Keep Your Enemies Close: Vietnam’s Security Cooperation with China
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
“Unlike the other South China Sea claimant states, Vietnam is more willing to engage in security cooperation with China. Since 2006, the two countries have conducted 37 joint naval patrols in the Gulf of Tonkin to address common non-traditional security challenges, including piracy and illegal fishing. Very recently, on 23 July 2025, they embarked on their first army-to-army joint exercises.”
“For China, its security cooperation with Vietnam plays a strategic role in managing regional dynamics while dividing potential adversaries. With tensions rising between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea, China is less likely to escalate its disputes with Vietnam. Hence, Beijing has largely refrained from criticising Hanoi’s island-building activities in the South China Sea. Additionally, China uses its joint naval patrols with Vietnam to portray the Philippines as the intransigent actor in the region, thereby deflecting criticisms of its assertiveness.”
“According to Vietnam’s foreign policy doctrine of ‘struggling while cooperating’, Hanoi views Beijing as an ‘object of struggle’ in the South China Sea. It is also an ‘object of cooperation’ in maintaining regime security. Following the end of the Cold War in 1991, Vietnam and China were concerned about colour revolutions, prompting both countries to normalise their bilateral relations and cooperate in managing domestic security threats.”