For decades, Vietnam has been a geopolitically significant theatre of competition for the superpowers. Today, leaders in Hanoi must navigate and leverage the competing interests of China, the US and Russia to protect its citizens, national integrity and economy.
With Vietnam’s complex and multilayered national interests, navigating relations among the world’s great powers will not be easy in the coming years and decades for leaders seated in Hanoi.
Trade from China continues to grow, but so does the perception of Beijing as the number one threat to its sovereignty. History, perhaps, provides the most pronounced indicator of the countries’ strained relationship. Although Vietnam has been a reluctant tributary to the Middle Kingdom, it adopted many Chinese cultural and religious practices. The trajectory of the Vietnam-China relationship is crucial for another reason: it’s telling of China’s priorities and views on rule-based order and international law. So far, the signs are hardly optimistic.
As Vietnam bolsters its legal case, it also builds and modernises its navy, and improves its maritime reconnaissance capabilities.
This article was written by ALEX SHYKOV
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