PH, Vietnam reinforce strategic partnership amid maritime security threats

The Philippines on Tuesday said it must step up maritime cooperation with Vietnam under a key strategic partnership accord as both nations confront maritime security threats in the South China Sea.

In a speech before the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo underscored the importance of the two nations' strategic partnership amid evolving geopolitical tensions, including long-running disputes in the resource-rich waters.

"Our geographies and status as major littoral and claimant states in the South China Sea make maritime cooperation a vital point of interaction between our two countries, as economic and security partners," said Manalo, who is currently in Hanoi for an official visit.

Under the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III, the Philippines and Vietnam in 2016 signed a strategic partnership agreement, which aims to increase their cooperation on several fronts, including defense and maritime security.

The accord remained dormant as the Philippines under Aquino's successor, Rodrigo Duterte, sought friendly ties with Beijing.

Manila and Hanoi face a common security concern in the South China Sea: China's increasingly aggressive postures to assert territorial claims that the two Asian nations say have impinged on their fishing rights and obstructed efforts to explore undersea hydrocarbon resources well within their territorial waters recognized under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.

The Philippines refers portions of the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea. 

Manalo said Manila and Hanoi "must press further on in exploring novel modes of cooperation in maritime safety, search and rescue, marine scientific research, and marine environmental protection."

"Achieving maritime security is a powerful impetus for our Strategic Partnership," he said.

China claims a huge swathe of the South China Sea as part of its territory, but the Permanent Court of Arbitration tribunal in The Hague invalidated this claim in July 12, 2016 following a case filed by the Philippines in 2013.

Beijing has ignored and belittled the ruling, maintaining it has "indisputable" and "historical" claim over nearly the entire waters even as it encroaches on the territories of its smaller neighbors like the Philippines and Vietnam.

"As in centuries prior, this body of water connects our peoples, despite some differences," Manalo said.

"Beyond its strategic significance, the South China Sea is the lifeblood of millions of Filipinos and Vietnamese people who depend on the sea for livelihood."

Vietnam is one of the Philippines’ two Strategic Partners, and the only one within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Manila's other strategic partner is Japan.

"As maritime nations at the heart of this seascape, it is a given that we consider safe and secure seas and sound marine ecosystems as integral to the future of our peoples and our region," he added.

The strategic partnership, Manalo stressed, "must affirm that we are invested in keeping the seas open and free for the enjoyment of our peoples, and that disputes must be managed and resolved peacefully in accordance with international norms and laws, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as well as the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea."

Until the resolution of disputes, Manalo said the Philippines and Vietnam both share "a distinctive responsibility in working to achieve a substantive and effective Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, and seeing to its conclusion at the earliest opportunity."

A regional code of conduct aims to prevent conflicting territorial claims in the vast potentially-oil rich region from erupting into violent confrontations or worse, an economically-devastating major conflict.

Some ASEAN members have long held the position that the code of conduct must be legally-binding, but China opposes this. It's not clear how this basic difference will affect progress of future efforts by both sides to negotiate the code.

Manalo said Manila and Hanoi recently held discussions on current challenges in the South China Sea and agreed to explore joint initiatives for the effective management of their competing claims in the area, "with the overarching goal of preserving regional peace and stability."

"The Philippines and Vietnam also benefit from the rules-based order which has been the bedrock of peace and prosperity in our region," he said, citing "responsible stewardship of these waters with a series of joint marine research expeditions of our scientists in the 1990s."

"Our Strategic Partnership infuses the age-old connection between our two countries with a shared sense of responsibility to be engaged partners, for our mutual benefit, and for preserving and enhancing the conditions for peace and prosperity in our region," Manalo said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News