Philippines and Vietnam coast guards to conduct historic joint exercise amid tensions in South China Sea

To strengthen maritime cooperation, the coast guards of the Philippines and Vietnam will conduct their first joint exercise on August 9.

As reported by Nikkei Asia, the initiative is aimed at countering China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea, a disputed region both countries claim parts of and have clashed with Beijing over.

Vietnam’s 90-meter-long warship CSB 8002 docked in Manila on Monday, marking the start of five days of training exercises with the Philippines’ 83-meter-long offshore patrol vessel BRP Gabriela Silang. The joint exercise will include search and rescue simulations as well as fire and explosion prevention training, Nikkei Asia reports.

This cooperation follows an agreement between Manila and Beijing to ease tensions in the South China Sea, particularly with regard to Philippine resupply missions at Second Thomas Shoal.

As revealed by Nikkei Asia, the timing of the exercise coincides with a leadership transition in Hanoi following the death of Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and with Vietnam President To Lam officially taking over as party leader on Saturday.

Experts see these exercises as crucial to boosting bilateral ties and regional security. “This is important because we are building partnerships and showing the world that two countries with disputes in the West Philippine Sea can cooperate,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Rear Adm. Armand Balilo told reporters. Nikkei Asia cited Balilo’s emphasis that the Vietnamese Coast Guard’s visit stemmed from an agreement for capacity-building initiatives established during Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Hanoi in January.

“It’s good because it’s like a template according to which, despite having rival claimants, we can engage in exercises and people-to-people exchanges,” Balilo said in an interview with Nikkei Asia.

Commodore Algier Ricafrente, PCG deputy chief of staff for international affairs, underscored the strategic importance of these joint exercises. “These exercises are very important if our countries need to join forces and deal with future events,” he/she told reporters.

China’s recently implemented rule allowing its coast guard to detain foreign nationals crossing the maritime border set by Beijing has added urgency to the exercises, which will take place in Manila Bay facing the South China Sea. Nikkei Asia said the new rule has further intensified regional maritime disputes.

Julio Amador, CEO of Amador Research Services in Manila, told Nikkei Asia that the possibility of joint exercises between claimant states is only possible with “goodwill,” as both countries seek cooperation while maintaining their maritime claims. Amador suggested expanding this cooperation to include other ASEAN claimant states in the South China Sea.

Don McLain Gil, an analyst and lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila, described the exercises as “important developments” for bilateral relations. he/she told Nikkei Asia that increasing mutual trust and communication between the Philippines and Vietnam will “make it harder for China to interfere.”

Gil also proposed that the Philippine and Vietnamese embassies should work together when needed, just as cooperation is seen between the US embassy and others in the Philippines. “A united position of Southeast Asian countries is necessary to mount a significant resistance against Beijing’s expansionism,” he/she stressed in an interview with Nikkei Asia.