Closer Ties to Beijing Comes With Risks for Vietnam, Analyst Warns
Vietnam has long practiced ‘bamboo diplomacy’—a doctrine that keeps the door open to all nations without committing to any single bloc.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping (L) and Vietnamese leader To Lam pass by an honor guard at a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Aug. 19, 2024. Andres Martinez Casares-Pool/Getty Images
The meeting between Vietnamese Communist Party leader To Lam and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping shows Hanoi still views Beijing as a primary partner, but an analyst said that the Chinese regime’s growing economic ties and maritime “salami-slicing” tactics give it leverage to gradually erode Vietnam’s sovereignty.
Jarvis Lim
Author
Jarvis Lim is a Taiwan-based writer focusing on human rights, U.S.–China relations, China's economic and political influence in Southeast Asia, and cross-strait relations.
