Philippines and Vietnam to sign defense agreement
www.rappler.com
'We now talk about defense cooperation, security cooperation, maritime cooperation, and certainly, on the area of trade as well,' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr was quoted as saying in a statement, which did not specify details of the defense agreement

The Philippines and Vietnam will sign a defense cooperation agreement on Friday, August 30, the office of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said, a significant step by two countries that have long opposed China’s actions in the South China Sea.

[…]

Vietnam’s decision to enter into the agreement comes at a time when […] the Philippines and China are sparring almost every week over the South China Sea, a row that has raged for more than a year.

China claims sovereignty over almost all of the strategic waterway.

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Coast guards of the two countries earlier this month held their first-ever joint exercises in Manila, simulating fire-fighting drills and search-and-rescue exercises.

That came after Marcos visited Hanoi in January and signed deals that covered “incident prevention in the South China Sea” and “maritime cooperation”.