South China Sea: Vietnam, Philippines to boost coastguard cooperation under new deals

Name: Philippines sets up ‘game changer’ monitoring station on island in disputed South China Sea
Uploaded: 2024-01-30T07:47:22.000Z
Duration: 4 min 30 s
Description: Philippines sets up ‘game changer’ monitoring station on island in disputed South China Sea

Philippine President Marcos Jnr signed two deals with Vietnam, agreeing to set up a communication hotline and work on a joint coastguard committee

It comes as tensions have flared recently between Manila and Beijing over a series of confrontations between vessels from both countries

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr (left) and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong (right) look on as the Philippine Coastguard Commander Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan and Vietnamese Coastguard Commander Le Quang Dao exchange signed documents in Hanoi on Tuesday. Photo: VNA via AP

Agence France-Presse

Published: 3:47pm, 30 Jan 2024

Vietnam and the Philippines agreed on Tuesday to boost coastguard cooperation in the South China Sea, as Manila tussles with Beijing over a hotly disputed reef.

China claims almost all of the strategic waterway in full, but the Philippines, Vietnam and several other countries claim various islands, islets, reefs and shoals.

Tensions have flared recently between Manila and Beijing over a series of confrontations between vessels from both countries, in particular around the Second Thomas Shoal, which Beijing calls the Ren’ai Shoal.

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Philippines sets up ‘game changer’ monitoring station on island in disputed South China Sea

On Tuesday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr signed two deals with Vietnam, agreeing to set up a communication hotline and work on a joint coastguard committee to discuss common issues.

“The MOU (memorandum of understanding) on maritime cooperation is aimed at strengthening the understanding, mutual trust, and confidence between the two parties,” Marcos’ office said in a statement.

Earlier this month, China held military drills in the South China Sea as the United States and the Philippines conducted their own joint exercises in the same waters.

The drills followed a month of tense stand-offs between China and the Philippines in disputed reefs in the area that saw a collision between vessels from the two countries and Chinese ships blasting water cannon at Philippine boats.