Philippines-Vietnam Sign South China Sea Dispute Pact

PHOTOS OF ILLUSTRATION/Joint exercises of the Philippine and US militaries in the South China Sea/Photo Airman 1st Class Alexis Redin via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - The Philippines and Vietnam signed an agreement regarding the South China Sea dispute, amid tensions between a number of ASEAN countries and China over the territorial waters.

The incident prevention agreement in the South China Sea was signed during a state visit by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Vietnam.

Hanoi and Manila have claims in disputed waters in the South China Sea, where China filed a large claim based on nine broken lines.

As reported by ANTARA from Anadolu, Tuesday, January 30, the concept of nine breaking lines itself in 2016, based on the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international court in The Hague, is said to have no legal basis under international rules.

In addition to the agreement on preventing incidents in disputed waters, a statement from the Philippine presidency said the two parties also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Philippine Coast Guard and the Vietnam Coast Guard regarding maritime cooperation.

Regarding the prevention and management of incidents in the South China Sea, the statement said that Hanoi and Manila "agree to improve coordination on maritime issues bilaterally, within ASEAN and other dialogue partners, with both parties intensify efforts to increase trust, belief, and understanding, through dialogue and cooperative activities."

Vietnam and the Philippines are member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN -- a regional bloc in the region.

The agreement is important as Manila and Beijing have in recent weeks seen rising tensions over their maritime claims.

Beijing and Hanoi also have conflicting claims in the waters, but the two sides at the end of last year stressed the resolution of the matter peacefully.

Regional disputes with China in the South China Sea involve conflicts of island and maritime claims in the region by several ASEAN sovereign countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Taiwan also has claims in the disputed waters.

However, China and ASEAN signed a South China Sea Declaration on Party Behavior in November 2002, marking the first time Beijing has received a multilateral agreement on the matter.

In November 2023, Marcos proposed a new code of ethics for stability in the disputed South China Sea.

The head of state of the Philippines has sought support from countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia to create a new marine code to maintain peace in the disputed waters.