Vietnam, Philippines sign defense cooperation agreement

Vietnam and the Philippines signed a defense agreement on Friday that would see the two South China Sea claimants strengthening their cooperation at sea, where both face an assertive China. 

The agreement comes at a time of heightened tensions, especially between the Philippines and China, which are at loggerheads over some of the reefs and atolls in the waterway.

Vietnamese defense minister Phan Van Giang is in Manila on a visit “to materialize the common understandings” achieved during the state visit by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Hanoi in January, according to the Vietnamese ministry’s Quan Doi Nhan Dan newspaper. 

Giang and his counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, signed a defense cooperation agreement to boost a strategic partnership between the two militaries, focusing on maritime cooperation.

Coast guard forces from both countries are to set up a hotline to manage “non-traditional security challenges,” and share information, the Vietnamese minister told President Marcos during a courtesy call to the Malacañan Palace.

On Aug. 9, coast guard vessels from Vietnam and the Philippines conducted their first-ever joint drills.

Marcos described Giang’s first visit to the Philippines as a “very significant point in the history between our two countries.”

“The Philippines and Vietnam have enjoyed good relations … We now talk about defense cooperation, security cooperation, maritime cooperation, and certainly, on the area of trade as well,” Marcos was quoted by the official Philippine News Agency as telling Giang. 

Giang said the two countries had “very good” interactions and dialogues, especially when it comes to “navy-to-navy discussions.”

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While visiting the Philippine navy headquarters, the Vietnamese minister stressed that, as neighbors at sea, Vietnam and the Philippines shared interests in security and safety of navigation amid unpredictable challenges.

However, the four-star general, who fought in a Sino-Vietnam border war in 1979, did not refer to China or its activities in disputed waters.

Instead, he reiterated that Vietnam was pursuing a so-called Four Nos defense policy: no military alliances, no siding with one country  against another, no foreign military bases in the Vietnamese territory or using Vietnam as leverage to counteract other countries, and no force or threat of force in international relations.

While a military alliance between Vietnam and the Philippines is unlikely, they can still bolster exchanges and joint activities. The Philippine navy has agreed to send a team to Vietnam’s 2nd Defense Expo in December.

Edited by Mike Firn.