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Is the US losing in Vietnam? Russia, North Korea and China are gaining
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Russian-made howitzers and rocket launchers on parade during the celebration of Vietnam’s 80th National Day in Hanoi on Sept 10.
PHOTO: LINH PHAM/NYTIMES
DAMIEN CAVE
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HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – US officials believed nearly two years ago that Vietnam was about to buy C-130 military transport planes from the United States. In interviews, they said the sale would be a powerful blow to Russia, Hanoi’s main military partner, and a clear sign that geopolitical swing states like Vietnam were tilting towards Washington, not Moscow or Beijing.
At Vietnam’s defence expo in December, the country’s prime minister even climbed aboard a visiting C-130, inspecting the cockpit as US commanders watched. A YouTube video seemed to capture a Vietnamese deputy defence minister telling colleagues that three (or maybe 13) planes had been ordered. But then nothing happened.
