Vietnam, Philippines seal deals on South China sea security

Vietnam and the Philippines have agreed to strengthen collaboration between their coastguards in order to avert adverse situations in the South China Sea, according to a declaration made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his official visit to Hanoi.

According to the report, the two Southeast Asian countries have rival claims to some areas of the South China Sea, a conduit for $3 trillion in annual ship-borne trade, which China claims nearly entirely.

The two security memoranda of understanding addressed “incident prevention in the South China Sea” and “maritime cooperation” among coastguards, according to a Vietnamese official who revealed the agreements during a formal ceremony at the country’s presidential palace.

Meanwhile, the agreements in Hanoi could risk angering Beijing, especially if they paved the way for future compromises on disputed claims.

However, Hanoi and Manila have had run-ins with China’s coastguard in the past, but altercations have been frequent in the last year between vessels of China and US-ally the Philippines, adding strain to deteriorating relations.

According to Marcos’ remarks at a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the maritime cooperation agreement aims to establish a comprehensive partnership between the two Coast Guards in capacity building, training, personnel and ship exchanges to improve their ability to operate together.

Vietnam, one of the world’s biggest rice exporters, also sealed agreements with the Philippines, a top importer of grain, covering rice trade and agriculture cooperation.

In his two-day visit to Hanoi, Marcos is meeting Vietnamese leaders, but not Communist Party chief, Nguyen Phu Trong, according to official schedules, in what would be Trong’s third consecutive absence from meetings with visiting leaders this month.

Trong, 79, however, attended a parliament session in mid-January, partly dispelling concerns about his health after he was not included in the official schedules of visiting leaders from Laos and Indonesia.