[China & SEA]What kind of new pattern of "bamboo diplomacy" does Vietnam want to create
Yu Xiangdong, Professor, Yellow River Institute of Science and Technology; Professor, School of Marxism and Institute of Vietnamese Studies, Zhengzhou University
Vietnam's diplomacy has been quite active recently, welcoming Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on 30 April, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính attending a special US-ASEAN summit in Washington on 12 May, and starting the 31st Southeast Asian Games in high profile on the same day.
The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, held in February 2021, made a new strategic plan for Vietnam's diplomacy. Since then, Vietnam has made efforts to build a "bamboo diplomacy" with Vietnamese characteristics proposed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, by studying and formulating a strategic plan for diplomacy until 2035, reshuffling personnel in the diplomatic service, strengthening the diplomatic cadre, holding a national conference on foreign affairs and diplomacy and a series of working meetings on economic, cultural and military diplomacy, etc. The various manifestations of Vietnam's diplomacy over the past year or so are a reflection of the implementation of the spirit of the resolution of the 13th Communist Party Congress.
What is "Bamboo Diplomacy"?
The so-called "bamboo diplomacy" can be said to be a summary of the achievements and lessons learnt in Vietnam's diplomatic development throughout its history, as well as a graphic expression of the Vietnamese national way of thinking in the field of diplomacy. It is like the bamboos all over Vietnam, swaying with the wind without completely falling to one side, adopting both rigid and flexible means, defending its positions and propositions, but also being flexible and clever, adapting to the situation, including seeking a balance between major powers, "fighting and cooperating at the same time", reflecting the combination of modernity and national tradition, professional leadership and The combination of modernity and national tradition, professional leadership and universal participation.
Focusing on the medium- and long-term national development strategic goals set by the 13th Communist Party Congress, Vietnam has made flexible adjustments to the existing diplomatic landscape and diplomatic approach to further build a macro-strategic layout supported by the new "three pillars" of inter-party diplomacy, national diplomacy and people's diplomacy, while continuing to develop political and security diplomacy, economic diplomacy and cultural diplomacy. The overall philosophy is to emphasise national and ethnic interests above all else, to highlight realism, nationalism and pragmatism, and to be more proactive and assertive, more diverse and more focused on relations of interest, in order to seek an external environment favourable to itself, while exerting greater influence in the region and the international community.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam believes that the layout of diplomatic work is closely related to developments and changes on both the domestic and international fronts, and that good diplomatic work requires accurate judgement of changes in the situation and the mobilisation of the entire political system in a joint effort. At present, peace, development and cooperation are still the major trends in world development, multi-polarity and polycentrism are evolving at an accelerated pace, and globalisation continues to develop, but the international political and security environment is facing serious challenges and many tests, and many scenarios are difficult to predict. The strategic competition and constraints between major and powerful countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Southeast Asia, have become more intense and serious. Vietnam must properly deal with the "middle-income trap" and prevent "peaceful evolution", "self-evolution" and "self-transformation". "The country must adjust its diplomacy to the changing situation and plan for a new situation.
In December 2021, for the first time in Vietnam, the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee directly chaired a National Conference on Foreign Work. The conference and a series of actions show that Vietnam will build a comprehensive, modern and holistic system of Vietnamese diplomatic foundation through inter-party diplomacy, national diplomacy and people's diplomacy to enhance the effectiveness of diplomatic work.
How Vietnam's diplomacy will change
Specifically, Vietnam's diplomacy will show some changes as follows.
First, it will be more confident and proactive. Over the past 30 years since the opening up of the country, Vietnam has gradually established and improved the system of "socialist-oriented market economy" and made remarkable achievements in economic and social development. In particular, in recent years, the Vietnamese economy has maintained high growth rates in response to the impact of world trade frictions and epidemics. The 13th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam set the goal of "two centuries", i.e. to build a modern industrial country by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party in 2030 and a modern socialist developed country by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the country in 2045. To build a new diplomatic landscape is to make use of the internal and external times and situations, to seize all opportunities, to combine the strength of the nation with the strength of the times, to maintain a peaceful and stable development environment, and to serve the overall development goals of the country.
Secondly, emphasis will always be placed on safeguarding national independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial security. In particular, since the Sixth Communist Party Congress in 1986, when it implemented the line of comprehensive renewal and opening up, Vietnam's diplomacy has always put the goal of national independence and the pursuit of nationalism in the first place. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) formulated the "Strategy for the Defence of the Motherland" for the new period, and in recent years it has proposed to develop the real interests of the country and the nation as far as possible through the use of political and security diplomacy, economic diplomacy and cultural diplomacy. The 13th Communist Party Congress and the National Conference on Foreign Affairs also clearly emphasised the defence of national independence and sovereign integrity. Under the new circumstances, Vietnam's new diplomatic structure will adhere to the diplomatic philosophy of realism, pragmatism and nationalism and take various measures to implement the various diplomatic and security strategies defined by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Thirdly, it will continue to uphold multilateralism and pursue its strategy of economic diversification and "international integration". Only by adhering to innovation and openness can we make the most of the external forces of the times and organically combine them with the internal forces of the nation, which is one of the fundamental lessons of Vietnam's 30 years of innovation and opening up. In particular, in recent years, Vietnam has been proactive in responding to the development of globalisation and regional integration, promoting domestic innovation by deepening its openness to the outside world, actively participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), maintaining and developing close relations with ASEAN and the European Union, signing a free trade agreement with the EU, and taking a more proactive stance in implementing the "international integration The "integration into the world" strategy.
In the new diplomatic landscape of Vietnam, economic diplomacy will continue to dominate, while at the same time seeking to diversify international economic relations, reduce risks and increase the flexibility and effectiveness of 'international integration'.
Fourthly, it will pay more attention to the relationship of interests. Starting from pragmatism, Vietnam's diplomacy takes national interests as the base and bond of diplomacy and focuses on building multilateral and bilateral relations based on interests. In carrying out bilateral and multilateral diplomatic efforts, further promoting strategic alignment with the US will be a very important part of Vietnam's diplomacy. However, Vietnam must also consider its long-term, fundamental national interests and political security stability, and be careful to keep this relationship within the bounds of sovereign security, and will not move towards a substantive alliance with the US in the short term, but its security cooperation relationship with the US will continue to warm up. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam believes that Vietnam's diplomacy has not yet sufficiently kept pace with the times and has not fully utilised and effectively promoted its interests with various partners. In the new situation, Vietnam's diplomacy, especially bilateral diplomacy, should create a momentum of interlocking interests and interpenetration, and enhance mutual trust with the international community and partners.
In the new diplomatic landscape, Vietnam will take a more proactive role in shaping global and regional rules, strengthening cooperation with ASEAN, the United Nations, APEC and the Greater Mekong Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (GMS), with particular emphasis on ASEAN's central role in building regional security, and looking forward to playing a greater role and influence within ASEAN itself.
Fifthly, the leadership of the CPV in foreign affairs would be further strengthened. The 13th Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Congress found that innovation in the way the CPV leads politically is still slow and unsatisfactory. The mechanisms for controlling power in the CPV and the state, including in the field of diplomacy, have not yet performed adequately, coherently and effectively. At the National Conference on Foreign Affairs, Nguyen Phu Trong stressed the need to strengthen the Party's "absolute and unified leadership" in foreign affairs and diplomacy. In recent years, the Communist Party has been strengthening its party building and reorganisation efforts, enhancing its leadership and governing capacity and strengthening its unified leadership, all of which will have a significant impact on the construction of Vietnam's new diplomatic landscape.
For a long time, Vietnam's diplomatic service has been significantly deficient and lagging behind in implementing the CPV's diplomatic philosophy, line and policy ideas, a situation that has changed since the 13th Communist Party Congress. Recently, the Party Committee of Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a meeting of thousands of people, including cadres abroad, through a combination of online and offline formats to study, learn and implement the resolutions of the 4th Plenary Session of the 13th Communist Party of Vietnam, learn from Ho Chi Minh's example of ideology, morality and style, and strengthen the unified leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam in diplomacy and centralised state management as a future trend.
Vietnam has closer diplomatic ties and interests with Russia and Ukraine, which is a new test for Vietnam's "bamboo diplomacy". In dealing with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Vietnam has demonstrated its basic position of upholding the principles of the UN Charter and international law and hoping for a negotiated settlement between the parties, while being flexible in dealing with specific matters. Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said on April 14 that he hoped to resolve the conflict in a peaceful manner, protect civilian infrastructure and the safety of civilians, rescue refugees, and promote the process of diplomatic dialogue and negotiation to achieve the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine. Nguyen Phu Trong also reiterated Vietnam's diplomatic position during a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 15, hoping to respect international law, refrain from the use or threat of use of force, and for the parties to cease fighting, restore peace, guarantee the safety of the population and resolve humanitarian issues through dialogue and negotiation.
What are the implications for China-Vietnamese relations
Given that Vietnam will generally continue to adhere to its long-standing diplomatic philosophy and policy, and pursue multi-faceted and diversified diplomatic relations, it can be assumed that its policy towards China will also maintain the general trend of good neighbourliness, mutually beneficial cooperation and development. From the perspective of Vietnam's new "three pillars" of diplomacy, political party exchanges are the highlight of China-Vietnam relations, with smooth channels and good results, and are of leading significance to the development of national relations. In recent years, China-Vietnam relations have encountered some problems, especially the occasional maritime friction, which has affected the positioning of bilateral mutual trust and strategic cooperation, but economic and trade relations have been playing a positive role as the "ballast" of relations between the two countries. People-to-people contacts are an area that both Chinese and Vietnamese leaders have been promoting, but the actual results have yet to be improved.
Vietnam is an important country in South East Asia with a population of nearly 100 million and a growing regional and global presence. With the country's rapid development and growing strength, Vietnam will adopt both rigid and soft approaches to develop its relations with China. The possibility of Vietnam and the US, Japan, Australia and India forming a "de facto alliance" or "quasi-alliance" in terms of military security cannot be completely ruled out, given the need to restrain China and seize more maritime rights in the South China Sea. China should further integrate land and sea, strengthen the struggle to defend rights in the South China Sea, enhance our voice in international public opinion, and continue to promote the negotiation process of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC). In addition, we need to further develop China-Vietnam economic and trade cooperation on the basis of mutually beneficial cooperation, promote cooperation in production capacity and epidemic prevention and control, increase imports of Vietnamese agricultural products, develop China-Vietnam tourism cooperation, and enhance the interface between the "Belt and Road" construction and Vietnam's "two corridors" construction in key construction projects. It is also necessary to continue to play the role of a "stabiliser" in the relationship between the two parties, to strengthen inter-party communication and to build a solid foundation for long-term good-neighbourly and friendly cooperation between China and Vietnam from a strategic perspective.