Apart from recent high-profile, leadership-level encounters, military contacts are being taken to a new level between the "People's Liberation Army" of China and the "People's Army" of Vietnam.
- Chinese, Vietnamese defense ministers jointly preside over 9th China-Vietnam Border Defense Friendship Exchange (link)
- China, Vietnam hold 9th border defense friendship exchange (link)
On a somewhat unrelated note - is me or the Communism inspirited notion of "Liberation" has been over used to this "day". "Day of the Liberation”, of course, is what I am referring to, which took place on April 30th 1975 when the fall of Saigon happened. (link)
Vietnamese, Chinese navies conduct joint patrol in Gulf of Tonkin
April 16, 2025 at 05:45:53 (link)
The Vietnam People's Navy is deploying a naval task group, along with ships 015 and 016, to China to join a series of exchange activities and a joint patrol with the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy in the Gulf of Tonkin from April 10 to 19.
Vietnamese and Chinese naval officers and sailors prepare for a joint patrol. (Photo: Ministry of Defense)
Key events include high-level meetings between the commanders of the Vietnamese and Chinese patrol fleets, friendly sports exchanges between naval officers and sailors of both countries, and the countries’ 38th joint patrol in the Gulf’s waters.
The Vietnam People's Navy is deploying a naval task group, along with ships 015 and 016, to China to participate in a series of exchange activities and a joint patrol with the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy in the Gulf of Tonkin from April 10 to 19.
Key events include high-level meetings between the commanders of the Vietnamese and Chinese patrol fleets, friendly sports exchanges between naval officers and sailors of both countries, and the countries’ 38th joint patrol in the Gulf’s waters.
Taking part in this mission are Vietnam’s most advanced surface combatants – the missile frigates 015 and 016. This marks the first time these modern warships are participating in a joint patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin.
The Chinese navy, meanwhile, sends two missile frigates, hull numbers 628 and 630, to the operation.
As part of the joint mission, the two navies will also carry out coordinated training exercises in search and rescue operations and visual signalling.
PLAN is visiting Vietnam again, more signs of a changing time
Photos of DDG 173 Changsha and and Type 071 LPD 999 Jinggangshan
ships of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy visiting Da Nang,
Vietnam (link) (link)
Photo Collecton Of The Day: Sailing Back To Cam Ranh Bay
PANO
- On September 10, sailing vessel Po Lang (coded 86) with 95 officers,
sailors and cadets led by Captain Liu Kue Wu, Second-in-Command of the
training vessel unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy,
docked at Cam Ranh International Port, starting a courtesy visit to
Khanh Hoa province.
https://en.qdnd.vn/military/intl-relations-and-cooperation/chinese-sailing-vessel-visits-khanh-hoa-province-569829
Senior
Captain Truong Dang Thuan, Chief of the Office of the Vietnam Naval
Academy, hosted the reception. The event saw the attendance of
representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Khanh Hoa
province and several functional agencies, representatives of the Chinese
Embassy in Vietnam and Chinese Defense Attaché to Vietnam.
Sailing vessel Po Lang docks at Cam Ranh International Port, Khanh Hoa province.
During
the four-day visit, the commanding staff of Vessel Po Lang will pay
courtesy visits on leaders of the Khanh Hoa provincial People’s
Committee, Naval Region 4 Command, and Vietnam Naval Academy. Meanwhile,
the Chinese officers, sailors and cadets will attend sports
competitions with troops of the Vietnam Naval Academy and visit the
Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense’s functional units.
Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay Naval Base, Tales Of Two Visits
On July 15th, 2024, the US Navy's 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) visited Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay (link).
Along with other USN visits in that region, it was accompanied by media
coverage and, of course, OpEd speculation across the spectrum. (link) (link) (link)
Following the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam's visit to China (link) on August 18th, the PLAN paid a visit to the same Cam Ranh Bay (link)
It was accompanied by little or no fanfare, as were earlier PLAN
visits in that region; it has "It was another Tuesday" feel to it.
Those two nations take different approaches to their military foreign affairs, that's for sure.
 |
| 2x 07LPD and 1x Type 052D DDG 174 Hefei at Cam Ranh Bay |
Vietnam and China to conduct a joint patrol in Tonkin Gulf
Hopefully this is a sign that involving parties are putting the course
of events back to normal after the all the excitement surrounding the
South China Sea.
Original news in Vietnamese (
here)
Vietnam and China to conduct a joint patrol in Tonkin Gulf
http://en.baomoi.com/Info/Vietnam-and-China-to-conduct-a-joint-patrol-in-Tonkin-Gulf/3/154626.epi
Báo QĐND English -
Vietnam and China to conduct a joint patrol in Tonkin Gulf
PANO - Two Vietnamese naval boats, the HQ375 and HQ376 (under Corps M62,
Naval Region D), representing Vietnam People’s Navy and Army, on June
18th, departed to take part in a joint patrol with China People’s
Liberation Navy’s boats in the Gulf of Tonkin.
This is the 11th joint patrol that has been conducted since the two
navies signed an agreement on Joint Patrol Status in October 2005.
As scheduled, the joint patrol started at 8am on June 19th and will
finish at 10.15am on June 20th (Hanoi time) with a journey of 306
nautical miles.
The joint patrol aims to promote the traditional friendly neighbourhood
cooperation relationship between Vietnam and China, as well as enhance
the mutual understanding and trust between the two armies and navies.
The patrolled area is the delimitated waters that border Vietnam and
China in the Tonkin Gulf. The patrol also targets to maintain security
and order at sea, put forward the implementation of the Fish Farm
Agreement, stabilise normal production activities of the two countries’
fishermen in the Tonkin Gulf and to share experiences between the two
navies.
After the joint patrol, under the instruction from Chinese boats, two
Vietnamese boats, led by Colonel Nguyen Van Kiem, Deputy-Chief-of-Naval
Staff, will dock at Zhanjiang port to start their official friendly
visit and exchange with China People’s Liberation Navy.
