China, trying to catch public sentiment in Southeast Asia, why Vietnam was removed

Is there another country that is moving as busy as China these days?

While the United States was busy with the transfer of power, Southeast Asia was the place where China paid the most attention.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently visited ASEAN (10 Southeast Asian Nations) countries in turn. After visiting Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia in October last year, I visited Myanmar, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines from the 11th to the 15th. It was a breathtaking schedule.

However, there is one ASEAN country that the king has left out. It is Vietnam.

Wang Yi, who boasted a friendly appearance with many Southeast Asian countries, was the only reason he left out Vietnam alone.

Most experts say that it is due to the political tensions between the two countries, which are continuing due to the South China Sea dispute. Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported the latest situation, saying, “China is Vietnam’s best trading partner, but political tensions between Beijing and Hanoi are rising.”

It’s not just with words.

Vietnam rejected Huawei’s technology when all other Southeast Asian countries accepted it. It was also the first ASEAN country to close the Chinese border in the early stages of the Corona 19 pandemic last year. It goes without saying that it hurt the pride of the Chinese government.

Vietnam has poured cold water on China, which is approaching Southeast Asian countries through’vaccine diplomacy’. Most ASEAN countries have signed an agreement to get a Chinese-made Corona 19 vaccine, but Vietnam is pursuing a’vaccine diversification strategy’. In addition to Chinese vaccines, it plans to lower the risk by introducing vaccines in the UK, the US and Russia. There is no way China is pleased.

From the perspective of Vietnam, it doesn’t look good for China to wield influence over Cambodia and Laos in recent years. China is exerting great influence on these two countries by carrying out the’One-to-One Road Project’, because these countries are traditionally close to Vietnam.

Is it because of these various reasons? Anti-Chinese sentiment in Vietnam is quite large.

There is another important reason for leaving Vietnam out while China is getting closer to Southeast Asia.

This is because Vietnam is in the period of regime change. At the end of this month, the results of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam are coming out, and the Chinese side has decided that it is not too late to approach Vietnam after the results come out.

Importantly, while China is now far from Vietnam, the country’s’geopolitical importance’ is increasing. It can be seen from the recent visits to Hanoi by senior US officials. The United States signed a’Mekong-US partnership’ and promised to invest. It is an act aimed at China no matter what.

Therefore, foreign media say that China cannot continue to pretend not to know Vietnam. “Vietnam has become a very geopolitical place,” the SCMP quoted an expert saying. “China is facing more and more challenges with neighboring countries.”

Already, the US and Chinese giants are fighting an invisible war in Southeast Asia. In the US, Google and Amazon, and in China, Alibaba and Tencent, are drawing attention to Southeast Asia.

The international community is paying attention to Vietnam’s choice between the United States and China.

Reporter Lim Ju-ri [email protected]