Philippine Coast Guard And Vietnam Hold Joint Exercises

JAKARTA - The crew of the Philippine and Vietnamese ships fired water cannons at the boats and carried out search and rescue simulations.

This is the first joint exercise between coast guards from two countries to face Beijing in the South of China's Sea.

The 90-meter-long Vietnamese CSB 8002 ship, which arrived at Manila port on Monday, joined Philippine offshore patrol boat BRP Gabriela Silang for simulated fire fighting, rescue and medical response exercises.

The exercise is the latest collaboration between countries involved in a prolonged dispute with Beijing over territory in the South China Sea, or concerns about China's freedom of navigation and activities on the main trade route.

Our training is more on the human side, Lawrence Roque, BRP commander Gabriela Silang, reported by Reuters on Friday, August 9.

"We hope that this activity can be carried out even more because the sea is wide and many areas need assistance from the coast guard," he added.

The exercise with Vietnam comes as the Philippines on Thursday completed two days of maritime exercises with the Australian, Canadian and US militaries, the first involving four countries, which Manila says aims to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, which it affirms through the massive deployment of coast guard in areas covering the exclusive economic zone of neighboring countries.

China's coast guard was previously accused of aggression and disrupting fisheries and energy activities in countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, thus testing relations and raising concerns about the escalation of the conflict.

China usually says its coast guard acts professionally and legitimately to protect its territory from violators.