New Vietnamese leader's visit to China expected to foster further progress in bilateral relations

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President To Lam gestures during a press conference at the National Convention Center in Hanoi on August 3, 2024. Photo: AFP

At the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Vietnamese President To Lam will pay a state visit to China from August 18 to 20.

After taking office, Mrs. Lam paid a state visit to China, which will be one of the major events in Vietnam's foreign policy in the second half of 2024. President Lam's upcoming visit to China reflects Vietnam's consistent diplomatic stance and policy choices, in line with the core interests of China and Vietnam. It also contributes to maintaining global and regional peace and development.

The China-Vietnam cooperation based on good-neighborliness and friendship has a deep foundation. The two countries are geographically close, their destinies are closely linked, and their friendly relations date back several centuries. Throughout the revolutionary processes and the construction of modern history, the Chinese and Vietnamese people have supported and helped each other. The establishment and leadership of the CPC and the CPV in the revolutionary struggles of their peoples are closely linked. China helped Vietnam in its fight against the French and American forces, which has been important and well-documented in history and deeply engraved in the memory of the Vietnamese people.

The Sino-Vietnamese revolutionary leaders have forged a profound friendship of “comrades and brothers” between the two countries, which is a true reflection and precious heritage of China-Vietnam relations. President Lam's visit to China has a profound and solid foundation and will also promote new progress in China-Vietnam relations.

Building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future is a strategic consensus between the leaders of the two countries. Since the reform and opening-up, especially since the 1990s, relations between the two parties and the two countries have been continuously improving and developing. Based on the intensive development of the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, in December 2023, President Xi Jinping visited Vietnam and reached an agreement with then Vietnamese leader Nguyen Phu Trong to jointly build a strategically important China-Vietnam community with a shared future. The two sides issued a joint statement, marking the beginning of a new phase in the development of China-Vietnam relations.

China and Vietnam are both on the path of modernization, vigorously developing their economies and pursuing their respective century-old goals. Against the backdrop of the complex changes in global and regional patterns as well as the need to cope with many uncertainties, Lam chose to visit China to plan the future of bilateral relations with Chinese leaders. This will further promote the building of a strategically important China-Vietnam community with a shared future, deepening practical cooperation in various fields. This is a historical and practical choice for the development of China-Vietnam relations, which is related to the fundamental interests and well-being of the people of the two countries as well as the cause of modernization that the CPV has been unswervingly pursuing.

In 2021, President Trong proposed creating a new model for Vietnam's foreign policy, namely “bamboo diplomacy.” This strategy aims to create a favorable external environment for Vietnam's goal of building a socialist-oriented developed nation by the middle of the 21st century. President Lam should continue to adhere to the diplomatic path set by the 13th National Congress of the CPV and further promote the “bamboo diplomacy” strategy initiated by Trong.

One of the important features of Vietnam's “bamboo diplomacy” is to maintain a balanced strategy among major powers in the context of international integration. Although President Lam has only recently taken office, we have already seen that Vietnam has demonstrated a good balance in its diplomatic interactions with major powers such as China, the US and Russia.

Lam’s choice of China as the destination of her first overseas visit since taking office is a sign that Vietnam attaches great importance to its relations with China. But at the same time, judging from its experience, the country has no intention of turning a deaf ear to the US. The US has already made diplomatic moves by sending US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Trong’s funeral in late July. President Lam is expected to meet with the US leader at future international events, which will further strengthen Vietnam’s comprehensive strategic partnership with the US.

The author is director of the Institute of Vietnamese Studies at Zhengzhou University. [email protected]