Amid US-China rivalry, ‘big winner’ Vietnam walks a diplomatic tightrope to avoid getting ‘caught in the crossfire’
- Keeping both the US and China onside is becoming increasingly difficult for Vietnam as it elevates ties with Washington and eyes US arms
- Analysts say Hanoi’s goals are largely economic, not political – but more meticulous planning may be needed if it’s ‘to have its cake and eat it too’
Yet the Southeast Asian nation now risks being “caught in the crossfire” of intensifying US-China rivalry, analysts say, as despite “well-managed relations” that have allowed it to prosper and extract concessions from its top-two trading partners, its ever more precarious tightrope walk may eventually force it to pick sides.
03:13
Joe Biden says US and Vietnam ‘deepening cooperation’
“It’s about maintaining Vietnam’s own strategic autonomy and independence, siding with the US where their interests happen to overlap, but not moving definitely into any ‘camp’,” said Greg Poling, director of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank’s Southeast Asia programme.
“Vietnam assesses that pulling the Americans closer economically and strategically is the best hedge against China,” which Hanoi views as a long-term strategic threat to be carefully managed, he said.