And while fishing fleet and coast guard clashes involving China and Vietnam still routinely occur in the South China Sea, they are usually low-level incidents and go unreported, according to my interlocutors. For years, Manila has drawn Beijing’s ire across the South China Sea. When Rodrigo Duterte was in power from 2016 to 2022, for example, bilateral relations were far smoother; in fact, there appears to have been a “gentleman’s agreement” on how to handle South China Sea frictions. This shared governance and worldview supports the fruitful development of China-Vietnam ties in spite of their sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, the Philippines and United States should appreciate that while their security alliance has likely prevented a full-blown war, it has not deterred China from continuing to conduct gray-zone operations and other dangerous maneuvers in the South China Sea.