Hanoi is being courted by both Beijing and Washington in their regional power play.
When Chinese Premier Li Qiang started making his first phone calls to overseas leaders after taking office last month, his opposite number in Vietnam was among those at the top of the list. In the call with Pham Minh Chinh , Li highlighted the need for continued “neighbourly relations” between China and Vietnam, saying both countries should “continue to take concrete action to promote stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific”. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang was also on the phone earlier with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son with a similar message. The diplomatic activity follows a flurry of interest from the United States in the Southeast Asian country, including an agreement between US President Joe Biden and Nguyen Phu Trong, the chief of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, to “promote, develop and deepen” ties. Both leaders also accepted reciprocal invitations to visit. Observers in the region say Vietnam is balancing its interests and, while it is expected to step up its security cooperation with the US , it will resist being drawn into the American orbit to counter China. Beijing’s outreach comes as its geopolitical competition with Washington grows evermore hostile and many of its neighbours – including US allies such as the Philippines, Japan, Australia and South Korea – have moved closer to Washington as part of what Beijing sees as a strategy to contain its rise. Vietnam, with its fast-growing economy and strategic location on the South China Sea, is of particular importance. So much so that since 2018, the US has sent patrol boats to Vietnam almost every year, and in 2017 and 2021, Washington handed over to Hanoi two Hamilton-class cutters – once the largest class of vessel in the US Coast Guard. A third boat was ready to be delivered last year.
