TAIPEI, Taiwan – Vietnam protested China and the Philippines over their competing activities at Sandy Cay in the disputed South China Sea, highlighting the country’s increasingly assertive voice in regional maritime disputes.
China and the Philippines last week staged rival flag-raising displays on Sandy Cay, a key site for Manila to monitor Chinese activity in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Hanoi, which also considers the sandbank part of its territory, said on Saturday that it had sent diplomatic notes to both China and the Philippines protesting their recent activities at the disputed site.
“Vietnam calls on the relevant parties to respect Vietnam’s sovereignty, comply with international law, and contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea,” Pham Thu Hang, Vietnam’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said in a statement.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on April 26 that China’s coast guard had landed at Sandy Cay as part of a maritime operation to assert Beijing’s sovereignty over the Spratly Islands.
The Philippines, a day later, sent its own coast guards and police officers to the sandbars and found no one there, with both nations raising their flags over the disputed reef.
Vietnam has employed a mixed strategy of balancing, bandwagoning, and neutrality when dealing with the controversies between China and the Philippines in the region.
In April, coast guards from China and Vietnam completed their first joint patrol of 2025 in the Gulf of Tonkin, marking the 29th such joint patrol since 2006.
During the operation, vessels conducted joint maritime search and rescue exercises and monitored fishing activities along established maritime boundaries, which China characterized as “a model for maritime law enforcement cooperation in the South China Sea.”
However, Vietnam has also been enhancing security cooperation with the Philippines.
In August 2024, the Philippine and Vietnamese coast guards conducted their first joint firefighting and search-and-rescue exercises off Manila, focusing on humanitarian aspects of maritime operations.
At the time, Vietnamese Defense Minister Gen. Phan Van Giang also held talks with Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro in Manila, where they signed letters of intent to enhance disaster response and military medicine engagements.
Both defense leaders expressed their commitment to deepening defense and military cooperation through “continued interaction and engagements at all levels.” They agreed to resolve disagreements peacefully within the framework of international law.
Apart from that, Vietnam has taken steps to strengthen its legal position regarding maritime claims. In February 2025, the Southeast Asian country announced a new baseline defining its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin.
China responded to this announcement by launching live-fire military exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin, signaling Beijing’s disagreement with Hanoi’s sovereignty claims.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Stephen Wright.
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