Indonesian President discusses maritime tensions and economy during Vietnam trip – The Diplomat

Tensions in the South China Sea and economic cooperation were high on the agenda during Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s state visit to Vietnam over the weekend. On Friday, Jokowi met his Vietnamese counterpart Vo Van Thuong in Hanoi. Subsequent state media reports said the two leaders discussed closer cooperation on trade and investment, as well as the importance of containing worsening maritime tensions between China and rival maritime contenders in the South China Sea.

Jokowi's visit to Hanoi from Thursday to Saturday was part of a Southeast Asia trip that took him to the Philippines last week and included a stop in Brunei this weekend before returning to Indonesia yesterday.

According to a State Voice of Vietnam report, translated and reported by BenarNews, the two leaders reiterated “the importance of peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea.” (The East Sea, or Bien Dong, is Vietnam's name for the South China Sea.)

The meeting follows months of rising tensions in the disputed waterway, where China has stepped up efforts to assert its extensive maritime claims. In particular, it has aggressively staked claim to waters claimed by the Philippines, leading to a series of tense clashes, including several in which Chinese ships rammed Filipino ships attempting to resupply the small troop detachment at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.

According to BenarNews, again citing Vietnam's voice, both sides also “committed to fully and effectively implementing the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) on the South China Sea signed between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).” ) in 2002 and “to advance negotiations on the long-awaited Code of Conduct (COC)”.

The COC, which has been a constant agenda item for China and ASEAN since the signing of the DOC, aims to create a set of guidelines to guide the behavior of claimant states until the spate of overlapping claims in the South China Sea is resolved. However, many observers believe that China's constant reference to the COC shows no serious intention to conclude an agreement and that its current behavior hardly indicates a desire to conclude such an agreement.

Jokowi and Thuong, in particular, agreed that any COC should be “substantial and effective.” [and] in accordance with international law.” This was consistent with the view expressed by Jokowi during his visit to the Philippines, where he and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emphasized “the universality” of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), “in which the legal provisions are established.” Framework that regulates all activities in the oceans and in the seas.”

During Jokowi's visit, both sides signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of information technology and communications, according to a Reuters report that cited a joint statement from both sides. Thuong also expressed a desire to increase bilateral trade to $15 billion a year from around $14.1 billion last year.

On Saturday, Jokowi paid a visit to an electric vehicle factory in northern Vietnam run by local automaker VinFast, which announced plans to invest $1.2 billion in the Indonesian market last September. This included around $200 million to build a factory in the country that should be operational by 2026. Reuters reported that during his talks with Thuong, Jokowi praised VinFast's intention to invest in Indonesia. In return, Thuong “encouraged Indonesian companies to invest more in Vietnam, including in the banking sector.”

The other strange news to emerge from Jokowi's visit was the absence of Nguyen Phu Trong, the head of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who had not been seen in public since December 26 before his appearance today at a session of the National Assembly. Trong, who regularly hosts foreign leaders on state visits, also missed a meeting with Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone last week.

Before reappearing in public, Trong's absence sparked all sorts of rumors and speculation in the media. But it highlights the central role Trong currently plays in Vietnam's opaque politics and the uncertainties that would arise if he were to be incapacitated. The 79-year-old, who has recently suffered from health problems, is now in his third term as party leader and is expected to hand over the post – the most powerful of Vietnam's four main political leadership positions – to a successor at the next party congress in 2026.