Hacker News Reader

Comment by inconceivable | Hacker News Reader

indeed. vietnam is run by the communist party of vietnam. remember, they won the war. that's why there is no south vietnam and north vietnam anymore (unlike korea). there is no free speech. there is no rule of law. there is no free market.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Vietnam

i wonder how long it will take before we start hearing "i hate the VCP but i love vietnamese people/culture". probably when they get powerful enough to challenge the regional US interest in anything significant.

View on HN

Only china and India will ever really be able to challenge the US

Big countries with big population

Maybe Nigeria and Indonesia too, but it wouldn’t happen this century

The US and Vietnam are very strong allies now, its unlikely that will ever happen.

I don't think we have an alliance with Vietnam. AFAIK, there is no US base or military agreement or anything indicating a higher relationship than trade partner.

In fact, a few times DC sent some diplomats to Vietnam, the govt over there responded by sending their diplomats to China. Basically saying they prefer China over the US. It makes sense to them since China is closer and have higher trade value than the US. But because of that I don't see how Vietnam can be a "strong ally" to the US.

Can you explain more or cite your sources?

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/30/vietnamese-...

I read this a few years ago, not sure how much it reflects reality. Anecdotally, immigration from Vietnam is still strong, except the more recent immigrants I've met are pro-communist (as opposed to the first and second generations of Vietnamese immediately following the war).

I'd imagine that the US and Vietnam are allies in the same way that Israel and Egypt are allies. Publicly, they have to show opposition, but privately they work together economically, militarily, and everyone knows that they aren't actually at odds with each other.

It is just an old poll. I don't think it is relevant. Public opinion doesn't mean much in authoritarian countries. It is what the Vietnamese government is doing that would reflect what they really think.

It is more likely that Vietnam is playing both sides and try to appease both China and the US. But no way they are an ally or even a potential one.

Unlike China it's not like they can operate in a closed environment independently though, they need the outside world

China needs the outside world, too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative

i'm pretty sure you just made that up on the spot.

china imports huge amounts of everything critical to manufacturing and food.

https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/CHN/Yea...

Do you see people endorsing the VCP now? Observing that they’re better than the CCP doesn’t count.

yes, i do. every serious discussion i've heard or article i've read about near-shoring and friend-shoring includes vietnam.

chinese companies also operate factories in vietnam, that's another aspect people just kind of gloss over.

Again, that sounds like “better than China” and not a direct endorsement of the Vietnamese communist party. We are talking about global trade here - the proponents aren’t rooting for communism.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com