January 19 marks the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Paracel Islands, the first naval battle between China and Vietnam in the 20th century and a key conflict in the quest to control the South China Sea. This is also an occasion of reckoning on how the current Vietnamese government treats the history, legacy, … Read more
In every war, whichever side wins, after allIt’s the people who lose.– Vietnamese poet Nguyễn Duy. Tang Guoqiang, known in Vietnamese as Đường Quốc Cường, is among the most renowned mainland Chinese actors in Vietnam. Tang is particularly known for playing prominent historical figures in period dramas, which were staples on Vietnamese TV in the late 1990s … Read more
2023 was a busy year for Vietnam’s foreign relations. Last month, Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the country, where he and his hosts announced that Vietnam was joining Beijing’s “community of common destiny.” This came less than three months after U.S. President Joe Biden visited Hanoi, announcing a similarly significant upgrade in the diplomatic ties … Read more
Last month, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh announced plans to upgrade the railway line connecting Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province to Vietnam’s port at Haiphong on the Gulf of Tonkin, as a part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The statement followed the elevation of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship to a comprehensive … Read more
After much speculation and delay, Chinese President Xi Jinping finally visited Vietnam this week, to mark the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnam-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2008. Vietnam’s state media called the visit a “historic milestone” that would elevate China-Vietname inter-party and inter-state relations to a higher level. Likewise, Xi penned … Read more
Yesterday, China’s Foreign Ministry confirmed earlier reports that President Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam to meet top state officials and discuss upgrading the two countries’ relations. As Reuters reported, paraphrasing ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, the Chinese leader will visit the country on December 12-13, for talks that “will focus on areas of political security, multilateral … Read more
The Russia-Ukraine War is heading towards a stalemate, with the recent Ukrainian counteroffensive failing to achieve a breakthrough. For Ukraine and the West, war fatigue is setting in, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to keep his territorial gains. Putin has adopted a strategy of bleeding Ukraine white via the continued stationing of Russian … Read more
ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia The visit, which could take place later this month or early next, would come after U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Hanoi last month. Advertisement Late last week, Reuters published a report claiming that officials in Vietnam and China are preparing for a possible visit from President Xi Jinping to Hanoi at … Read more
Advertisement When rumors started to emerge about the possible elevation of Vietnam-U.S. diplomatic framework to a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” which eventuated during U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Vietnam this weekend, many alluded that this is driven primarily by Vietnam’s need to counterbalance China’s growing influence, especially its naval expansionism in the South China Sea. … Read more
Advertisement Had Xie Yan from Chongqing never studied Vietnamese language and spent time in Hanoi as an exchange student back in 2013, she would not have known that Vietnam was under Chinese occupation for centuries. Nor had she been aware that for most of its history, the entity known as Vietnam today used classical Chinese … Read more