Following a request from Vietnam, China on Friday dispatched several ships to help Vietnamese officials in their search for a coastguard plane that crashed earlier this week. The plane, which was carrying nine people, was part of a search operation to find a fighter jet plane that went missing on Tuesday.           

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The coastguard plane crashed on Thursday in the Gulf of Tonkin, between Vietnam's northern coastline and China's Hainan Island, Vietnam's defense ministry said.    

The coastguard plane was searching for a Sukhoi SU-30 MK2 fighter jet and a missing pilot that had lost contact with Vietnamese officials on Tuesday. Vietnam's team had rescued one of the two pilots from the sea on Wednesday.  

Bad weather and low visibility are being cited as the main reasons for Thursday's crash.

China has dispatched one rescue team and two coastguard boats to assist Vietnamese officials in the search operation. In a rare move, the Chinese government has also allowed Vietnamese vessels to enter into Chinese maritime territory to conduct the search operation.

Over the years, Vietnam has lost several aging helicopters, but plane crashes have been rare. Currently, the Vietnamese government is busy shoring up its air and naval defense by replacing its depleted air planes and helicopters with newer ones. This move is said to be aimed at increasing Vietnam's military power against China. Both nations are claimants to contested territories in the South China Sea.

Vietnam is seeking a closer military cooperation with Japan and the U.S. in a bid to revamp its military defense. Vietnam's military pursuit got a huge boost last month after US President Obama lifted Washington's 42-year-old arms ban on the country.

Tagschina, Vietnam, China and Vietnam