ANALYSIS – Who will win? Xi Jinping's upcoming trip to Vietnam, three months after Joe Biden's visit, further confirms the country's increasingly strategic role in the region.
The two-day visit from Tuesday will also be Xi's first trip to the communist southern neighbor in six years as the U.S. and China compete for influence in the strategic Southeast Asian nation.
China's communist leader will visit Vietnam on Dec. 12-13 to meet top state officials and discuss upgrading the two countries' relations.
They will reportedly focus on areas of political security and maritime issues (such as territorial conflicts), and discuss upgrading a railway link between the two countries, which passes through Vietnam's rare-earth minerals heartland.
During Biden's visit, Hanoi upgraded its relationship with the U.S. to a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” the same designation it uses for China. Vietnam also elevated its relationship with Japan to the same level two weeks ago.
Vietnam is considered a critical part of America's Indo-Pacific strategy to counter China's growing influence in the region.
Biden's visit to Vietnam also included deals on semiconductors and rare-earth minerals, which are at the core of Washington's sour ties with Beijing.
Vietnam has the world's second-largest reserves of rare earths' – 22 million tons – second only to China. Its production jumped to 4,300 tons last year from 400 tons in 2021, according to the USGS.
But, China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and, so far this year, is also the main investor, taking into account investment from Hong Kong, as many Chinese companies move some of their operations south amid trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Meanwhile, many other global companies are considering Vietnam a viable alternative to the increasingly volatile and Chinese mainland.
Still, despite the booming economic links, the two communist nations are embroiled in a yearslong maritime dispute in the South China Sea, which China illegally claims almost in its entirety.
Most recently, as I wrote earlier, Vietnam banned the “Barbie” movie due to a scene with that Chinese-made line on a map of South China Sea.
China has also been increasingly aggressive in entering Vietnamese waters and appears to be constructing an airstrip on a disputed South China Sea island, Triton in the Paracel group, that is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
The work on Triton island mirrors Chinese construction on seven human-made islands in the Spratly group to the east which have been equipped with airstrips, docks and military systems.
China and Vietnam also fought a brief but intense war in 1979 over Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia (each side suffered about 30,000 dead).
The two countries also had conflicts over the Paracel Islands in 1974 and another military skirmish in the Spratly Islands in 1988.
So, there is still plenty of more recent bad blood between the two, as America's war in Indochina fades into history.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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