In the Trump Era, Vietnam Is Less Sure of Its Bet on U.S. Ties

In the Trump Era, Vietnam Is Less Sure of Its Bet on U.S. Ties
Vietnam’s defense minister, Ngo Xuan Lich, left, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, second from right, view a photo exhibition on Vietnam-U.S. military cooperation, Hanoi, Vietnam, Jan. 25, 2018 (Pool photo via AP).

Over the past five years, no country in Southeast Asia has challenged China’s regional strategic ambitions more assertively than Vietnam. Repeatedly standing up to Beijing’s aims in the South China Sea, Vietnam has attempted to allow foreign oil exploration in disputed maritime areas and, like China, built up the submerged reefs, small islets and banks it occupies and added installations, though on a much smaller scale. It has, at times, tried to work with its neighbors, such as the Philippines under former President Benigno Aquino III, to highlight what it sees as China’s illegal behavior in the South China Sea.

To push back against China, Vietnam built closer strategic ties with the United States, too, moving so close that Hanoi appeared ready, before 2017, to possibly end its traditional approach of hedging between Beijing and Washington. Hanoi and Washington established a comprehensive partnership under the Obama administration, which lifted a ban on U.S. arms sales to Vietnam and brought the two countries’ militaries closer together.

In the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency, however, Vietnam has appeared less sure of its bet on ties with the U.S., though it warmly welcomed a visit by Secretary of Defense James Mattis last week. Hanoi has also seemingly backed down a bit from its tough approach to China in recent months.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review