Strategy and evolution of Vietnam's China policy: A changing mixture of pathways

Asian Survey

Volumn 46, Issue 6, 2006, Pages 805-824

  Vuving, Alexander L ^a  

^a HARVARD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Foreign policy; Grand strategy; Rise of China; Sino Vietnamese relations; Vietnam

Indexed keywords

FOREIGN POLICY; INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS; STRATEGIC APPROACH;

ASIA; CHINA; EURASIA; FAR EAST; SOUTHEAST ASIA; VIET NAM;

EID: 33846090346     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/as.2006.46.6.805     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. See, especially, Aaron L. Friedberg, "Ripe for Rivalry: Prospects for Peace in a Multipolar Asia," International Security 18:3 (Winter 1993/94), pp. 5-33
2. Alastair Iain Johnston and Robert S. Ross, eds., Engaging China: The Management of an Emerging Power (London: Routledge, 1999)
3. David C. Kang, "Getting Asia Wrong: The Need for New Analytical Framework," International Security 27:4 (Spring 2003), pp. 57-85
4. and Amitav Acharya, "Will Asia's Past Be Its Future?" ibid., 28:3 (Winter 2003/04), pp. 149-64.
5. Zachary Abuza, "International Relations Theory and Vietnam, Contemporary Southeast Asia 17:4 (March 1996), pp. 406-19.
6. The survey was conducted during my research trips to Vietnam from 2002 to 2005, drawing on both archival research and communication with well-informed officials and scholars.
7. Kenneth N. Waltz, Theory of International Politics (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979), p. 27.
8. Hoe vien Chinh tri Quoc gia Ho Chi Minh, Vien Quan he Quoc te [Institute of International Relations, Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy], Tap Bai Giang Quan He Quoc Te [Textbook of international relations] (Hanoi: Ly luan Chinh tri, 2004), p. 18. The other five methods are economic, historical, holistic, empirical, and class analysis.
9. Nguyen Co Thach, The Gioi Trong 50 Nam Qua (1945-1995) Va The Gioi Trong 25 Nam Toi (1995-2020) [The world in the past fifty years (1945-1995) and the world in the coming twenty-five years (1995-2020)](Hanoi: Chinh tri Quoc gia, 1998), especially p. 62.
10. Vo Van Kiet, "Dong Gop Y Kien Van Bao Can Tong Ket Ly Luan Va Thue Tien 20 Nam Doi Moi" [Suggestions to the concluding report on theory and practice of 20 years of renewal], April 2005, Section III.2, unpublished paper, .
11. Allen E. Goodman, "Vietnam in 1994: With Peace at Hand," Asian Survey 35:1 (January 1995), p. 98.
12. Brantly Womack, China and Vietnam: The Politics of Asymmetry (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
13. Brantly Womack, "Asymmetry and Systemic Misperception: China, Vietnam, and Cambodia during the 1970s, " Journal of Strategic Studies 26:2 (June 2003), pp. 96-99.
14. Nguyen Chi Trung, "Thue Chat Tu Dai Hoi Dang IX Tro Ve Truoc (Tu Thap Ky 90 The Ky 20) La Van De Gi?" [What is the real problem in the 1990s prior to the 9th Party Congress?], Hanoi, 2002, manuscript, .
15. Ibid.
16. See Eero Palmajoki, Vietnam and the World: Marxist-Leninist Doctrine and the Changes in International Relations, 1975-1993 (London: Macmillan, 1997).
17. See Carlyle A. Thayer, "Vietnamese Perspectives on International Security: Three Revolutionary Currents," in Asian Perspectives on International Security, ed. Donald H. McMillen (London: Macmillan, 1984), pp. 57-76.
18. Nguyen Duc Binh, "Doi Dieu Say Nghi Ve Van Menh Chu Nghia Xa Hoi" [Some thoughts on the destiny of socialism], Tap chi Cong son [Communist Review], no. 13 (July 2000), pp. 7-16.
19. Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, Power and Interdependence (Boston: Little Brown, 1977).
20. Vo Van Kiet, "Thu Gui Bo Chinh Tri" [Letter to the Politburo], August 9, 1995, Dien Dan [Forum], no. 48 (January 1996), p. 16.
21. Kiet, "Dong Gop Y Kien."
22. Earliest articles in the VCP theoretical journal propagating this view include Doan Nam, "Ket Hop Sue Manh Dan Toe Voi Sue Manh Thoi Dai Trong Giai Doan Cach Mang Moi" [Combining the strength of the nation and that of the epoch in the new revolutionary stage], Tap chi Cong son, no. 5 (May 1987), pp. 53-57
23. and The Phan, "Ve Nhung Xu Huong Cua Kinh Te The Gioi Va Nhung Doi Moi San Rong Trong Cong Dong Xa Hoi Chu Nghia" [On the trends of the world economy and deep changes in the socialist community], ibid., no. 7 (July 1987), pp. 76-80.
24. See also Gareth Porter, "The Transformation of Vietnam's Worldview: From Two Camps to Interdependence," Contemporary Southeast Asia 12:1 (June 1990), pp. 1-19.
25. For important primary sources, see Thach, The Gioi Trong 50 Nam Qua;
26. Phan Doan Nam, "Mot Vai Say Nghi Ve Doi Moi Tu Day Doi Ngoai" [Some thoughts on renewing foreign policy thinking], Tap chi Cong son, no. 2 (February 1988), pp. 50-54, 79
27. Nguyen Co Thach, "Tat Ca Vi Boa Binh, Doe Lap Dan Toc Va Phat Trien" [All for peace, national independence, and development], ibid., no. 8 (August 1989), pp. 1-8.
28. Nguyen Van Linh, "Phat Bieu Cua Dong Chi Tong Bi Thu Nguyen Van Linh Be Mac Hoi Nghi 7 Cua Ban Chap Hanh Trung Uong Dang" [Speech of comrade General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh at the closure of the Party Central Committee's Seventh Plenum], ibid., no. 9 (September 1989), pp. 5-12
29. "Le Duc Anh Welcomes Cambodian Delegation," Hanoi Radio Domestic Service, September 7, 1989 (FBIS-EAS-89-173, September 8, 1989, p. 59)
30. Tran Quang Co, "Hoi Uc Va Say Nghi" [Memoirs and reflections], Hanoi, 2003, manuscript.
31. Co, ibid., p. 36.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid., chs. 13-14.
34. Linh, Muoi, and Dong headed the Vietnamese delegation at Chengdu.
35. Co, "Hoi Uc," chs. 10, 13, and 18.
36. Although the resolution was not made public, its main ideas were revealed later in Thach's interviews with his ministry's newsmagazine Quan he Quoc te [World Affairs], no. 1 (November 1989) and no. 3 (January 1990).
37. Co, "Hoi Uc," chs. 10 and 11
38. and Carlyle A. Thayer, "Sino-Vietnamese Relations: The Interplay of Ideology and National Interest," Asian Survey 34:6 (June 1994), p. 516.
39. Co, "Hoi Uc," p. 62.
40. Ibid.
41. Thayer, "Sino-Vietnamese Relations," p. 523.
42. Dinh Nho Liem, "Viet Nam Trong Xu The Chung Cua Chau A-Thai Binh Duong" [Vietnam in the common trend of the Asia-Pacific], Tap chi Cong san, no. 3 (March 1992), pp. 60-61.
43. See Do Muoi, "Thoi Cuoc Hien Nay Va Nhiem Vu Cua Chung Ta" [The present situation and our tasks], report to the Third Plenum of the Seventh Central Committee, in ibid., no. 8 (August 1992), pp. 3-10
44. Hong Ha, "Tinh Hinh The Gioi Va Chinh Sach Doi Ngoai Cua Ta" [The world situation and our foreign policy], ibid., no. 12 (December 1992), pp. 10-12.
45. Ha, "Tinh Hinh The Gioi," p. 13.
46. Nguyen Hong Thach, "Vietnam-China Ties: A New but Not Easy Era," Business Times (Singapore), December 31, 1992,
47. quoted in Thayer, "Sino-Vietnamese Relations," p. 528.
48. The latter resolution was titled "Tasks of Defense and Safeguarding National Security, Opposing Peaceful Evolution." This 1992 strategy was only replaced by the July 2003 strategy. See Ban Tu tuong-Van hoa Trung uong [Central Committee Department of Ideology and Culture], Tai Lieu Hoc Tap Nghi Quyet Hoi Nghi Lan Thu Tam Ban Chap Hanh Trung Uong Dang Khoa IX [Documents for the study of the Resolution of the Eighth Plenum of the Ninth Party Central Committee] (Hanoi: Chinh tri Quoc gia, 2003), p. 25.
49. Thanh Tin [Bui Tin], Mat That: Hoi Ky Chinh Tri [True face: Political memoirs] (Irvine, Calif.: Saigon Press, 1993), pp. 334-35.
50. The lands lost are said to be about 1,500 sq km. David Koh, "The Politics of a Divided Party and Parkinson's State in Vietnam," Contemporary Southeast Asia 23:3 (December 2001), p. 540.
51. Note, the order of these terms is different in Chinese and Vietnamese respective documents. While the Chinese version places long-term stability and future orientation first, the Vietnamese version lists good neighborliness and comprehensive cooperation first.
52. Binh, "Doi Dieu Suy Nghi," p. 16.
53. N. S. P. [pseudonym], "Thu Ha Noi" [Letter from Hanoi], Dien Dan [Forum], no. 104 (February 2001).
54. Trung, "Thuc Chat Tu Dai Hoi Dang IX."
55. See Nong Duc Manh's interview in Nhan Dan [People], November 30, 2001.
56. "Vietnam-China Joint Statement," December 2, 2001, Vietnam News Agency, December 4, 2001.
57. See Nhan Dan, April 9, 2003. Jiang's "four-good" motto was not mentioned in the Vietnamese media until Manh's visit to China in April 2003.
58. Quang Loi, "Bao Luc Cuong Quyen" [Power politics violence], Tap chi Cong san, no. 10 (April 2003), pp. 57-61
59. Tran Ba Khoa, "Chien Tranh I-rac Va Hau Qua Doi Voi Quan He Quoc Te" [The Iraq War and its implications for international relations], ibid., no. 20 (July 2003), pp. 55-58
60. Hoang Hoa, "Thach Thuc Cua Vi The Sieu Cuong My" [The challenge of U.S. superpower status], ibid., no. 36 (December 2003), pp. 60-63.
61. Ban Tu tuong-Van hoa, Tai Lieu Hoc Tap, p. 44.
62. "Vietnamese Prime Minister Calls for Further Cooperation with China," Vietnam News Agency, January 13, 2005.
63. Personal interviews with government officials, Hanoi, September 2003 and December 2004.
64. In 1990, China's GDP was $383 billion while Southeast Asia's was $342.7 billion. In 1999, China's GDP amounted to $991.36 billion and Southeast Asia's $544.9 billion. In 2004 China's GDP surged to $1.64 trillion while Southeast Asia's stopped at $765.6 billion. See United Nations Statistics Division, National Accounts Statistics: Analysis of Main Aggregates, 2003-2004 (New York: United Nations, 2006), pp. 6-7.
65. This superposition is perceived by integrationists as a "paradigm lost." Carlyle A. Thayer, "Vietnamese Foreign Policy: Multilateralism and the Threat of Peaceful Evolution," in Vietnamese Foreign Policy in Transition, ed. Thayer and Ramses Amer (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1999), pp. 1-24.