Drilling for diplomacy: How China’s rig removal affects change in Vietnam

Just 10 months ago, Pham Quang Nghi was greeted by top Chinese officials while praising the importance of fostering the "traditional relationship" with China during a visit to Beijing.

But things have changed drastically since then. On Sunday, the member of Vietnam's decision-making body, the Politburo, will lead a delegation to visit another key player in the region: the United States. In what one observer described as an unofficial "scouting trip", Nghi is expected to test how far Washington is willing to go to help Hanoi deter an increasingly assertive China in disputes that include the placement of an oil rig and sovereignty and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

Nghi's trip underscores the difficult choices Vietnam faces since China's abrupt deployment of the oil rig at its doorstep in May set off the worst dustup between the ideological allies since a brief border war in 1979. And Beijing's decision to remove the oil rig on Tuesday did not end the dispute.

Since May, analysts have noted a growing desire in Hanoi to veer away from China, both politically and economically. Though that won't happen quickly.

Some in the Vietnamese government and public see silver linings to the oil-rig crisis: It might spark more action to push through long-awaited economic reforms such as the government's "master plan" to become a modern, industrialised nation by 2020. It might also engender support for free-trade agreements with Western countries.

Supporters of those changes fear the rig's early removal will mean the loss of a catalyst.

The rig's deployment had deepened the discord within the Vietnamese government over how to balance the relationship with China and the US, the two major powers competing for influence in the region.