u/Ok-Cupcake2884 - originally from r/GenZhou
Hello,
i was reading another post on this sub who asked about the 9-dash line.
So it made think of another question. Without debating about if china’s claim are legitimate or no, which is not the point of my post, i was wondering why is the CPC so unwilling to negotiate this claims with the other countries?
I mean, i think if China renounces some of this claims it could be a huge boost to relations with let’s say Vietnam or Malaysia for example and maybe there could be some trade deal in exchange. IIRC china in the past already settled border disputes by ceding some territories so this does have a precedent.
So i was wondering what does this islands have that is so valuable?
u/Ok-Cupcake2884 - originally from r/GenZhouOh ok but this could make sense with an american ally like the Philippines or Malaysia (not sure about them). But why don’t they at least try to find a deal with Vietnam which has a similar political system?
u/A-V-A-Weyland - originally from r/GenZhouDuring the Soviet-Sino split the Vietnamese sided with the Russians, which resulted in the Sino-Vietnamese war that lasted into the 90s. It’s end, together with the fall of the Soviet Union, did help in easing tensions. Vietnam has been trying to play both sides ever since. And while for most of the 2000s relations were on the up and up, tension again flared up in the region with the American pivot to Asia. While trade between the two countries has been booming, on the world stage the stage play of Sino-Vietnamese tensions is rising.
Vietnam is rather vulnerable domestically, as it doesn’t help that the USA has 2 million Vietnamese living within its borders that are anything but lukewarm towards the idea of Communism, and as such tries to stay on the USA’s good side. This has worked out for Vietnam both politically and economically. China’s rise brings with it new opportunities and if, or rather when, we move towards a multipolar world and we see the greater interconnection between non-Western countries we’ll be sure to witness further warming of ties between China and Vietnam. Or at least that is how I see it. Until then Vietnam will always play itself off as the “forever potential ally to the West”.
One positive development in the fight against imperialism is that the Vietnamese education system has become a lot more outspoken as of late on the benefits of socialism as well as getting rid of Sinophobia in their teaching materials.
EDIT: More positive developments are happening. For example, the Kunming-Haiphong railway is getting an upgrade. Which is a development initiated by Vietnam as opposed to China.
EDIT2: I personally don’t think we’ll see an announcement of a high-speed railway line pre-2026 that connects Vietnam to China with Chinese collaboration in the same spirit as the Laos-China railway. Vietnam itself will need to refurbish a lot of its own railway network first, as does most of Indochina. Not only that the course for collaboration between the two nations for the upcoming 5 years was already set with Wang Yi’s visit to Vietnam in 2021. While Vietnam has signed on to the Belt and Road initiative through the recently revived Two Corridors and One Economic Circle, it still seems Vietnam is rather ambivalent towards the prospect of taking more Chinese loans to fuel its own infrastructure.
u/Ok-Cupcake2884 - originally from r/GenZhouThanks for the detailed answer