The Philippine and Vietnamese coast guards conducted their first joint firefighting and search-and-rescue exercises off Manila on Friday, in the first such joint drills between coast guards of two countries that have faced off with Beijing in the South China Sea.

Vietnam's 90-meter-long ship CSB 8002, which arrived in Manila earlier this week, was a part of the inaugural drills alongside the Philippine offshore patrol vessel BRP Gabriela Silang. The exercises consisted of simulated drills in firefighting, rescue and medical response.

"Our exercise is more on the humanitarian side," Lawrence Roque, commanding officer of BRP Gabriela Silang, told the media following the drills. "We hope for more of these activities because the sea is large and many will need assistance from the coast guard," he added.

"It's a good thing that we are going in one direction, which is the rules-based approach of the Philippines," Roque continued, hoping that Vietnam would also follow the same approach.

Beijing's South China Sea claims

The drills are the latest effort of the two countries that are locked in long-running disputes with Beijing over territory in the South China Sea.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, which it asserts through a large deployment of coast guard in areas that include the exclusive economic zones of its neighbors.

In October 2023, the Philippines accused China of deliberately causing collisions between the two countries' vessels in the disputed waters.

At the time, China urged the Philippines to halt dangerous maneuvers and stop creating more tension in the South China Sea.

jsi/rmt (Reuters, AFP)