China deploys drones in Vietnamese airspace, experts point to Philippines tie-up

Hanoi [Vietnam], August 11 : Chinese drones were detected in Vietnamese airspace twice recently, experts say the move by China was a response to increased collaboration between the forces of Vietnam and the Philippines, The Voice of America reported.
Incidentally, these drone interventions by China came within a week of the joint Coast Guard training exercises organised by Vietnam and the Philippines.
The first of these Chinese drone sightings occurred on August 2 and the second one was witnessed on August 7 when the Philippines naval commander was in a meeting with his counterpart in Hanoi.
The VOA News report quoted Vu Duc Khanh, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who follows Vietnamese policies and its international relations, stating that 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."
In both of these cases, the drones were identified as Wing Loong-10 Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV), taking off from China's Hainan Island and entering the airspace of Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
These dromes flew along the coastline of approximately 800 kilometres then turned back to Phan Rang province of Vietnam. Data retrieved from Flight Radar 24 indicated that it was the same drone on both flights, A Belgium-based Army Recognition group claimed in the Nikkei Asia report.
However, no response was received by VOA when the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi and the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs were asked to comment.
On August 9, the Philippines and Vietnamese coast guards conducted their first joint drills in Manila Bay in the South China Sea.
Ha Hoang Hop, the president of VietKnow a think tank in Hanoi, was quoted in the VOA report saying that the drill is the first between the two Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea. Both countries have also been in disputes with Beijing in the same contested waters, according to the VOA report.
Both countries are the most vocal critics of China's expansionist activities in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. "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," VOA stated quoting Ha Hoang Hop.
Last week on a different occasion the Philippines completed two days of maritime exercises with the militaries of Australia, Canada, and the United States promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The law professor Vu Duc Khanh, mentioned that the warming relationship between Vietnam and the Philippines is good for regional peace and security in the South China Sea. B
but he also warned that amid this rising cooperation Beijing could escalate tactics of expansionism.
"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.
Previously, Vietnam had filed a claim in the United Nations for an Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) in the South China Sea, within a month of a similar move made by the Philippines in June.