Vietnam’s To Lam visits Russia and France amid South China Sea tensions

Vietnam’s president and Communist Party chief travels to Russia and France this week, on a trip analysts say is designed to do double duty: shore up support for Hanoi’s claims in the South China Sea and help bankroll its bid to become a high-income economy by 2045.

To Lam’s itinerary encompasses talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow before flying to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and attend an International Space Summit from Wednesday.

By engaging two opposing powers back to back, observers say Lam is putting his country’s signature “bamboo diplomacy” on display for a global audience.

Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Honolulu, said Lam would likely use the visits to try to convince both Moscow and Paris to take “Vietnam’s side” on the South China Sea. Both capitals formally maintain neutrality in the territorial dispute.

Late last month, Vietnam lodged strong diplomatic protests against China over new infrastructure developments and land reclamation at Antelope Reef and Yagong Island, the latter of which Hanoi calls Ba Ba Island.