam's largest provider of official development assistance. Both countries have territorial disputes with China. Hanoi and Beijing have overlapping claims over the Paracels and Spratlys in the South China Sea while Tokyo and Beijing are in dispute over islands in the East China Sea.
