The Philippines and Vietnam are set to sign a defense cooperation agreement.

Manila, 30th, Reuters

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that the Philippines and Vietnam will sign a defense cooperation agreement on Friday.

Vietnam's Defense Minister Phan Van Giang visited Manila on Friday to meet with Philippine Defense Minister Gilbert Teodoro and paid a courtesy call to President Marcos.

"We are currently discussing defense cooperation, security cooperation, maritime cooperation, and of course, trade," Marcos said in a statement, but the details of the defense agreement have not been disclosed.

"I think your visit will further enhance the depth and range of our relationship."

This agreement comes at a time of increasing tension in the South China Sea and escalating international concerns over China's massive coast guard actions and activities in the exclusive economic zones of neighboring countries.

Vietnam opposes China's actions that it considers a violation of its sovereignty, while also needing to maintain a delicate balance with the huge neighboring country that the two communist parties have built a close relationship with over the past few decades.

The decision on the agreement with Vietnam was made while the United States' defense alliance countries, the Philippines and China, were engaged in weekly disputes over the South China Sea, and this conflict has been ongoing for over a year.

China asserts its ownership of almost the entire area of this strategic waterway.

In the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, Vietnam and the Philippines respectively occupy reefs and atolls, and their territorial claims overlap, but both countries have expressed their desire to cooperate in addressing the dispute.

Earlier this month, the coast guards of both countries conducted their first joint exercise in Manila, simulating firefighting and search and rescue training.

This happened after Marcos visited Hanoi in January and signed a deal on "incident prevention" and "maritime cooperation" in the South China Sea.