China-US rivalry poses challenge for Vietnam’s leaders, observers say

Recent meeting of senior Chinese and Vietnamese officials suggests Hanoi has ‘picked a side and is leaning closer to its neighbour’, academic says

But others say Vietnam cannot afford to sacrifice its core interests in the South China Sea just to placate Beijing

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China’s Defence Minister Wei Fenghe (left) meets Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in Hanoi on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:00am, 30 Apr 2021Updated: 12:12pm, 30 Apr 2021

Vietnam’s leaders will have to walk a fine line in their dealings with China, as Hanoi looks to manage its maritime disputes with Beijing while preventing itself becoming embroiled in the rivalry its giant neighbour has with the US, observers say.

Following the visit of Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe to Hanoi on Monday, where he met Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Beijing said the Southeast Asian nation had given its assurance that it would not support any attempt to undermine China.

Wei’s visit was the first by a senior Chinese official to Vietnam since a power shift in Hanoi that saw 76-year-old Trong given a third term as party secretary and Phuc, who ranks second to Trong in the politburo, named president – a position less powerful than the prime minister’s post he had previously held.

During the meetings, the two sides pledged to strengthen military ties and work more closely together to manage disputes in the South China Sea, the Chinese defence ministry said.

China and Vietnam have a long-running territorial dispute in the South China Sea. Photo: Reuters

Feng Chao, an expert on Southeast Asian affairs at Shanghai International Studies University, said the meetings reflected the efforts of the two militaries to reduce the risk of miscalculations.