‘Bamboo Diplomacy’ and Vietnam’s ‘Pleasure’ in the eyes of China and the United States

This year, investment flows from China to Vietnam have increased significantly. As the ASEAN member state continues to play a key role in global supply chains as a key manufacturing hub for both China and the United States,

Vietnam’s importance in the eyes of the two superpowers became clearer when President Joe Biden paid an official visit in September. It is ready to upgrade diplomatic relations with the former rival country after Washington tries to position itself as an equally influential friend with China for the Hanoi government.

The issue is set to get hotter as President Xi Jinping is scheduled to make a two-day visit to Vietnam on Tuesday, the first visit by a Chinese leader to the neighboring country in six years.

SEE ALSO: ‘Xi Jinping’ prepares to visit Vietnam next week.

Hoang Le Thu, Deputy Director of Asia Program of International Crisis Group commented that From China’s perspective This visit will reinforce that. He will never lose Vietnam to a competitor like the United States, while Vietnam itself sees that Their aroma is the result of bamboo diplomacy or the way of bamboo diplomacy. That allows him to juggle dealing with the two superpowers without being forced to choose one side or the other.

But even though it is still unclear Will President Xi’s trip to Hanoi bring about an upgrade in diplomatic ties between the two countries and how? What seems clear at this time is China has an advantage in economic relations over the United States. This is because investment from China has flowed into Vietnam in large numbers in recent years. Due to tensions between Washington and Beijing and the implementation of economic sanctions against China, which has caused more businesses to seek employment outside the country.

Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry told reporters that President Xi’s visit to Vietnam next week will include an agenda to discuss “Elevating China-Vietnam relations” as well, while other agenda items ranged from political issues to Various cooperation, people’s ideas and matters related to navigation as well.

Compare trade-investment

Officially recorded investment from China and Hong Kong into Vietnam in the first 11 months of this year rose to $8.2 billion, more than double the figure for the same period last year. Making China become Vietnam’s number one foreign investor by default.

A little Vietnamese boy Holding the Vietnamese flag and the Chinese flag At the welcoming ceremony at the Vietnamese Presidential Palace on 12 November 2017.

In the U.S., investment will shrink to about $500 million this year from $700 million in 2022, making the U.S. became the 10th largest foreign investor, while trade conditions between the two decreased. Because American consumers face a cost of living crisis. And there was no good news about any import tariff reductions during President Biden’s visit to Vietnam nearly three months ago.

Meanwhile, exports from Vietnam to the United States fell 15% to about $79.25 billion in the first 10 months of this year. According to Hanoi official information But exports to China grew 5% to nearly $50 billion.

China-Vietnam relations are still complicated.

Although the direction of trade and investment between China and Vietnam looks good, The relationship between the two was not like that. It is caused by tensions in boundary disputes in the South China Sea.

While anti-China sentiment among Vietnamese citizens has led to frequent protests against China, the Hanoi government is also concerned about Beijing’s assertiveness in declaring ownership of the South China Sea. Especially after China released a new official map on September 1st. which shows that China has sovereignty over almost all of the sea lanes, which are rich in natural resources.

SEE ALSO: Analysis: ‘Barbie’ fuels the fire in the Vietnam-China maritime boundary dispute.

Many parties recognize that Maritime disputes are quite sensitive for Vietnam. After authorities banned the screening of the movie “Barbie” because of a scene that showed a map over an overlapping area in the South China Sea that was similar to an ancient Chinese map that used dotted lines called the “nine-dash line”

What is likely to happen during the visit of President Xi?

Political researcher Nguyen Kac Giang told AFP that President Xi’s visit to Vietnam was It is a good opportunity for China to pull Vietnam closer to itself anyway. With the Chinese leader’s foreign policy called Community of Common Destiny, a middle name that reflects his vision of future cooperation in economic affairs. Security and Politics

The researcher said: “Vietnam may feel cautious about participating in any political initiatives proposed by Beijing. We can also expect to see progress in economic cooperation (between the two countries), especially in the areas of infrastructure development and the transition to clean energy.”

last month Vietnamese state media recently reported that China Rare Earth Group Co. is looking to work with Vinacomin, a giant in Vietnam’s mining industry. After Washington and Hanoi recently reached a cooperation agreement to help Vietnam develop rare mineral resources.

The United States’ thorn in Vietnam

Although the United States was able to upgrade its diplomatic relations with Vietnam to “comprehensive strategic partnership” which is at the same level as China During President Biden’s visit in September, Zachary Abuza, a professor of Southeast Asian politics at the National War College in Washington, pointed out that foreign businesses still face several key challenges in Investing in Vietnam is good during a time when China controls quite a bit of the area.

Many business consultants in Vietnam agree that while investors in the United States Showing more interest in doing business in Vietnam Deciding to make any investment is not something that will happen overnight.

SEE ALSO: US-China and the battle to build alliances in Asia is heating up.

Kyle Freeman, a partner at business consulting firm Dezan Shira, told Reuters: China has an advantage over the United States on this issue, thanks to Chinese businessmen’s risk-mitigation strategies amid tensions in relations between Washington and Beijing that have driven a surge in investment to Vietnam. Chad Owell from Mekong Capital is an investment management company that focuses mainly on the Vietnamese market. Added that China’s short- to medium-term economic outlook is in poor shape, causing Chinese people to flock to foreign investment opportunities for some time now.

• Source: AFP and Reuters