China-Vietnam relations

No matter how many international friends it has, Hanoi's international freedom of maneuver will be tightly constrained by China.

The kidnapping, which coincided with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Vietnam last week, highlights the gaps in interests and perceptions between Washington and Hanoi.

In both China and Vietnam, the governments have deliberately tried to bury memories of their 1979 war.

Vietnam Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong's recent visit to Beijing was meant to assure China, but didn't signal any change in Hanoi's basic approach toward its northern neighbor.

In matters of national security and national interests, Vietnamese leaders are pragmatists.

The “Vietnamese street” and especially the activist community is known to be anti-China, but the Vietnamese Communist Party is keen to cultivate closer ties.

The timing of Trong’s visit sends a strong signal that Vietnam is not going to side with the U.S. against China.

Nguyen Phu Trong will become the first foreign leader to meet with Xi Jinping since he won a precedent-breaking third term as party head.

Vietnam is reluctant to include the 1979 conflict in history textbooks, continuing a decades-long silence.

According to the latest Asian Barometer Survey, China has more influence – but a less positive image – in Vietnam compared to United States.

The South China Sea is where the rubber meets the road for U.S.-Vietnam security ties, and in this regard, Hanoi has gone as far as it is comfortable.