Move by the United States to woo Vietnam is a flawed strategy
With American officials eager to counter China’s growing might to preserve their nation’s global eminence, they would do better to accept a big power relationship with Beijing and the best place to start is by ending provocations that are behind tensions
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has reduced the complexities of Asia to a simple good and bad, with China demonised as the latter. But increasingly fewer of the region’s governments share the view, their Beijing-leaning foreign policies and efforts to settle differences proving where allegiances most lie. In Southeast Asia, that has left Washington searching for reliable strategic partners and its latest target is Vietnam. The strategy is flawed, creating unnecessary tensions by promoting threats that do not exist.
The same thinking is behind the regular voyages of US naval vessels in the name of “freedom of navigation” near islands China has created in the South China Sea. It is encouraging allies, Britain, Australia and France among them, to follow suit with joint patrols. Washington’s claims that China is a threat hinge on a rising defence budget, the construction of military outposts and increased activity by the People’s Liberation Army at sea and in the air. But the fearmongering ignores the facts; China has every right to protect its sovereignty and interests and not once has it obstructed freedom of navigation.