(Bloomberg) -- Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pushed for deeper security and economic ties with Vietnam during a visit by its defense chief to Manila on Friday, with both sides aiming to seal a more comprehensive agreement on defense cooperation within the year.
“We now talk about defense cooperation, security cooperation, maritime cooperation, and certainly, on the area of trade as well,” Marcos told Defense Minister Phan Van Giang during their meeting. “Your visit, I think, will serve as a further impetus, further push to increase that,” said the Philippine leader who visited Vietnam in January.
Giang and his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro Jr. signed two letters of intent, including one on humanitarian assistance at sea, while a more comprehensive security agreement is targeted for completion later this year.
“While we face common threats, we will work together in facing these threats,” Teodoro told reporters after the meeting. “We have bilateral issues, but this doesn’t stop us from working peacefully,” the Philippine defense chief said at the briefing.
The two Southeast Asian nations with competing claims in South China Sea are stepping up relations as they deal with tensions with China that’s asserting sweeping rights over the key waterway. The situation is particularly tense between Manila and Beijing that were recently clashing again in the contested sea, as well as the airspace above it.
While the Philippines and Vietnam have submitted separate filings this year to the United Nations asserting their exclusive rights to portions of South China Sea, they also held joint coast guard drills for the first time this month. Vietnam is the Philippines’ sole strategic partner in Southeast Asia with bilateral relations that began in 1976.
While navigating maritime tensions with China, Manila and Hanoi have also moved to deepen relations with Washington. The US and Vietnam discussed ways to develop their strategic partnership in June after upgrading their ties last year, while the Philippines under Marcos has had steady engagements with top American officials.
Still, both Vietnam and the Philippines are finding ways to maintain ties with China.
Vietnam’s top leader To Lam earlier this month visited Beijing and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who expressed intent to build good relations. Manila, for its part, is seeking to ease tensions with Beijing.
(Updates with Philippine defense chief remarks in fourth paragraph.)
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