Several times in the South China Sea this year, China's maritime militia and coast guard vessels, including the 0591 “Monster Ship” entered Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone close to offshore oil and gas fields. Five years ago, Vanguard Bank in the western Spratlys was the site of an intense standoff between China and Vietnam that lasted three months. Does this help explain the relationship between Vietnam and Russia, whose oil and gas joint ventures have produced 250 million tons of oil? Today, we look into Vietnam’s partnership with Russia, whether it acts as a hedge against China and the U.S., and whether Hanoi is skillfully balancing all these great powers through its "bamboo diplomacy."

Our guests:

Raymond Sung
- Deputy CEO, Prospect Foundation

Huynh Tam-Sang
- Lecturer, Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty of International Relations; Visiting scholar, National Taiwan University


#VanguardBank #Spratly #UNCLOS #Putin #Moscow #Hanoi #PetroVietnam #Zarubezhneft