South China Sea rivals agree to set up hotline ‘to cope with emergencies’

Chinese and Vietnamese navy chiefs also vow to improve information sharing and boost cooperation

Direct line seen as a way to help manage tensions over their territorial disputes in the waterway

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Tensions over the resource-rich South China Sea have long weighed on relations between China and Vietnam. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:00pm, 2 Jun 2021Updated: 2:27pm, 2 Jun 2021

Chinese and Vietnamese navy chiefs have agreed to set up a hotline in a move seen as part of efforts to manage the risk of conflict over their competing claims in the South China Sea.

They also vowed to improve information sharing on issues of mutual concern during a meeting by video link on Friday, according to Vietnam’s official People’s Army Newspaper.

It said PLA Navy chief Vice-Admiral Shen Jinlong and Rear Admiral Tran Thanh Nghiem, commander of the Vietnam People’s Navy, pledged to strengthen cooperation between the two navies and agreed to foster exchanges after the pandemic.

The military talks come as Beijing and Hanoi are seeking to build closer ties after a leadership reshuffle in Vietnam. Last week Chinese President Xi Jinping called for more cooperation with Vietnam during a phone call with the country’s new leader Nguyen Xuan Phuc. But a Chinese foreign ministry statement on the talks did not refer to tensions caused by their territorial disputes in the resource-rich South China Sea, which have long weighed on the countries’ relationship.

PLA Navy chief Vice-Admiral Shen Jinlong spoke to his Vietnamese counterpart by video link. Photo: Xinhua

Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow with the Vietnam studies programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said the latest move was part of Hanoi’s “hedging strategy in its relations with China, which involves both balancing and engagement elements”.

“While trying to upgrade its military and maritime law enforcement capabilities to deal with China’s assertiveness on the ground, Vietnam also wants to promote bilateral political, economic and military cooperation where possible to maintain a peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship with China,” Le said. “Promoting bilateral naval cooperation is part of these efforts.”

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