More Friends, Fewer Enemies

In September 2023, more than 20 kilometres of the eight-lane highway that connects the airport to Hanoi’s centre were blocked, causing long traffic jams at the access roads. Word soon spread about the reason behind the gridlock: US President Joe Biden had landed in the Vietnamese capital. When his motorcade finally reached the presidential palace, he was greeted by the most powerful man in the country, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

It wasn’t the first time a US president had visited. Long after the end of the Vietnam War, which claimed up to 3 million lives and is regarded in Vietnam as a war of resistance against the United States, Bill Clinton’s visit in 2000 heralded a new era in bilateral relations. Regardless, Joe Biden’s visit should also be considered historic, since both sides signed an agreement that upgraded diplomatic relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”. Up to that point, Vietnam had only entered into such agreements with China, Russia, India, and South Korea. Shortly after Biden’s visit, Japan became the sixth country, and Australia also joined the group in March 2024.

Vietnam’s northern neighbour, China, is following these developments closely. Beijing has not directly criticized the strengthening of relations between Vietnam and the US. However, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry called on Washington to “abide by basic norms governing international relations” and to “discard the hegemonic and Cold War mentality” when dealing with relations with Asian countries.

In a conversation, a former Vietnamese diplomat, who wishes to remain anonymous, also stated that the US is forging alliances in the Indo-Pacific and worldwide in a series of moves that must be understood as offensives against Beijing’s interests. The aim of this approach to policy is to curb the economic and political rise of the People’s Republic of China.

In its search for allies in Southeast Asia, Washington is also trying to exploit the territorial disputes in the South China Sea. While China claims almost the entire area of the sea known in Vietnam as the East Sea, neighbouring states such as the Philippines and Vietnam are also laying claim to individual islands or groups of islands. The diplomat added that the South China Sea is comparable to the Mediterranean in terms of its geostrategic and economic importance and should therefore not be dominated and controlled by any one country.

Ambivalent Relations with China

For Vietnam, however, this doesn’t imply that it has to align solely with the US in the territorial dispute with China. On the contrary: Vietnam’s leadership has no interest in alienating Beijing, even if relations remain ambivalent. Decades-old ideological, political, and economic ties have been forged between the two countries: China supported Vietnam with financial and military resources in its wars against France and the US.

However, after Vietnam toppled the China-aligned Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, a short and very bloody border war broke out in early 1979, in which more than 100,000 soldiers were killed or wounded. This war fuelled resentment towards China among the Vietnamese population. In any case, this mistrust of the neighbouring nation has a long history, since China ruled over the territory of present-day Vietnam for centuries.

However, relations have grown stronger since the signing of the strategic partnership agreement in 2008, which became evident to the public in October 2022, when General Secretary Trong, following the Twentieth Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, travelled to Beijing as the first foreign head of state to congratulate President Xi Jinping on his controversial re-election as General Secretary.

From Vietnam’s perspective, there is no contradiction in improving relations with both China and the US.

Vietnam’s scepticism towards China has long influenced economic relations as well. According to the World Bank, however, China is now their largest trading partner. In 2021, a third of all Vietnamese imports, valued at around 110 billion US dollars, came from China, with goods and merchandise worth around 56 billion going in the other direction. Despite this, Hanoi had long been reluctant to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It was only after the advent of the now retired State President Vo Van Thuong’s participation in the BRI Forum in October 2023 that Hanoi seems to be ready for greater cooperation on this initiative as well.

The positive relations were further bolstered in December 2023 when Xi Jinping visited Hanoi. The fact that his visit took place just a few weeks after Joe Biden’s gave it a considerable symbolic weight. Both sides agreed to intensify relations on the basis of a “shared future that carries strategic significance”. The two Communist parties are set to cooperate more closely in the future, and to strengthen their collaboration not only in sectors such as defence and security, but in economics and culture as well.

The “Identity of Vietnamese Bamboo”

From Vietnam’s perspective, there is no contradiction in improving relations with both China and the US. Vietnam is striving for balance in order to counteract the polarization in the Indo-Pacific, because there aren’t as of yet any established procedures for peacefully resolving a conflict in case of emergency in the region and among the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Other ASEAN countries also have no interest in aligning themselves with Beijing or Washington. As the aforementioned former diplomat has mentioned, due to its growing international standing, Vietnam is working extra hard to find a mechanism to establish peace in the Indo-Pacific.

The political and ideological basis of this balanced approach to foreign policy goes back to the party founder and father of the nation Ho Chi Minh, who is still revered in Vietnam today. It was reaffirmed at the Thirteenth Party Congress of the Communist Party in early 2021. The resolution passed at this congress states that the aim is to “improve the quality and effectiveness of foreign affairs and international integration”. Aside from ensuring peace and stability, Vietnam’s top priority is to safeguard its independence and self-reliance and to protect its territorial integrity.

The term strong root means that the goals of Vietnam’s foreign policies are consistently with independence, self-reliance, for peace, cooperation and friendship.

In December 2021, General Secretary Trong formulated this strategy in a catchy slogan for the first time. He emphasized that throughout Vietnam’s history, independence, autonomy, and the safeguarding of national interests had always been “unchanging principles”. At the same time, the aim has always been to resolve conflicts at an early stage, thereby preventing wars. Building on Ho Chi Minh’s ideals, Trong said that the country’s foreign policy is imbued with the “identity of Vietnamese bamboo”, characterized by “strong roots, a firm trunk, and flexible branches”. With this, Trong coined the term “bamboo diplomacy”, which has since become part of official parlance.

“The term strong root means that the goals of Vietnam’s foreign policies are consistently with independence, self-reliance, for peace, cooperation and friendship”, explained Phan Anh Son, President of the Vietnam Union of Friendly Organizations (VUFO), in an interview with the newspaper Viet Nam News. “The strong root also means the spirit, the will, and the character of the Vietnamese people, which are self-reliance and independence.”

Son’s institution represents Vietnam’s people-to-people diplomacy. This is, alongside party and state diplomacy, the third pillar of foreign relations and is primarily concerned with international contacts at the level of civil society. The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and other organizations active in Vietnam are also part of the global VUFO network.

For Son, the “firm trunk” of bamboo diplomacy primarily signifies the close collaboration and coordination between these pillars of foreign policy. The “flexible branches”, on the other hand, symbolize a proactive, flexible, and above all pragmatic foreign policy that aligns with the country’s interests.

A Diplomatic Balancing Act

Just how this “flexibility” manifests itself in practice is evident in the aforementioned strategic partnerships. Such partnerships were sealed with China in 2008 and Russia in 2012, two countries which of course maintain a long-standing alliance with Vietnam. In 2016, India — a country that favours rules-based multilateralism and positions itself as being in some sense neutral between the new power blocs when it comes to foreign policy — followed suit. Only then did Western-aligned nations South Korea, the US, Japan, and Australia follow suit.

The partnerships with Seoul and Tokyo appear to be driven mainly by economic considerations, as Vietnam wants to gradually reduce its dependence on China. South Korea is Vietnam’s third-most important trading partner after China and the US. Additionally, numerous South Korean corporations have billions of dollars in direct investments in Vietnam, including technology giants Samsung and LG. The influence of Korean pop culture, which is now omnipresent in Vietnam’s major metropolitan areas, should not be overlooked here either. From Japan, Hanoi expects primarily future investments in infrastructure, such as the modernization of the railway or the expansion of highways and ports.

Vietnam’s bamboo diplomacy aims to maintain the country’s neutrality and sovereignty in a bid to benefit from the economic dynamics in the region while avoiding being drawn into the dangerous power play between the US and China.

Singapore and Indonesia are reportedly next on the list of strategic partners. It is uncertain whether Vietnam will also sign bilateral agreements with EU countries. However, diplomats in Hanoi can envisage a strategic partnership with the entire European Union. After all, a free trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam (EVFTA) has been in effect since 2020.

Vietnam’s bamboo diplomacy aims to maintain the country’s neutrality and sovereignty in a bid to benefit from the economic dynamics in the region while avoiding being drawn into the dangerous power play between the US and China. General Secretary Trong summarized this in 2021, citing Ho Chi Minh: Vietnam must remain true to its roots and yet adapt. It also needs more friends — and fewer enemies.

As a result, the country is engaged in a diplomatic balancing act which, as evidenced by the visits of Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, appears to be going well so far.

This article first appeared in nd.aktuell in cooperation with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Translated by Juan Diego Otero and Hunter Bolin for Gegensatz Translation Collective.