Xi Jinping
China and Vietnam: China is not desisting from its arrogance in the South China Sea. To challenge China’s dominance, Vietnam has started increasing friendship with countries like Japan and America. Japan and America are already in the organization of ‘Quad’ which is considered anti-China. In such a situation, Vietnam wants to give a strong message to China by deepening friendship with big countries. China is frightened by this step of Vietnam. For damage control, China wants to gain trust by strengthening its relations with Vietnam. Due to this effort, Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a visit to his neighboring country Vietnam. This will be Jinping’s first visit to Vietnam since 2017.
Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry said that during this visit, Xi Jinping will meet Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. “This reflects Beijing’s concerns over Hanoi’s growing ties with the West,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, who works at the ISEAS-Yosof Ishak Institute in Singapore. It is worried that Vietnam may join the anti-China coalition.
Vietnam’s increasing power in Southeast Asia
Vietnam’s strategic role in Southeast Asia is increasing in terms of security and economy. Vietnam is ideologically close to China. It is ruled by the Communist Party with strong ties to China, but in recent months Vietnam has signaled closer ties with Western countries. US President Joe Biden visited Vietnam in September to mark the US giving diplomatic status equal to China.
Vietnam is increasing its closeness with Japan
Apart from this, Japan and Vietnam strengthened their economic and security ties in November, referring to ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ and Japan was also given diplomatic status equal to China and America. Japan is developing increasingly close ties with Vietnam and is its third largest foreign investor. Vietnam is among several countries that are at odds with China over claims in the South China Sea.
The southern part of the South China Sea touches the mainland of China, while its south-eastern part is claimed by Taiwan. The eastern coast of the South China Sea touches the border of Vietnam and Cambodia. In the west are the Philippines, while in the northern area of the South China Sea are the Banka and Bantung islands of Indonesia.
Latest World News