Taipei, Taiwan – Vietnam protested against China and the Philippines about their competing activities in Sandy Cay in the disputed sea of Southern China, highlighting the country’s increasingly assertive voice in regional maritime disputes.
China and the Philippines last week organized rival bleeding displays on Sandy Cay, a key site for Manila to monitor Chinese activity in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
Hanoi, who also considers the part of the sandbank of his territory, said on Saturday that she had sent diplomatic notes to China and the Philippines Protestant against their recent activities on the disputed site.
“Vietnam calls on the parties concerned to respect the sovereignty of Vietnam, comply with international law, and to contribute to the maintenance of peace and stability in the East Sea,” said Pham Thu Hang, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, in a statement.
Chinese state diffuser CCTV reported on April 26 that the Chinese coast guard landed in Sandy Cay as part of a maritime operation to assert Beijing’s sovereignty on the Spratly Islands.
The Philippines, a day later, sent his own coastal and police guards to the sand banks and found no one there, the two nations raising their flags on the contested reef.
Vietnam has used a mixed balancing, burning and neutrality strategy when it comes to the controversies between China and the Philippines in the region.
In April, the coastal guards of China and Vietnam finished their first joint patrol in 2025 in the Gulf of Tonkin, marking the 29th joint patrol since 2006.
During the operation, ships conducted joint maritime research and rescue exercises and monitored the fishing activities of established maritime borders, which China described as a “maritime cooperation model in the application of the law at the Southern China Sea”.
However, Vietnam has also strengthened security cooperation with the Philippines.
In August 2024, the Filipino and Vietnamese coastal guards conducted their first joint fire -fighting and research and rescue and rescue from Manila, focusing on the humanitarian aspects of maritime operations.
At the time, the Vietnamese Minister of Defense, General Phan Van Giang, also had talks with the Philippine Secretary for Defense, Gilberto Teodoro, in Manila, where they signed letters of intention to improve the response to disaster and military medicine commitments.
The two defense leaders expressed their commitment to deepen the defense and military cooperation by “interactions and continuous commitments at all levels”. They agreed to peacefully resolve disagreements in the context of international law.
Apart from that, Vietnam has taken measures to strengthen its legal position concerning maritime complaints. In February 2025, the country of Southeast Asia announced a new reference defining its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin.
China responded to this announcement by launching military exercises to shoot live in the Gulf of Tonkin, signaling the disagreement of Beijing with the claims of Hanoi sovereignty.
Edited by Tajun Kang and Stephen Wright.