Philippines, Vietnam Sign Pact on LCS Dispute

ANTARA

The Philippines and Vietnam on Tuesday signed an agreement on the South China Sea dispute, amid tensions between ASEAN countries and China over the waters.

The South China Sea incident prevention agreement was signed during Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Vietnam.

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Hanoi and Manila have claims in disputed waters in the South China Sea, where China has made major claims based on nine-dash lines.

The nine-dash line concept itself was in 2016 ruled by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international court in The Hague, as having no legal basis under international rules.

Aside from the agreement on incident prevention in disputed waters, a statement from the Philippine presidency said the two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Philippine Coast Guard and the Vietnam Coast Guard on maritime cooperation.

On incident prevention and management in the South China Sea, the statement said Hanoi and Manila “agreed to enhance coordination on maritime issues bilaterally, within ASEAN and other dialogue partners, with both sides intensifying efforts to increase trust, confidence, and understanding, through dialogue and cooperative activities.”

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

Beijing and Hanoi also have conflicting claims in the waters, but both sides late last year emphasized peaceful resolution of the issue.

The territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea involves conflicting island and maritime claims in the region by several ASEAN sovereign states including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Taiwan also has claims in the disputed waters.

However, China and ASEAN signed the South China Sea Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in November 2002, marking the first time Beijing accepted a multilateral agreement on the issue.

Last November, Marcos proposed a new code of conduct for stability in the disputed South China Sea.

The Philippine Head of State has sought support from countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia to create a new code of the sea to maintain peace in the disputed waters.

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