https://www.scmp.com/rss/328510/feed Bac Pham has been reporting in Vietnam for more than 20 years, working for numerous local and foreign publications including The Straits Times, The Guardian and The Diplomat. He has worked for Deutsche Presse-Agentur since 2008. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Bac Pham,Bennett Murray Bac Pham,Bennett Murray Vietnam breathed a sigh of relief when US President Donald Trump announced a trade deal had been struck between Hanoi and Washington. The Vietnam Stock Index reached its highest level since April 2022, indicating confidence that export stability had been achieved. On the face of it, the deal is highly unbalanced, with US exports to Vietnam enjoying tariff-free market access, while Vietnamese exports in the other direction now face a 20 per cent rate, slightly over twice last year’s average rate... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3317062/vietnams-new-us-trade-deal-sparks-optimism-despite-tariff-challenges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3317062/vietnams-new-us-trade-deal-sparks-optimism-despite-tariff-challenges?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Jul 2025 04:00:18 +0000 Hanoi stockbroker Mai Xuan Huu is a member of Vietnam’s upwardly mobile middle class, whose fortunes are tightly bound to the country’s political stability – and economic growth that’s been averaging a brisk 4.5 per cent annually. But the 33-year-old now harbours concerns for his homeland, which has benefited in recent years from companies relocating their supply chains outside China to skirt US tariffs arising from the pair’s damaging trade war. A leadership transition in Hanoi, marked by an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3275689/south-china-sea-stakes-ratchet-ever-higher-vietnam-seeks-out-calmer-waters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3275689/south-china-sea-stakes-ratchet-ever-higher-vietnam-seeks-out-calmer-waters?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Aug 2024 01:00:17 +0000 The restarting of an arms trade with Vietnam is expected to be high on the agenda for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hanoi on a rare trip abroad to the capital of an old Cold War ally. Putin arrived in the city on Thursday morning after visiting Pyongyang, where he met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The Russian leader is set for talks in Vietnam with Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who serves as Vietnam’s de facto top leader, President To Lam and Prime Minister Pham... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3267345/reviving-russias-weapons-exports-vietnam-focus-putin-visits-hanoi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3267345/reviving-russias-weapons-exports-vietnam-focus-putin-visits-hanoi?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jun 2024 06:28:39 +0000 Chinese President Xi Jinping’s coming visit to Vietnam is set to intensify the competition between Beijing and Washington to joust for influence in the strategically important Southeast Asian country. During Xi’s two-day state visit from Tuesday, he is expected to dangle multi-billion dollar carrots of a new rail link and rare earth projects in a bid to curb the rising US clout in Vietnam, analysts say. While Beijing and Hanoi remain embroiled in the South China Sea dispute, their divergent... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3244526/xi-jinping-set-woo-vietnam-new-rail-and-rare-earth-projects-bid-curb-rising-us-clout?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3244526/xi-jinping-set-woo-vietnam-new-rail-and-rare-earth-projects-bid-curb-rising-us-clout?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Dec 2023 00:30:11 +0000 As Hanoi prepares to welcome US President Joe Biden on Sunday, a formal upgrade in ties appears all but certain. If expectations hold true, Vietnam will soon refer to the United States as its “comprehensive strategic partner”, the highest place among Hanoi’s three-tiered diplomatic ranking of its friends. During his 24-hour stay, Biden is scheduled to meet all four of the Vietnamese Communist Party’s top leaders. He is also expected to pay homage to the late senator John McCain at the lake where... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3233632/us-vietnam-seek-comprehensive-strategic-partnership-amid-chinas-clout-polarised-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3233632/us-vietnam-seek-comprehensive-strategic-partnership-amid-chinas-clout-polarised-world?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Sep 2023 01:30:15 +0000 An American aircraft carrier made a port call in Vietnam on Sunday amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, in what analysts said was a “positive expression” of the United States’ commitment to peacekeeping in the disputed waters. The USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, docked in Da Nang for a six-day visit, with cultural activities such as a US Navy band concert and a culinary exchange on the itinerary. Analysts told This Week in Asia that geopolitics... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3225297/us-aircraft-carriers-vietnam-port-call-positive-expression-commitment-peace-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3225297/us-aircraft-carriers-vietnam-port-call-positive-expression-commitment-peace-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jun 2023 10:00:12 +0000 United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday told Vietnam’s leaders that the time had come to elevate relations amid speculation that a formal upgrade in ties is coming closer to fruition. “From our perspective, we think this is an auspicious time to elevate our existing partnership,” Blinken said at a Saturday press conference in Hanoi. “I think what you will see in the weeks and months ahead is our teams working on this,” he added. After arriving in Hanoi on Friday, Blinken on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3217203/us-vietnam-pledge-boost-ties-after-antony-blinkens-hanoi-visit-mere-diplomatic-symbolism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3217203/us-vietnam-pledge-boost-ties-after-antony-blinkens-hanoi-visit-mere-diplomatic-symbolism?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:00:48 +0000 As Vietnam prepares for the arrival of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week, analysts from both countries suspect a long-sought upgrade in security ties may finally be achieved. Blinken is set to visit Hanoi from April 14-16 before travelling to Japan for the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting. He will meet Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who is Vietnam’s de facto senior-most leader, said a source in the Vietnamese foreign ministry. Carl Thayer,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3216581/will-blinkens-trip-yield-strategic-upgrade-us-ties-china-friendly-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3216581/will-blinkens-trip-yield-strategic-upgrade-us-ties-china-friendly-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Apr 2023 11:17:34 +0000 Pham Van Bang, a 62-year-old from Hanoi, was a teenager when he last sheltered from enemy bombs at the end of the Vietnam war. Almost five decades later, he once again hears air raid sirens almost daily amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. “I still hear the sound of rockets whistling, the sound of bombs dropping and exploding, very scary,” said Bang in a phone interview from Kyiv, where he has lived since 1994. Bang, who is the chairman of the Vietnamese Association in Kyiv and owner of a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3188655/vietnamese-ukraine-and-russia-find-themselves-divided-loyalties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3188655/vietnamese-ukraine-and-russia-find-themselves-divided-loyalties?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Aug 2022 03:00:12 +0000 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned of interference from regional outsiders, as he urged Vietnam not to “magnify conflicts” in the disputed South China Sea. Wang’s remarks, made during talks with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi on Friday, came around two weeks after visiting US Vice-President Kamala Harris called on Vietnam to join the US in challenging China’s “bullying”. “We should treasure the hard-won peace and stability in the South China Sea and place... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3148419/china-warns-vietnam-watch-out-outside-interference-south-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3148419/china-warns-vietnam-watch-out-outside-interference-south-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Sep 2021 11:52:42 +0000 US Vice-President Kamala Harris has told Vietnam’s leaders that Washington wants to upgrade their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership, as she urged Hanoi to challenge what she dubbed Beijing’s bullying in the South China Sea. Harris also pledged Washington’s help in boosting the Southeast Asian nation’s maritime security, offering more visits by US warships as well as the donation of a third US Coast Guard cutter – subject to congressional approval. “We will work closely with... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3146356/us-vp-harris-seeks-strategic-upgrade-vietnam-ties-calls-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3146356/us-vp-harris-seeks-strategic-upgrade-vietnam-ties-calls-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Aug 2021 10:35:15 +0000 US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Vietnam on Wednesday for talks that are expected to focus heavily on security and military cooperation between the erstwhile enemies, along with Washington’s plan to help Southeast Asia tackle Covid-19 and its post-pandemic recovery. Sources say discussions on Thursday between Austin and his counterpart General Phan Van Giang in Hanoi will cover the provision of US coastguard ships to Vietnam for maritime patrols and the possibility of a third... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3142868/us-defence-secretary-lloyd-austins-vietnam-visit-focus-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3142868/us-defence-secretary-lloyd-austins-vietnam-visit-focus-security?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jul 2021 09:02:48 +0000 With Monday’s inauguration of former intelligence agent Pham Minh Chinh as Vietnam’s new prime minister, political analysts said they were shocked by the dark horse candidate’s ascent but expected only subtle changes in governance. “Only a small segment of the people know him. That is why almost all Vietnamese people were shocked and surprised when they learned the news that he would be the new prime minister,” said Pham Quang Minh, a former dean of the University for Social Sciences and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3128437/vietnams-new-pm-surprise-wont-herald-change-approach-us-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3128437/vietnams-new-pm-surprise-wont-herald-change-approach-us-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Apr 2021 05:35:07 +0000 “Great success! Glory to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam!” proclaimed the country’s newly re-elected Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong on Monday as he vowed to pursue strong economic growth and resume his crackdown on corruption after being granted a rare third term in office. Among other things, delegates at the party Congress also approved a five-year economic blueprint that calls for private companies to account for more than half of the economy by 2025, from 42 per cent now, and to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3120110/we-have-taken-back-millions-vietnams-secretive-congress-ends?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3120110/we-have-taken-back-millions-vietnams-secretive-congress-ends?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Feb 2021 12:58:20 +0000 Authorities in Vietnam are ramping up their crackdown on dissent just weeks before the Communist Party’s national congress, with the jailing of prominent journalist Pham Chi Dung on Tuesday just the latest in a string of sentences handed down to critics of the state. Before his arrest, Dung was chairman of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam, a group he founded that has advocated for press freedom in the country since 2014 yet is considered an illegal organisation by Hanoi. Dung,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3116829/vietnam-ramps-crackdown-dissent-ahead-communist-party-congress?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3116829/vietnam-ramps-crackdown-dissent-ahead-communist-party-congress?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Jan 2021 12:02:07 +0000 When the Japanese energy firm Inpex in November settled a four-year legal battle against a Singaporean firm to retain its oil and gas concession with Vietnam in the South China Sea, it won the rights to drill in some of the world’s most fraught offshore fields. With field development plans already approved by the Vietnamese government for Blocks 05-1B and 05-1C, production appears to be close at hand. Inpex is not going into the venture blind. A joint project between the Vietnamese state energy... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3116152/vietnam-pins-hopes-japan-face-down-beijing-south-china-sea-oil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3116152/vietnam-pins-hopes-japan-face-down-beijing-south-china-sea-oil?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Jan 2021 00:00:19 +0000 US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien’s visit to Vietnam and the Philippines this weekend marks a last-minute push by the outgoing administration of Donald Trump to cement its legacy of countering Chinese ambitions in the disputed South China Sea, analysts said. O’ Brien is expected to be in Hanoi on Friday and Saturday for meetings with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich and Public Security Minister To Lam. He will then head... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3110400/south-china-sea-trumps-national-security-adviser-heads-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3110400/south-china-sea-trumps-national-security-adviser-heads-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Nov 2020 22:30:22 +0000 Washington toughened its stance against Beijing’s aggressive territorial claims in the South China Sea last week by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Vietnam, pledging support for its fishermen against “illegal intimidation”. While US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel J Kritenbrink did not mention China in his comments at the signing ceremony with the Directorate of Fisheries, analysts said he was clearly referring to Beijing. Vietnam is one of four Southeast Asian countries with... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3095058/us-pledges-help-south-china-sea-vietnam-wary-antagonising?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3095058/us-pledges-help-south-china-sea-vietnam-wary-antagonising?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2020 23:00:26 +0000 The Philippines on Wednesday expressed “deep concern” over the April 3 collision between a Chinese coast guard vessel and a Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea, citing its own experience last year as a sign of “how much trust in a friendship is lost” following such incidents. “Given the positive momentum on the discussions on a code of conduct in the South China Sea, it is crucial that such incidents be avoided and that differences be addressed in a manner that enhances dialogue and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3079039/philippines-expresses-concern-after-china-vietnam-incident-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3079039/philippines-expresses-concern-after-china-vietnam-incident-south?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2020 12:30:18 +0000 American Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt will visit Vietnam this week, with a stop scheduled at the coastal city of Da Nang on Thursday. Designed as a symbolic show of unity amid simmering tensions in the resource-rich South China Sea, the vessel’s arrival serves as a statement of intent to China. United States Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink, US Pacific fleet commander John C. Aquilino and US Consul General Marie Damour will represent the American delegation at a welcome... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3064991/us-navy-ship-visit-vietnam-amid-rising-south-china-sea-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3064991/us-navy-ship-visit-vietnam-amid-rising-south-china-sea-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2020 11:00:11 +0000 The defence white papers published by Southeast Asian neighbours Vietnam and Malaysia in recent weeks attracted a fraction of the media limelight those of larger countries tend to attract. That indifference is in part because the two documents – both now in the public domain – held back on detailed procurement plans and spending forecasts and instead offered cautious, heavily nuanced strategic outlooks. For Malaysia, the publication of the paper in itself was a major achievement: the country has... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3042060/south-china-sea-message-beijing-vietnam-malaysia-defence-white?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3042060/south-china-sea-message-beijing-vietnam-malaysia-defence-white?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Dec 2019 00:00:15 +0000 A 12-year jail term handed to a 70-year-old Australian retiree in Vietnam for “terrorist activities against the state” has renewed international focus on Hanoi’s squeeze on government critics after recent prosecutions of two Americans of Vietnamese descent. Chau Van Kham, a former baker from New South Wales, was accused of giving campaigner Nguyen Van Vien, 48, US$400 towards Viet Tan, a pro-democracy opposition group banned in communist-ruled Vietnam but which the United Nations has described... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3037433/australian-retirees-12-year-jail-term-highlights-vietnams?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3037433/australian-retirees-12-year-jail-term-highlights-vietnams?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2019 21:30:04 +0000 Vietnamese dad Nguyen Dinh Gia is certain his son Luong was among the 39 migrants found dead in a refrigerated truck in Essex, England, on October 23. Although authorities in Britain have not yet released the victims’ identities, Gia said he received an anonymous phone call with the terrible news on Thursday night from someone who was aware of the truck’s progress. “It is my suspicion that after seeing the bodies of all the people, with no one left alive, he called me,” said Gia, a 57-year-old... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3034777/i-am-sure-he-dead-vietnam-families-contemplate-perilous?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3034777/i-am-sure-he-dead-vietnam-families-contemplate-perilous?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Oct 2019 13:15:12 +0000 Nguyen Thi Hanh had never eaten a cherry before the trade war between Washington and Beijing. A 64-year-old retiree living in Hanoi, she had often seen the fruit for sale at a local shop, but with a monthly pension of only 5 million Vietnamese dong (US$215), the imported treat was well outside her price range. These days, however, she has been buying cherries for about US$10 a kilogram, around half of what the shop used to charge. “I think many Vietnamese people have not eaten cherries, so I... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3023603/vietnam-gets-bite-cherry-us-farm-exports-find-new-market-amid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3023603/vietnam-gets-bite-cherry-us-farm-exports-find-new-market-amid?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Aug 2019 00:00:16 +0000 Nguyen Quy Duc, 17, speaks English with a near native accent. Like many Vietnamese teenagers, he wants to go abroad, hopefully to the United States, to study information technology. He takes A-level courses in English at his state high school in Hanoi, the first in Vietnam to offer British-designed advanced courses certified by Cambridge University. “We get a chance to learn subjects in English which is very helpful for the future,” he said. Vietnam is now in the final year of a 12-year, US$446... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2187639/vietnams-plan-all-students-speak-english-didnt-work-its-education?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2187639/vietnams-plan-all-students-speak-english-didnt-work-its-education?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Feb 2019 03:31:50 +0000 After his capture while fighting for the communists during the Vietnam war, Nguyen Duc Gan endured four years of brutal captivity in a POW camp run by the US-allied South Vietnamese. Today, Nguyen, 72, holds no grudge against the Americans. In fact, he is excited to welcome President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Hanoi for their second summit on denuclearisation this week. “I read newspapers and US media does not like him, but I find Trump to be a great man,” says Nguyen,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2187535/vietnamese-trump-kim-summit-celebration-countrys-post-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2187535/vietnamese-trump-kim-summit-celebration-countrys-post-war?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Feb 2019 05:03:00 +0000 With Asia’s business community increasingly resigned to a lengthy trade war between Beijing and Washington, Vietnam has picked up some business from its northern neighbour. While outsourcing to Vietnam is nothing new – the country received US$35.88 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, according to government statistics – Chinese firms are increasingly citing the trade war as a motivation to move south. Last month, GoerTek, the Shandong-based manufacturer of Apple’s Airpods,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2173665/heres-who-wins-and-who-loses-us-china-trade-war-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2173665/heres-who-wins-and-who-loses-us-china-trade-war-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Nov 2018 04:30:15 +0000 When Nguyen Phu Trong, the Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary, took his oath of office in Hanoi’s National Assembly last week, he became the first party boss to also serve as president since the days of the Vietnam war. “It is fair to say that Mr Trong is the most powerful leader of Vietnam since President Ho Chi Minh,” said Le Dang Doanh, a retired senior economic adviser to the government and party member, adding that Trong is even more powerful than former wartime leader Le Duan. Mr... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2170145/vietnams-new-leader-taking-cues-chinas-xi-jinping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2170145/vietnams-new-leader-taking-cues-chinas-xi-jinping?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Oct 2018 04:00:45 +0000 ALMOST 51 YEARS after then-US navy captain John McCain was retrieved from Hanoi’s Truc Bach lake by a vengeful crowd, his former foes see the late American politician in a very similar light to the country he served – as an enemy turned friend. “He recognised war is the best lesson for peace, so he is a veteran who pioneered reconciliation,” said Duong Trung Quoc, a historian and member of Vietnam’s National Assembly. When McCain visited Vietnam in 1985, his first trip back after being released... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2162002/how-vietnam-fell-love-john-mccain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2162002/how-vietnam-fell-love-john-mccain?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Aug 2018 13:00:45 +0000