Hanoi plays at balancing ties with China and the US with aplomb

THE Vietnamese prime minister is adopting the American president's "transactional diplomacy": Hanoi is linking the economic deals that President Donald Trump desires from Vietnam with concrete US support in its maritime dispute with its giant northern neighbour, China.

Vietnam has recently activated its "multi-directional" principle of foreign policy, based on "national interest", on the big stage of the White House, as each leader is extracting what he wants from the other.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc became the first South-east Asian leader to meet President Trump on May 31. It emerged from the meeting that Hanoi could be an essential American ally for the right price.

Here is the deal: the US wants to reduce its trade deficit of US$32 billion with Vietnam, and Hanoi is willing to help, in return for US assistance in the South China Sea dispute and speedy delivery of…