Updated Aug. 01, 2024, 07:05 a.m. ET.
Vietnamese coast guard vessel 8002 is on its way to the Philippines for the first joint coast guard drills between the neighbors, who both have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea, Hanoi has announced.
The 2,400-ton CSB 8002 left central Vietnam on Wednesday afternoon and is expected to arrive in Manila on Aug. 5, the Vietnamese coast guard said in a statement.
It is expected to stay there until Aug. 9 with the Vietnamese crew l taking part in joint training exercises including search and rescue, fire and explosion prevention and maritime safety together with the Philippine coast guard, it said.
The two sides will offer training in “responding to different scenarios in international waters”, the Vietnam People’s Army newspaper reported. It did not provide details.
It is the first visit to the Philippines by a Vietnamese coast guard vessel, as well as the first joint drills between the forces.
During a state visit by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Vietnam in January, the two sides signed understandings on incident prevention and maritime cooperation between coast guards.
Vietnam and the Philippines are two of the main claimants to waters in the South China Sea, the vast majority of which China claims.
The Philippines and China have been confronting each other at the Second Thomas Shoal, with the tension turning violent recently when Chinese ships tried to block Philippine resupply missions to an outpost there.
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‘Not pleased’
China has not commented on the Philippine-Vietnam exercise but Viet Hoang, a Vietnamese maritime analyst, said it “won’t be pleased” by their cooperation.
“Beijing is always cautious about Hanoi’s expanding ties with other regional countries, especially in the South China Sea where Vietnam and China are also having a dispute,” Viet told Radio Free Asia.
“But I don’t think it will protest strongly, publicly, as China understands Vietnam’s foreign policy … Chinese officials may convey their messages via unofficial channels,” he added.
Nguyen The Phuong, a defense analyst at the University of New South Wales in Australia, agreed that a strong protest from Beijing was unlikely.
“It has been planned in advance and involves activities that will not be considered provocative,” he said. “Cooperation between regional coastguards is also normal and happens all the time, especially between ASEAN states.”
Hanoi has taken pride in its so-called bamboo diplomacy, by which it has forged relationships and expanded cooperation with different countries.
“This trip emphasizes Vietnam’s commitment to a foreign defense policy that promotes peace, friendship, cooperation, and development,” the Vietnamese coast guard said in its statement.
Vietnam and the Philippines have their own overlapping claims in the waters and have recently said they would be willing to discuss extended continental shelf limits.
Last December, the CSB 8022 made a similar visit to Guangzhou in southern China, to take part in drills with the Chinese coast guard.
Vessels from Vietnam and China in April conducted a joint patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin, which they share.
Edited by Mike Firn.
Updated to add comment from defense analyst.