MANILA—The Philippines and Vietnam signed a naval cooperation pact despite the continuing disputes among several countries claiming the resource-rich Spratly Islands.
President Benigno Aquino III and visiting Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang on Wednesday signed an agreement calling for their navies and coast guards to set up a hotline and exchange information.
The two leaders also stressed that adherence to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) was important in the peaceful resolution of territorial issues in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). The Unclos, enacted in 1982, states that a country’s exclusive economic zone extends 370 km from its continental shelf.
They also reiterated the importance of the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, which was signed in 2002 by Asean countries and China.
The countries with overlapping claims to the Spratlys are the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Malaysia and Taiwan. The Philippines has protested China’s intrusions into Recto Bank. Invoking the Unclos, the Philippines maintains that there should be no dispute over territories like Recto Bank, which is a mere 148 kilometers away from the province of Palawan and 1,017 km away from China.
Philippines and Vietnam Sign Naval Pact on Spratly Islands
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