Are Vietnam and U.S. on Brink of F-16 Deal 50 Years after Vietnam War? | Taiwan Talks EP618

Host: Yin Khvat

Are Vietnam and the United States in talks over a historic F-16 deal? According to U.S. defense site 19FortyFive, at least 24 fighter jets could be part of the negotiations. If agreed, this would represent the largest defense deal in history between the two former enemies. It would make the U.S. Vietnam's most substantive arms supplier, replacing Russia and causing concern for China. Meanwhile, two Japanese minesweepers have become the first foreign warships, other than those from China, to make a port call at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base. The US suspects China-renovated Ream of being an overseas Chinese base, which Cambodia denies. The arrival of the Japanese vessels was a day after Xi Jinping left the region following his charm offensive in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Our guests:

Vincent Chao

- Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor, and former political head of TECRO, Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington, D.C.

Sana Hashmi

- Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow

Chapters

00:01:12 - Report: Vietnam to Purchase F-16s

00:10:01- Are Vietnam-U.S. Security Ties Evolving?

00:16:39 - Japanese Warships in Cambodia

00:22:58 - Is Cambodia Diversifying Its Relationships?

#Cambodia #ReamNavalBase #SecretChineseBase #HunManet #FunanTechoCanal #JapaneseMinesweepers #GulfOfThailand #BillHayton #FightingFalcon #Viper