South China Sea: Vietnamese navy frigate visits China amid flurry of drills in waterway

Despite Beijing and Hanoi having overlapping claims, Vietnamese ship arrives at Guangdong port ‘to improve mutual understanding and trust’

Reading Time:2 minutes

Vietnam’s missile frigate Tran Hung Dao heads to a naval port in Zhanjiang on Wednesday. The Chinese and Vietnamese navies will organise ship tours, deck receptions, cultural exchanges, joint exercises, and other activities. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 1:58pm, 8 Aug 2024Updated: 3:25pm, 8 Aug 2024

A Vietnamese navy frigate arrived in southern China on Wednesday for a five-day visit amid mounting military posturing and tensions in the disputed South China Sea.

The Vietnam People’s Navy’s guided-missile frigate 015 Tran Hung Dao arrived at a naval port in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, on Wednesday, according to the Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command.

Zhanjiang hosts the headquarters of the Southern Theatre Command Navy that oversees the South China Sea, the strategic and resource-rich waterway where Beijing and Hanoi both have contested claims.

03:23

Xi Jinping says Vietnam is a ‘diplomatic priority’ as Chinese leader seeks closer bilateral ties

According to the command, both sides will “organise ship tours, deck receptions, cultural exchanges, joint exercises and other activities”.

The visit aimed to “improve mutual understanding and trust between the Chinese and Vietnamese navies and to further strengthen friendship between the two”, the command said in a statement.

The visit by the Vietnamese navy ship to China comes amid increased military activities in the South China Sea.

The Philippines started two-day naval and air exercises with the United States, Canada and Australia on Wednesday, the first such drills. They were held at the same time the Chinese military conducted a joint sea and air patrol around the contested Scarborough Shoal. Last week also saw the first joint exercise between the Philippines and Japan.