South China Sea: Beijing to set up naval hotline with Vietnam as Philippine maritime tensions spike
- Chinese and Vietnamese defence ministers sign MOU on hotline between PLA Southern Theatre Command and Vietnamese navy
- ‘If China and Vietnam work well on this’, Manila would ‘not go too far to provoke’ Beijing, observer says
The deal came as the Chinese defence minister, Dong Jun, met his Vietnamese counterpart in what was his first overseas trip since taking office in December.
Dong met Phan Van Giang in northern Vietnam near their shared border on Thursday, as part of the eighth Vietnam-China border defence friendship exchange.
The two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on a hotline between the Vietnamese navy and the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command, which oversees the South China Sea.
“China is willing to join hands with Vietnam to firmly support each other’s core interests and major concerns, and bring the strategic mutual trust between the two militaries to a new height,” Dong said.
The former PLA naval commander also called on the two sides to “make maritime cooperation a new highlight of cooperation between the two militaries [and enhance the ability to jointly maintain maritime security”.