Defense and geopolitics
2026-04-26
13 min read
12 sources
Vietnam's Bamboo Diplomacy at Scale: Spratlys Reclamation, Strategic Partnerships, and the 2026 Balance
Vietnam reclaimed roughly 770 acres in the Spratlys between December 2022 and December 2024, second only to China, while upgrading comprehensive strategic partnerships with the United States, Japan, Australia, and France. The bamboo diplomacy doctrine is being stress tested by procurement diversification and the Hanoi-Beijing balance.
Vietnam now operates the second largest island-building program in the South China Sea, with the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at CSIS documenting roughly 770 acres of new land created across ten Spratly features between December 2022 and December 2024, and continued deepening through 2025 at Barque Canada Reef, Pearson Ree...