The Philippines and Vietnam are set to sign a cooperation agreement between their coast guards as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. boosts partnerships in the region amid lingering tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea.
Marcos, who’s scheduled to make a short visit to Vietnam from Monday, will also discuss maritime issues when he meets with leaders of that nation, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Aileen Mendiola-Rau said in a briefing on Friday.
The coast guard agreement will cover marine environmental protection as well as search and rescue operations of Filipino and Vietnamese fishermen, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Armand Balilo said by phone on Thursday. “We intend to establish a coast guard hotline to facilitate better coordination,” he said.
“As part of the agreement, they will discuss possible activities that they will conduct,” Mendiola-Rau said on Friday of the coast guard cooperation.
The two Southeast Asian nations have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, where Beijing lays sweeping claims. Balilo said the upcoming cooperation deal between the Philippines’ and Vietnam’s coast guards is not aimed at China.
Marcos’s trip to Vietnam comes amid continuing tensions between China and the Philippines, with their vessels facing off in the contested waters several times in recent months. It also comes weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s own visit to Hanoi where he called on the Southeast Asian country to stop external forces from causing problems in the Asia-Pacific.
Vietnam is the Philippines’ sole strategic partner in Southeast Asia with bilateral relations that began in 1976.
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