Xi courts Vietnam
Xi Jinping used a visit by Vietnam’s leader to press for closer ties and to frame China as a steadier security partner amid U.S. pressure, according to reporting on the trip. Analysts told The New York Times that China’s security relationship with Vietnam now outpaces America’s defence ties there, signalling Beijing is trying to convert U.S. trade and tariff turbulence into diplomatic openings. (nytimes.com)
Xi Jinping used Vietnamese leader To Lam’s April 14-17 visit to Beijing to push China as Vietnam’s most dependable security partner. (nytimes.com) Lam’s trip was his first visit abroad since Vietnam’s National Assembly elected him president on April 7, while he also kept the more powerful post of Communist Party general secretary. Xi told him on April 15 that China and Vietnam should oppose “unilateralism and protectionism” and deepen work on infrastructure, artificial intelligence and semiconductors. (thediplomat.com) Vietnam and China issued a joint statement on April 17 saying they would deepen party-to-party ties, security and law-enforcement cooperation, and strategic coordination. The statement cast the relationship as a “strategic choice” with “long-term significance.” (en.qdnd.vn) Beijing is making that case as Washington’s trade pressure has unsettled governments across Asia. The New York Times reported that Chinese officials used President Donald Trump’s tariff policies as part of their pitch that China offers steadier backing. (nytimes.com) The security piece has been building for months, not days. On March 16, China and Vietnam held their first “3+3” ministerial dialogue, bringing together their foreign, defense and public security ministers in Hanoi. (mfa.gov.cn) That format goes beyond the usual military-to-military channel. It links diplomacy, armed forces and domestic security, and Chinese officials said the mechanism was created to safeguard “political system security” and deepen strategic coordination. (english.www.gov.cn) The United States has expanded defense ties with Vietnam, but mostly in a careful, limited way. An ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute paper published on March 13 said the two countries upgraded relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2023, yet defense cooperation remains “restrained in practice.” (iseas.edu.sg) That caution reflects Vietnam’s long-running balancing act. Hanoi has deep disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea, and Lam’s Beijing talks included a pledge to “better manage and actively resolve disagreements at sea” while keeping stability. (thediplomat.com) So the message from Beijing was not that the disputes are gone. It was that China wants those disputes contained while it locks in broader political and security ties with the man who now holds Vietnam’s top two offices. (nytimes.com)
