How Vietnam ensnares Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping

Russian President Vladimir Putin has one with his visit to Vietnam success in foreign policy reached. He demonstrated to America and Europe that he is not isolated in foreign policy and signed eleven cooperation agreements with his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam. A nuclear science and technology research center is to be established in Vietnam. From Putin's point of view, these are minor details. The real message is that he is back on the world stage despite the arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

The American embassy in Hanoi also reacted with annoyance. a spokesperson said Reuters news agency, no country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and allow him to normalize his atrocities. However, this visit will hardly put a strain on US-Vietnam relations, because Vietnam plays too important a role as a counterweight to China in the US Indo-Pacific strategy. The head of the East Asia department of the US State Department, Daniel Kritenbrink, will visit Hanoi on Friday and Saturday.

Hanoi is grateful to Moscow

With Putin's state visit, Vietnam is demonstrating flexibility in foreign policy and the art of mobilizing major powers for their own interests and pitting them against each other. General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong said the country is pursuing a Bamboo Foreign Policy. The plant has strong roots, a strong trunk and flexible branches that bend in the wind without breaking.

Hanoi wants with all countries maintain good relationships, without taking sides. State visits over the past nine months show how successful this strategy is and how popular Vietnam is: US President Joe Biden was in Hanoi in September last year, followed three months later by Chinese head of state Xi Jinping, and now Putin has arrived.

Bamboo diplomacy can be used to explain Vietnam's behavior after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For Hanoi, due to its own historical experience, international principles such as a country's sovereignty and territorial integrity are sacrosanct.

Communist leaders remain neutral and voted at the UN in April 2022 against the US resolution to exclude Russia from the Human Rights Council. Also at Ukrainian Brgenstock Conference Vietnam did not participate. Like the Chinese, Hanoi's leaders viewed the event as pointless without Russian participation.

Hanoi's neutral position in the war in Ukraine has historical, military and economic reasons. The communist leaders have not forgotten that the Soviet Union supported them militarily in the fight against the French colonialists and the American invaders. Ironically, many of the weapons supplied at this time were of Ukrainian manufacture.

After the withdrawal of American troops, the Soviet Union supplied the country with food and trained many Communist Party cadres in Moscow, including current General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The Vietnamese have not forgotten this aid. Vietnamese President To Lam said: “We will always remember with gratitude the selfless help and support that the Russian people provided to Vietnam in its struggle for independence.

Will Russia become China's junior partner?

The two countries are also closely linked militarily. Between 1995 and 2015, 90% of weapons imported by Vietnam came from Russia. However, imports have collapsed in recent years as Vietnam has diversified and purchased military equipment from France, Israel, Japan and South Korea.

The fighting in Ukraine also showed Vietnamese army commanders the weaknesses of Russian equipment. However, the conversion of weapon systems takes time. Vietnam will remain dependent on Russian imports in the years to come and will only gradually move away from them.

Russia is also a major joint venture partner in gas and oil production in the South China Sea. What’s spicy is that the financing agencies are located in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone; However, China also claims these areas based on the Nine Dash Line.

Hanoi is wary of the rapprochement between China and Russia. There are fears that Moscow, as a junior partner, may break away from Vietnam at Beijing's insistence. These fears are currently unfounded, because the Russian government is still too powerful and would become the laughing stock of the entire world if it behaved so submissively.

China is also pragmatic. If Chinese leaders damage relations with Vietnam, Hanoi risks intensifying its partnership with Washington. Putin's visit shows how well Vietnam has positioned itself in the geopolitical power play between America, China and Russia.