EVENTS

Abstract

Being a neighbour to China, Vietnam holds an important geo-economic and geo-political position:  a bridge connecting Northeast Asia with Southeast Asia, located as an outpost of the South China Sea (or Eastern Sea) where all big countries wish to dominate, control or grab maximum impact for the benefit of their own countries. These factors create many tough challenges for Vietnam. Throughout its history, Vietnam has faced the risk of invasion from the north (China). The cultural and historical interactions as well as the various Sino-Vietnamese wars in history have made Vietnam-China relations an extremely complex and sensitive one, over 4,000 years of Vietnam history. In this presentation, the focus is on analyzing the relationship between Vietnam and China in the short period from 2001 to the present. Achievements in bilateral relations in the fields of politics and diplomacy, culture and education, sciences and technology, defense and security must be noted and form the premise for future development of the relationship. Vietnam has 12 strategic partnerships but only two comprehensive strategic partnerships – with China and with Russia. At the same time, there remain numerous problems in Sino-Vietnamese relations. New issues include Vietnam’s increasing trade deficit with China and unhealthy Chinese investments in Vietnam, especially in recent years with the vigorous rise of China. Issues of the territorial boundary, particularly the South China Sea issue, meanwhile continue to come up again and again adversely affecting bilateral relation. Nevertheless, Vietnam and China are trying to find ways to resolve the obstacles and conflicts in order to promote bilateral relation, for the sake of the fundamental and long term national interests of both countries. 

About the Speaker

Prof. Ngo Xuan Binh is Duirector-General of Vietnam Institute of Indian and Southwest Asian Studies (VIISAS) of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam.