Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday affirmed defense and economic cooperation between their countries, as China's growing influence continues to make its neighbors jittery.Meeting the press after summit talks with Phuc in Hanoi, Suga, who is on his first overseas trip since becoming prime minister, called Vietnam a linchpin in efforts to realize a "free and open Indo-Pacific" and vowed Japan's "continued contribution to peace and prosperity in the region."Suga also criticized actions in the South China Sea that "go against the rul…READ FULL ARTICLE
