Japan defense chief Kishi eyes visit to Vietnam around mid-August

Because the UK Defence minister went first, then the American Defence Secretary will follow after.

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/defence-secretary-vietnam-diplomatic-academy-speech

https://sggpnews.org.vn/international/us-defense-secretary-austin-to-visit-vietnam-on-july-2829-foreign-ministry-93582.html

Japan simply follows the cue set up by the US/UK. Hell, I think that the German Secretary of Defence and French Secretary of Defence, South Korea Secretary Defence will follow soon after Japan.

Vietnam is the most important country in the Indo-Pacific along with India, so it has been in the great interest of luring Vietnam into the QUAD. Like I said many times, it won't work.

1. Vietnam differs from the West ideologically, and the US won't ever accept Marxist-Leninist socialism.

2. The Communist Party of Vietnam and the Communist Party of China are true rulers of the respective nation, and they are allied in nature due to the ideological struggle on the global stage. Vietnam still aids North Korea, Cuba, Iran, and other "enemies of the West" as much as China and Russia do. There is little evidence that suggests China or Vietnam is ever in eternal conflict because the CPV and CPC do not think so, and those Parties rule those nations.

3. Vietnam is aligned with the interests of the Global South, and it has been accelerating the efforts of global de-dollarization with China, Russia, Iran, and many other non-Western nations. If you offer the Marshal Plan to Vietnam, then it won't guarantee the Vietnamese support due to the Vietnamese disconnected feelings towards the Global North.

4. As stated in 1 and 2, the US still funds the color revolutions and liberal insiders within Vietnam. The US always wants to topple the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam. Of course, Vietnam won't trust the West a bit unless the West puts a permanent stop to the criticism of human rights and fundings of color revolutions. In fact, the Pentagon has pressured both the State Department and US Treasury to stop bullying Vietnam around the 2010s. It is a good start but the malignant thinking of "democratic coup d'etat" should go away within the minds of American politicians.

In conclusion, the US should treat Vietnam more like Israel and Saudi Arabia in terms of cooperation and partnership (allies among equals). This means that the CPV should freely reign the country without American interference, and the US must assist any extradition request from the CPV as well. Probably, Americans should turn a blind eye to whatever Vietnam does even if any activity is on the level of Saudi's Khashoggi execution or Israel's espionage on American elites.

That's the only way to win long-term cooperation from Vietnam, permanently.

Japan is right to pursue an alliance with Vietnam - truly one of the military powerhouses of Asia. Kishi should push for Vietnam to join the QUAD within 3 years. Vietnam is a great freedom-loving nation who would not be afraid of going toe-to-to with totalitarian China.

Vietnam is a great freedom-loving nation who would not be afraid of going toe-to-to with totalitarian China.

Freedom loving? There is virtually no difference between how China and Vietnam are governed. Both are repressive one party police states. The ruling parties and governments of China and Vietnam are organized almost identically. There is no private property or individual rights in either nation. Both nations are gross violators of human rights. Their leadership (pardon me as a swallow my vomit calling the thugs running those two countries leaders) of both nations are unelected and survive through repressive internal security. There is nothing to recommend about either nation. Both have nice people by and large but their governments and institutions are repressive and an affront to anyone who cherishes personal liberty and human rights.

"All praise Vietnam, a great country that defeated the invading imperialist oppression in the beloved 70s"

You are correct for once. The battle hardened Vietnamese gave China a bloody nose in 1979.

Some sort of self-defense alliance of the countries near China makes sense, but it is very hard to do in the real world. If China attacks each country one at a time, and leaves the others alone for a while, it is unlikely that the countries not facing imminent attack would be altruistic enough to go to war in defense of a neighbor. "Divide and conquer" may have been around as an idea for thousands of years, but that is because it works.

By the way, if at some time in the future China's military totally eclipses America's in power, then the US will be less likely to offer assistance to countries like Japan and South Korea, in response to a conventional attack. We saw with Trump that America's commitment to its treaties is subject to bribery and corruption.

South Korea and Japan need to stop bickering among themselves, and build up a real alliance, one that other countries will be interested in joining.