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Comment by tomohelix | Hacker News Reader

Let say China and the US come into open conflict and everyone is forced to choose a side, which side do you think Vietnam will pick?

China and Vietnam share a long history and culture. They are also right next to each other and have the same government type. Vietnam has openly showed their desire to work with China at the cost of the US. They sent some top diplomats to China right after the US diplomats came to visit them. That is pretty clear to me which country they prefer more.

Investing in Vietnam is basically the same thing as investing in China in the past. It will end the same way, with a strengthened opponent in Asia.

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A vast majority of Vietnamese view China in a worse light than the US, and China and Vietnam have recently had quarrels over the South China Sea. They share a lot of history...and some of that history includes China invading Vietnam several times. I wouldn't count on Vietnam siding with China in a global conflict.

>I wouldn't count on Vietnam siding with China in a global conflict.

The last global conflict had the current Vietnamese government sided with China and the USSR against the US. I think you already lost that bet.

I would like to ask you for sources on Vietnamese sentiment regarding China and the US. But that is probably irrelevant. What the majority of Vietnamese think ultimately doesn't mean anything, because it isn't a democracy. What the communist party think is more important. And I would bet two communist parties are probably chummier with each other than with the US.

I think you skipped right over 1979 and Cambodia.

> The last global conflict had the current Vietnamese government sided with China and the USSR against the US. I think you already lost that bet.

I didn't claim a bet, but anyhow I don't know how to tell you this, but that was 40+ years ago. Even then you're not quite right, they went to war with each other in the 70s. The world is much different now and China at that time was not considered a global power. Now it is, and a lot of its neighbors don't like it. That includes countries like India and Vietnam.

> I would like to ask you for sources on Vietnamese sentiment regarding China and the US.

Ok, here is one of many.

"Based on the latest ABS data, only 25 percent of Vietnamese respondents believe that China has exerted a positive impact on their country, but for United States, the number goes up to 85 percent. "

https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/china-and-the-us-who-has-mor...

This is the kind of comment on HN that really, really annoys me. It's the kind of superficial analysis that seems reasonable only if you haven't studied any history or had any in-depth interactions with the people you're talking about. How many Vietnamese people have you spoken with, and what are their opinions of China?

If history shows anything is that Vietnam will defeat any other country. US, China, France, etc. they are simply invincible.

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