Chinese drones detected off Vietnam days before military drills with Philippines
"The Chinese WZ-10 surveillance drone entered Vietnam's airspace twice in close succession, in response to joint exercises with the Philippines," Roni Sontani, founder of Indonesia-based Airspace Review said in a report Wednesday, the most recent drone flight.
Vu Duc Khanh, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who follows Vietnamese policies and its international relations, told VOA China always uses the tactic of "divide and rule."
"Any cooperation is likely to affect China’s status as a regional power. Therefore, it will seek to disrupt it," Vu said.
The drone incursions came within a week of the joint coast guard training exercises between Vietnam and the Philippines. The first occurred on August 2 and the second on Wednesday during the Philippines naval commander’s meeting with his counterpart in Hanoi.
In both cases, the drone, identified as a Wing Loong-10 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), took off from China's Hainan Island and entered Vietnam's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), flying along the coastline for approximately 800 kilometers before turning back near Phan Rang province, the Belgium-based Army Recognition group said.
Data from Flightradar24 indicated that it was the same drone on both flights.
The Chinese Embassy in Hanoi and the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to VOA’s inquiry for comments.
On Tuesday, when asked by Reuters about a Chinese unmanned military aircraft that was seen flying over Vietnam’s EEZ on August 2, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she didn’t have any information and referred Reuters to the competent authorities.
On Friday, the Philippines and Vietnamese coast guards conducted their first joint drills in Manila Bay, off the west coast of Luzon, leading into the South China Sea.
Ha Hoang Hop, president of VietKnow think tank in Hanoi, told VOA that the Friday drill is the first between the two Southeast Asian nations who have competing claims over some parts of the South China Sea. Both countries have also been in disputes with Beijing in the same contested waters.
Both countries are claimants to the Spratly group of islands and became the most vocal critics of China's increasingly hostile actions in the disputed waters, where Beijing has increasingly asserted its territorial claims.
"The drill presents their mutual support and their readiness [for] conducting talks and finding ways to further cooperate to help gain common interests in solving the South China Sea issues," Ha told VOA by phone.
On Thursday, the Philippines completed two days of maritime exercises with the militaries of Australia, Canada, and the United States, a first involving the four countries, to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Vu says the warming relationship between the two countries is good for regional peace and security.
But he warned that Beijing could escalate tactics.
"No one is fooled by Beijing's expansionist objectives. Today, it may be drones, but tomorrow, it may be the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that intervenes," Vu added.
Last month (July) Vietnam filed a claim with the United Nations for an extended continental shelf (ECS) in the South China Sea, a month after the Philippines made a similar move in June.
China rejected the moves by both Hanoi and Manila, saying that such an act violated China's sovereignty and maritime interests and would not help resolve disputes.