Vietnam Doesn’t Trust Huawei
foreignpolicy.com
foreignpolicy.com
The more China opposes the West (as some say), or acts imperialistically/steals tech etc. (as other say), the more Vietnam will become a viable trade partner for the West.
It is besides the point that Vietnam also has large ideological differences that may materialize later. For now, these differences are inconsequential to doing business. The risk of doing business in Vietnam, in terms of IP theft and getting thrown out of the market, is a fraction of that in China.
China, however, needs and wants the West's business. If Vietnam gets cozy with the West, to the detriment of China, Huawei - which is essentially a state (or more correct, party) company, will act.
If anyone can absolutely not trust Huawei, it is other South-East Asian countries!
It's just one aspect. China have been aggressive between the borders and have been trying to assert dominance for the Spratly islands.
Another aspect is that China is shifting to a middle class so their low labor can't be forever, given other countries having much lower labor. I believe this is a feature of globalization.
> If Vietnam gets cozy with the West, to the detriment of China, Huawei - which is essentially a state (or more correct, party) company, will act.
They've already been cozy. China's aggressive claim to the China sea around there have forced many countries to cozy up with USA. Vietnam had a joint military drill with USA a while back. The only one that buck this trend is Philippines because they elected a guy who's crazy and into purging people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_conflicts,_197...
Also let's not forget how pushy china has been in West Philippine Sea ("South China sea") east of Vietnam.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_domination_of_Vietnam
The Chinese domination of Vietnam began in 111 BC, and is usually considered to have ended in 938 AD. A fourth, relatively brief, 20-year punitive invasion by the Ming dynasty, 400 years later, is usually excluded by historians in discussion of the main, almost continuous, period of Chinese colonization from 111 BC to 938 AD, as is the brief occupation of northern Vietnam by Chinese forces at the end of the Second World War.
Not I supporting Huawei (I think they better off died), but I don't think that War argument is the full picture.
As far as I know, Vietnam's Internet giants is far smaller compare those in China and U.S. So even if Vietnam going to full-boom in 5G (That currently require equipments from Huawei to keep up to the speed), that will still be more beneficial to international companies than domestic ones.
Maybe that's another reason why they're willing to claim down and making decision with such leverage.
As it is, this comment, even if framed as a question, may well leave some unfounded hypothetical in peoples’ minds, which of course some will repeat more assertively.
"The consensus in Hanoi is that Beijing is the nation’s primary external security threat. China has a long history of imperialism in Vietnam and invaded the country as recently as 1979 in support of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia, resulting in a brief war in which roughly 70,000 people died. Although relations have improved since the 1990s, Vietnam remains highly wary of its much larger neighbor despite sharing communist rule."
There is a lot of distrust of China throughout Asia. Huawei is having an easier time selling to Western countries than to China's neighbors.