C MARC was represented at this year’s UK / Vietnam Track 1.5 Roundtable on Maritime Security, held at the British Ambassador’s Residence Hanoi on the 9th October.
Scott Edwards was invited to present on ‘How should Vietnam and partners reduce the risk that subsea cables become a coercive bargaining tool or a new flashpoint in maritime disputes?’. In his talk, he focused on the importance of greater awareness, more coordinated physical protection, increased redundancy and repair capabilities, and more robust risk assessment and attribution processes. Across each of these, Vietnam – as well as its regional and international partners – are progressing at pace, but limitations such as weak informational sharing, uncoordinated operational responses, and untransparent information handling expose ongoing opportunities for more efficient protection and escalation control.
Scott’s presence was indicative of an ongoing relationship between C MARC and British Embassy Hanoi. C MARC members attended the inaugural roundtable held in Danang in 2025, as well as the UK-Vietnam bilateral maritime security dialogue in London, after the implementing an FCDO-funded project ‘National Maritime Security in Vietnam: Towards an Integrated Approach to Realise Sustained Development Benefits’. Given Vietnam’s importance in Southeast Asia’s regional maritime security architecture, C MARC looks forward to working with British Embassy Hanoi in future.
