CHINA-VIETNAM RELATIONS

Relations between Vietnam and China are complex and often turbulent. Hanoi and Beijing have long made diplomatic statements touting their ideological collaborations and similar systems of government, but friendships have often been undermined by maritime territorial disputes, security concerns and geopolitical rivalries.

Vietnam and China have deep and sometimes difficult diplomatic histories. The year 2020 marked the 70th anniversary of formal diplomatic ties between the two countries. In January 1950, the People's Republic of China became the first country to officially recognize the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The two sides have formalized their neighbourly relations under the principle of "China-Vietnam friendly relations for peace, stability and prosperity".

For a tumultuous decade, the two neighbors fought on the high seas over a land border (1979) and what became known as Gac Ma Reef (also known as Johnson South or Chigua Reef). Tensions eventually eased and in 1991 Hanoi and Beijing normalized relations again to keep things positive.

Improved Sino-Vietnamese relations depend on some compromises made by Hanoi. These changes include the implementation of a national security policy known as "Three Nos". "Building Military Alliances, Geopolitical Coordination, and Locating Foreign Military Bases on Vietnamese Soil." However, normalization has not fully resolved all the differences between Beijing and Hanoi.

The South China Sea is a key interest of both Vietnam and China, and Vietnam's China Sea coast bordering the South China Sea has made diplomatic progress even more difficult in maritime territorial disputes over Sparta and the Paracel Islands from the South China Sea. Even more, its length is 3000 km. As a result, Vietnam has seen increased Chinese coercion in recent years, particularly in the maritime sector.

Shortly, after Chinese President Xi Jinping won a historic third term in office, Vietnamese Communist leader Nguyen Phu Trong became the first foreign leader to visit Beijing. Despite the bitter history between the two Asian neighbors and differences at sea, the actual meeting was warm and convivial.

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