By Satyaki Chakraborty
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two day visit to Hanoi on December 12 and 13 opened a new chapter in the political and economic relations between two communist countries removing many of the misunderstandings between the two nations in the recent years.
In September this year when Vietnam and the U.S. upgraded their relationship to the level of a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” many Western analysts and media commentators declared that this meant Vietnam was being pulled into the U.S.’ diplomatic sphere of influence and joining its anti-China coalition.. Vietnamese leaders explained at that time itself that this improvement in relationship with the US is a part of the country’s efforts to ensure stability and peace in the region, there was no question of joining US against any country.
But if the just-concluded two-day visit to Hanoi by Chinese President Xi Jinping is any indicator, the talks between the topmost leaders of the two countries helped in doing away some misunderstanding between the two neighbours about the direction of a few policies, which created some irritants in the last few years.
Xi, who is also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, was the guest of Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary Nguyen PhuTrong and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong. During the meeting, the three leaders re-affirmed the deep friendship between their two countries and oversaw the signing of 37 agreements covering fields ranging from defense, trade, and supporting each other’s path to socialism to infrastructure development, public security, and joint maritime patrols of the Gulf of Tonkin.
Significantly, among the many documents signed was a plan for further cooperation on China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” as well as the “Two Corridors, One Belt” program. While these two Chinese trade and cooperation initiatives are major infrastructure investment programs that have helped developing countries around the world speed up their modernization processes. With the Vietnamese government’s plans to invest in a cross-country high-speed rail line, these Chinese programs may prove to be crucially important.
At the end of Xi’s visit, the two governments issued a joint statement emphasizing the close relationship and the shared socialist path of Vietnam and China. Emphasizing the countries’ “close bonds as both comrades and brothers” the statement declared an intention to “further elevate the Vietnam-China Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership” and build a “Vietnam-China Community.”
The leaders said that the relationship between their nations was moving to a new stage “with stronger political trust, more substantial defense-security cooperation, deeper tangible collaboration…closer multilateral coordination, better management and settlement of differences, and joint efforts for boosting the development of the world socialist cause, making positive contributions to the cause of peace and progress of mankind.”
The agreement could also help stabilize tensions in the South China Sea (referred to as the East Sea in Vietnam). The U.S. and its allies have repeatedly attempted to use any signs of instability in this area to expand their military presence in the region. In fact, the U.S. permanently keeps a large naval force in the South China Sea, despite it being thousands of miles away from U.S. territory.
According to diplomats, Vietnam has long pursued a “bamboo diplomacy” approach, striving to stay on good terms with both powers. It shares US concerns about Beijing’s increasing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea, but it also has political commonality and close economic ties with China. Vietnam and China already share a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, Vietnam’s highest diplomatic status. Hanoi and Washington upgraded their relationship to the same level in September.
Despite close economic ties, the two neighbours have been at odds over boundaries in the South China Sea. China has, over the past decade, expanded land reclamation in the South China Sea, creating militarised islands with runways, ports and radar systems. Vietnam, along with Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan, also has overlapping claims in the territory.
During Biden’s September visit, Vietnam and the US jointly warned against the “threat or use of force” in the South China Sea. In an opinion piece published in Vietnam’s Nhan Dan newspaper before the visit on Tuesday, Xi wrote: “Asia’s future is in the hands of no one but Asians.” A “community with a shared future” between the two countries would have strategic significance, he added, while warning against rising “hegemonism” in the world, an apparent reference to the US, though he did not name it. Now after the summit, there seems to be an understanding about the cooperation in South China Sea also.
China has been Vietnam’s largest trading partner for several years, with a bilateral trade turnover of $175.6bn in 2022. Imports from China, including crucial inputs for Vietnam’s manufacturing sector, make up 67 percent, according to Vietnam customs data cited by Vietnamese state media. China has more than US$ 26 billion invested in Vietnam in more than 4,000 projects. More projects will be added now following the conclusion of the economic agreements. (IPA Service)
