Philippines to ink defense agreement with Vietnam

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is set to sign a key defense pact with Vietnam on Friday, August 30, that is believed to send a message to China amid its growing assertiveness in the region. 

Vietnamese Defense Minister General Phan Van Giang paid a courtesy call to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday morning and is set to hold bilateral talks with Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro in the afternoon.

The timing of Phan's visit comes at a "very significant point in the history" of the two countries, Marcos said in a statement by the Presidential Communications Office. 

"We now talk about defense cooperation, security cooperation, maritime cooperation, and certainly, on the area of trade as well," Marcos said. 

"Your visit, I think, will serve as further impetus [to] depth and the range of our relationship,” he added.

This visit comes after the Philippines and Vietnam held joint coast guard training exercises in early August — the first between two Southeast Asian countries that are also co-claimants in the vast South China Sea. 

The Philippines and Vietnam have overlapping claims to parts of the Spratlys group of islands and the undersea continental shelf in the South China Sea. Despite this, both nations have expressed willingness to hold discussions for a solution that will respect the sovereignty claims of both nations. 

Both countries are also engaged in a long-standing conflict with China in the disputed South China Sea, parts of which are referred to as the West Philippine Sea. 

Teodoro said on Tuesday, August 27, that the Philippines and Vietnam are ready to ink agreements "once clearances are made."

"And on that basis, we can have a new momentum and impetus for working together on the defense side and on the military side,” the defense chief said at a forum. 

Once signed, the new defense pact will add to the agreements the Philippines signed with Vietnam in January to boost cooperation between their coast guards and prevent untoward incidents in the disputed waters. 

Reacting to the agreements of the two Southeast Asian nations, China in February rebuked the Philippines and Vietnam for "trying to form a small clique" and "complicate" the situation in the region. 

The Philippines and China forged a provisional agreement in July meant to "de-escalate tensions" during the former's resupply missions to BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal. Recent Chinese incursions in other parts of the West Philippine Sea, such as Escoda Shoal, have raised Philippine officials' doubts about China's sincerity in preventing any more hostilities in the tense waterways.