Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
Philippines, Vietnam to sign coastguard deal risking
China's ire
Thu, January 25, 2024 at 2:42 a.m. PST·2 min read
By Karen Lema and Francesco Guarascio
HANOI/MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines and Vietnam will agree to boost coastguard cooperation during a visit to Hanoi next week by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, officials said, a move that risks angering China.
The two Southeast Asian countries have competing claims over swathes of the South China Sea, an important waterway for fishing and global trade that China claims almost in its entirety.
The two countries will sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between their coastguard forces, the Philippine coastguard said on Thursday.
It is unclear what the agreement will entail, but coastguard cooperation is crucial to reducing the risk of clashes between fishing vessels that encroach into foreign waters - a step that could help ease bilateral territorial disputes.
China, with its vast claims to the South China Sea, tends to view progress in the resolution of border disputes among other claimants with skepticism.
After Vietnam and Indonesia recognised the boundaries of their respective Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) in the South China Sea in December 2022, China's coastguard repeatedly sailed close to those strategic areas triggering angry reactions from both Jakarta and Hanoi.
China's response however could be muted in this case because the deal is not about recognition of maritime claims, said Phan Xuan Dung, researcher on Vietnam at the Singapore-based ISEAS think tank.
Marcos will meet Vietnamese leaders on a two-day visit starting on Monday, Vietnam's foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday, noting the countries had close ties in multiple fields including defence and security.
In November, Marcos said the Philippines had approached Vietnam and other neighbours to discuss a separate code of conduct for the South China Sea, another move that would irk China which has been promoting a broader regional pact for years without success.
The two countries are also expected to boost their cooperation on rice supplies, according to a Philippine official, with the Philippines being already the largest market for Vietnam's exports.
"The two most promising areas of cooperation between the Philippines and Vietnam are food security and maritime security," Alexander Vuving, of the Hawaii-based Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, said.
"But Vietnam is far more cautious than the Philippines about not angering China" on maritime security, he added.
Vietnam's foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment about the expected agreement on coastguard cooperation.
(Reporting by Karen Lema in Manila, Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu in Hanoi; Editing by Martin Petty and Nick Macfie)
Translation
河內/馬尼拉（路透社） - 官員稱，菲律賓和越南將同意在菲律賓總統小馬科斯下週訪問河內期間加強海岸警衛隊合作，此舉可能會激怒中國。
這兩個東南亞國家對南海的大片海域存在著相互競爭的主權主張。中國稱對南海幾乎整個海域擁有主權，這是一條重要的漁業和全球貿易航道。
菲律賓海岸警衛隊週四表示，兩國將簽署海岸警衛隊合作諒解備忘錄。
目前尚不清楚該協議將帶來什麼內容，但海岸警衛隊合作對於減少與侵入水域的外國漁船發生衝突的風險至關重要，這一步驟可能有助於緩解雙邊領土爭端。
中國聲稱對南海擁有廣闊的主權，因此往往對解決其他聲稱國之間邊界爭端的進展持懷疑態度。
2022年12月越南和印尼承認各自在南海的專屬經濟區（EEZ）邊界後，中國海警多次靠近這些戰略區域，引發雅加達和河內雙方的憤怒反應。
不過，新加坡東南亞智庫越南問題研究員Phan Xuan Dung表示，在這種情況下，中國的反應可能會很低調，因為協議不是關於承認海上主權的主張。
越南外交部發言人週四表示，馬可斯將從週一開始進行為期兩天的訪問，會見越南領導人，並指出兩國在國防和安全等多個領域有著密切關係。
馬可斯去年11月表示，菲律賓已與越南和其他鄰國接觸，討論制定一份單獨的南海行為準則，這一舉動可能會激怒中國，中國多年來一直在推動一項更廣泛的地區協議，但沒有取得成功。
菲律賓官員表示，兩國可望加強大米供應合作，菲律賓已成為越南最大的出口市場。
夏威夷 Inouye 亞太安全研究中心的 Alexander Vuving 表示： “菲律賓和越南之間最有希望的兩個合作領域是糧食安全和海上安全。”
他補充說，但在海上安全問題上，「越南比菲律賓更加謹慎，不會激怒中國」。
越南外交部沒有立即回覆有關預期的海岸防衛隊合作協議的置評請求。
So, the
Philippines and Vietnam will boost coastguard cooperation during a visit to
Hanoi by Philippine President. For obvious reasons Vietnam is far more cautious
than the Philippines in not angering China on maritime security as Vietnam is bordered
with China on land.
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