Xi vows greater focus on Vietnam as China aims to check US
CHINESE President Xi Jinping pledged to prioritise diplomacy with Vietnam during a trip to the Asian nation, which is forging closer ties with the US and its allies.
The partnership between the two countries should be deepened, Xi told Vietnam’s Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong in Hanoi on Tuesday (Dec 12), according to state broadcaster China Central Television.
China is also willing to build a community of common destiny that includes Vietnam, Xi said.
The two countries signed 37 cooperation deals, in what can be seen as a triumph of Vietnam’s “bamboo diplomacy” as both China and the US vie for influence.
Linking up
The deals included a memorandum of understanding on cross-border rail development. Top officials in both countries had urged a boost to a rail link between the southern Chinese city of Kunming and the northern Vietnamese port of Haiphong, which crosses regions in Vietnam rich in rare earths.
China’s ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo said earlier this week Beijing was ready to offer grants to develop rail connections, though the volume and terms of possible loans are not clear.
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Boosting transport links would allow Vietnam to export more to China, especially farm products, while Beijing wants to further integrate the country’s north with its southern supply chain networks. Chinese firms have moved some operations to Vietnam quicker this year than before the pandemic, in a bid to be closer to Western clients there, lower risks from US-China trade tension, and cut exposure to China’s weakened economy.
Stronger rail networks would speed import of components from China for assembly in Vietnam, effectively expanding China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Currently, the Hanoi metro is Vietnam’s only project to have received BRI loans, but it has not been labelled as such in a country where anti-Chinese sentiment is still widespread enough that such moves could be viewed as getting too close to Beijing.
The two countries agreed to jointly promote the “two corridors, one belt” initiative, which is the Vietnamese term for infrastructure projects supported by China.
Xi has also urged wider cooperation on security, connectivity, green energy and critical minerals, in a reference to the rare earths, of which China is the world’s leading refiner while Vietnam has the second-largest estimated reserves after its neighbour.
Not all deals have yet been made public.
The Chinese president’s two-day trip comes just months after his US counterpart Joe Biden declared “enormous” opportunity with Vietnam on his first jaunt to the South-east Asian nation. That trip yielded sweeping agreements on everything from semiconductors to security, as part of the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy aimed at checking China’s influence in the region.
Xi, who last month declared he does not seek spheres of influence, earlier reiterated his foreign policy vision for a “global community of shared future”. That vision starts in Asia, he said in a letter published by Vietnam’s communist party newspaper ahead of his visit.
“Asia is our common home,” he wrote. “Neighbouring countries cannot be moved away. Helping one’s neighbour is helping oneself.”
Vietnam agreed to “support the initiative of building of a shared future community for humankind”, according to a joint statement shown to reporters.
The countries’ diplomats had debated the “shared future” phrase for months, following Hanoi’s initial reluctance to use it, say officials and diplomats.
The Chinese term literally means “common destiny”, but its translation in English and Vietnamese is “common future”, which may be seen as less demanding.
“One declaration, many translations,” said a diplomat based in the Vietnamese capital, commenting on the interpretation of the term.
Balancing act
Still, Washington’s push for greater influence in China’s backyard, coupled with Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea, have forced nations such as Vietnam into a delicate balancing act between the world’s largest economies.
Hanoi will be mindful of that balance as it seeks economic opportunities from its biggest trading partner. Vietnam has been wary China will use its economic and military might to assert more control in the South China Sea, where they have overlapping claims and the US maintains a presence.
The geopolitical and economic landscape is much changed since Xi’s last trip to Vietnam in 2017, which overlapped with then-US president Donald Trump’s state visit around an economic summit where the superpowers jostled for influence.
Vietnam has since emerged as one of the biggest winners from US-China trade tensions, as businesses redirect billions of dollars from China to the manufacturing powerhouse in a bid to secure supply chains.
While the Asian manufacturing powerhouse has maintained ties on both sides of the dispute, it has inched closer to the US in recent months. During Biden’s September trip, the two nations formally upgraded ties, shifting the relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest level and the one it uses for China and India.
Last month, Japan and Vietnam also elevated ties while underscoring their adherence to international law and territorial integrity.
Such moves have not gone unnoticed by China. In October, Xi urged Vietnam to remember its “traditional friendship” with its neighbour during a meeting with President Vo Van Thuong in Beijing.
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