Vietnam enters fray at disputed South China Sea sandbank

[ad_1] TAIPEI, Taiwan – Vietnam protested China and the Philippines over their competing actions at Sandy Cay within the disputed South China Sea, highlighting the nation’s more and more assertive voice in regional maritime disputes.

China and the Philippines final week staged rival flag-raising shows on Sandy Cay, a key website for Manila to watch Chinese language exercise within the Philippines’ unique financial zone.

Hanoi, which additionally considers the sandbank a part of its territory, stated on Saturday that it had despatched diplomatic notes to each China and the Philippines protesting their latest actions on the disputed website.

“Vietnam calls on the related events to respect Vietnam’s sovereignty, adjust to worldwide regulation, and contribute to sustaining peace and stability within the East Sea,” Pham Thu Hold, Vietnam’s overseas ministry spokesperson, stated in a press release.

Chinese language state broadcaster CCTV reported on April 26 that China’s coast guard had landed at Sandy Cay as a part of a maritime operation to say Beijing’s sovereignty over the Spratly Islands.

The Philippines, a day later, despatched its personal coast guards and law enforcement officials to the sandbars and located nobody there, with each nations elevating their flags over the disputed reef.

Vietnam has employed a blended technique of balancing, bandwagoning, and neutrality when coping with the controversies between China and the Philippines within the area.

In April, coast guards from China and Vietnam accomplished their first joint patrol of 2025 within the Gulf of Tonkin, marking the twenty ninth such joint patrol since 2006.

Throughout the operation, vessels carried out joint maritime search and rescue workouts and monitored fishing actions alongside established maritime boundaries, which China characterised as “a mannequin for maritime regulation enforcement cooperation within the South China Sea.”

Nevertheless, Vietnam has additionally been enhancing safety cooperation with the Philippines.

In August 2024, the Philippine and Vietnamese coast guards carried out their first joint firefighting and search-and-rescue workouts off Manila, specializing in humanitarian features of maritime operations.

On the time, Vietnamese Protection Minister Gen. Phan Van Giang additionally held talks with Philippine Protection Secretary Gilberto Teodoro in Manila, the place they signed letters of intent to boost catastrophe response and army medication engagements.

Each protection leaders expressed their dedication to deepening protection and army cooperation by “continued interplay and engagements in any respect ranges.” They agreed to resolve disagreements peacefully inside the framework of worldwide regulation.

Aside from that, Vietnam has taken steps to strengthen its authorized place concerning maritime claims. In February 2025, the Southeast Asian nation introduced a brand new baseline defining its territorial waters within the Gulf of Tonkin.

China responded to this announcement by launching live-fire army workouts within the Gulf of Tonkin, signaling Beijing’s disagreement with Hanoi’s sovereignty claims.