FOSTERING VIETNAM-PHILIPPINE RELATIONS

and Risk Reduction (HADR). This was done with the expectation that the Philippines will be able to extract possible diplomatic concessions from China with regard to its territorial dispute and earn some economic largesse for its massive infrastructure projects.

President Duterte’s appeasement policy on China has off-balanced Vietnam’s efforts to challenge China’s expansion in the South China Sea. This became apparent during the 30th ASEAN Summit in Manila under the chairmanship of the Philippines. Vietnam fought tooth and nail to have the terms “concerns expressed by some ministers” on land reclamation and militarization in the South China Sea included in the chairman’s communique. Unfortunately, Vietnam failed to have the communique mention the need for a “legally binding” code of conduct in the disputed waters to put a stop to “unilateral actions.” Vietnam was also disappointed that there was no mention of the PCA ruling, and that the phase “serious concern” regarding the territorial dispute in the South China was conspicuously removed after it appeared in several ASEAN statements before 2017. Vietnam was suddenly confronted with the stark reality that the Philippines has joined Cambodia and Laos as China’s trusted and loyal lackeys in Southeast Asia. Despite its disappointment with the Duterte administration’s appeasement policy on China, Vietnam has continued to foster closer relations with the Philippines. In October, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Leaders Gathering in Bali Indonesia, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met President Duterte to discuss the Vietnam-Philippines action plan for 2018-2023 in order to facilitate the two countries’ bilateral cooperation. The two ASEAN leaders also agreed to intensify their affiliation within ASEAN and affirmed the importance of maintaining regional peace, stability, freedom of aviation and navigation in the East Sea/West Philippines Sea. They also agreed to resolve territorial disputes peacefully according to international law including the 1982 UNCLOS and reiterated their support for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), and the early completion of an effective, practical and legally binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).

Vietnam also proposed to the Philippines the need to delineate their maritime boundaries in the disputed South China Sea. Efforts by the two countries to define their maritime boundaries will have a significant implication in the South China Sea dispute because this means that the smaller claimant states can settle their overlapping claims, while China has not clearly defined its expansive and sweeping claims in the disputed waters. Unfortunately, showing sensitivity to China’s interests, the Philippines turned down the Vietnamese proposal by stating that it will take a longer time to establish its own continental shelf limits. Nevertheless, the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Phuc and President Duterte last October showed that Vietnam still considers the Philippines a close partner, and it is still willing to advance the strategic partnership between the two Southeast Asian countries despite the PhilippineChina rapprochement.

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