Vietnam and the Philippines** announced that the two countries agreed to strengthen cooperation between coast guards in case of unforeseen incidents in the South China Sea, according to the Global Times. A few days ago, Chinese spokesman Wang Wenbin stressed at a regular press conference that China has always opposed relevant countries' illegal claims on China's territory and will continue to firmly safeguard its sovereignty. The interviewed expert told the "Global Times" reporter on the 30th that the Philippines and other countries to engage in "small circles" to undermine political mutual trust between all parties in the South China Sea will only further complicate the South China Sea issue, which is not conducive to peace and stability in the South China Sea and deviates from the actual interests of ASEAN.
According to the Vietnam News Agency, Marcos arrived at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi that afternoon. During his visit to Vietnam, Marcos will hold talks with Vietnam's Vo Van Thanh, meet with Vietnam's key leaders and carry out other important activities. According to the Philippine News Agency, Reuters and other **29**, Marcos said in his speech before departure that Vietnam is the only strategic partner of the Philippines in ASEAN, and "maritime cooperation will be one of the cornerstones of the strategic partnership we will establish." Marcos said the two sides will hold consultations on defense and security, investment, education, tourism, and "regional and multilateral issues" of mutual concern.
The so-called "common challenge" is obviously aimed at China, with both the Philippines and Vietnam wanting to steal China's islands, and Vietnam has long coveted China's Xisha and Nansha Islands, claiming that these islands are "Vietnam's." The Philippine visit to Vietnam this time is to join hands with Vietnam to deal with China in the South China Sea and try to "carve up" many of China's islands in the South China Sea. The two sides will strengthen cooperation on the maritime surface, which also means that the Philippines and Vietnam may launch provocative actions against China at the same time, sharing the pressure on the Philippines to face the Chinese coast guard alone, in a vain attempt to attack on both sides and create trouble for China.
Marcos signed a so-called "Memorandum of Understanding on Maritime Security Cooperation" with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong. "The two countries will strengthen the Coast Guard's cooperative ties to respond to any eventualities that may arise in the South China Sea," Marcos said. "Although the Philippines has attracted a lot of attention in recent days, in fact, the country that has invaded China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea the most is Vietnam. Since the last century, some countries in the South China Sea, led by Vietnam, have frantically embezzled China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea while China is vigorously developing its economy. And, as recently as last November, Marcos said he would develop a unilateral "code of conduct in the South China Sea" and said he had discussed it with neighboring countries such as Vietnam.
Marcos' visit is aimed at wooing Vietnam and multilateralizing the South China Sea issue. However, we must be clear that the two sides have a long-standing friendship and should maintain an independent position. China will never turn the other cheek with Vietnam because of the Philippines' small actions. It is believed that the Vietnamese side will also maintain the relations between the two countries and will not work with the Philippines against China. According to reports, the new Marcos of the Philippines recently paid a two-day visit to Vietnam, which was also his first foreign visit since taking office. During the visit, Marcos met with Vietnamese leaders and said that the two countries are strategic partners within ASEAN and will strengthen cooperation in various aspects.
Judging from the actions of the Philippines, it has been quite a rhythm to pull Vietnam to deal with China, and it has been reported that the Philippines is trying to sign a separate code of conduct in the South China Sea with Vietnam, thus replacing the code of conduct in the South China Sea signed by China and ASEAN, thus highlighting the strategic intention of the Philippines, that is, to unite against China by drawing Vietnam in, as if the Philippines has become the spokesperson of the United States, because the United States has been trying to actively win over Vietnam, but because of the shadow of the Vietnam War, So the relationship between the United States and Vietnam has always been very delicate, and it is clear that Vietnam is wary of the United States.
Biden is currently very busy, not only for the election, but also because of the increasing variables in the Middle East, however, China is always the number one adversary, so the relevant measures of the Philippines and Vietnam on the South China Sea are obviously adhering to the intentions of the United States, in the words of Japan, that is, "containing China". In fact, the United States and Japan share the same goal of containing China in the South China Sea, and in a sense, Japan's attachment to the Indo-Pacific region is even greater than that of the United States, after all, Japan once regarded the region as its lifeblood and waged wars over it.
One of the main purposes of Marcos's visit to Vietnam is to try to draw Vietnam together to build a united front against China on the South China Sea issue. Because Vietnam also has islands and reefs with China in the South China Sea. The Philippines is trying to multilateralize the South China Sea issue. However, the Vietnamese side can still keep a clear head and will not fall for the Philippines. It will not join the Comprehensive Security Partnership of the Philippine side. Vietnam is well aware that the relations between the party and the state between Vietnam and China have been good in recent years, and the foundation of cooperation in all fields is very solid and fruitful, and Vietnam does not want to have new friction with China on the South China Sea issue.
If the Philippines and Vietnam sign the "Visiting Forces Agreement" in the future, it will mean that the Philippines and Vietnam can send troops to each other's territory to provide support to each other, but from a practical point of view, it is very likely that the Philippines and Vietnam will sign the "Visiting Forces Agreement" in the future, because both countries occupy the most Chinese islands and reefs. Vietnam accounts for 29 of them, and the Philippines accounts for 8, and China is firmly opposed to any kind of construction activities carried out by the Philippines and Vietnam on these islands and reefs. This means that if the Philippines and Vietnam build on the illegally occupied Chinese islands and reefs, it will anger China and trigger regional conflicts.
The two major Philippine families each held a large rally on the 28th to win more support. At the rally that day, Duterte publicly attacked Marcos, not only exposing the latter's drug addiction, but also warning that he might be driven out. Marcos' attitude towards this is also very strong. Although he did not respond positively, he said that Duterte had used fentanyl to say something. During the Duterte administration, he actively improved relations with China and shelved agreements on expanding the US military presence in the Philippines, a policy that has brought at least two major benefits to the Philippines.
In fact, Vietnam does not support the Philippine side's idea. In May last year, Vietnam also took the initiative to host the 20th meeting on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea to accelerate the formulation of the Code. In December last year, during his visit to Vietnam, the Chinese leader and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong signed a joint statement on building a strategically important China-Vietnam community with a shared future. According to the analysis, with the bilateral amount of China and Vietnam approaching 250 billion US dollars, in Vietnam's view, the signing of the agreement with the Philippines is a normal cooperation involving maritime rights and interests, and Vietnam does not want to link it to the South China Sea issue, nor does it want to provoke China, thereby impacting the current stable Sino-Vietnamese relations. In addition, the Philippines and the United States are seriously colluded, and once the Philippines and Vietnam carry out in-depth cooperation and involve intelligence sharing, a lot of Vietnam's sensitive information may be in the hands of the United States, which is obviously not in Vietnam's interests. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that the Philippines and Vietnam have very different attitudes towards the signing of the agreement.
According to the latest information released by the China Coast Guard, on January 28, four Philippine personnel illegally intruded into China's Scarborough Shoal reef, once again stirring up the situation in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard will warn and drive away in accordance with the law, and the on-site disposal will be professional and standardized. Almost at the same time, Marcos Marcos of the Philippines arrived in Hanoi for his first visit to Vietnam after taking office as a Philippine official. Such a coincidence of timing is no accident. In this regard, he has analyzed the ins and outs of the situation in the South China Sea in the recent period, especially exposing the Philippines' cooperation with the United States to sow discord between China and ASEAN countries.