Author: Le Hong Hiep, Vietnam National University
The first Australia–Vietnam Joint Foreign Affairs Defence Strategic Dialogue was held in Canberra on 21 February 2012.
While this is evidence of the increasing importance the two countries accord each other as regional partners, the dialogue is also a useful mechanism for Australia and Vietnam to boost mutual understanding and trust, and to deepen cooperation for common strategic interests, regional peace and stability. Read more…
Author: Le Hong Hiep, Vietnam National University
Vietnam is arguably the most ‘sinicised’ country in Southeast Asia, a distinctive result of more than 2000 years of intense interaction between Vietnam and China.
But the Vietnamese absorption of Chinese culture is neither a straightforward process nor an inescapable outcome of geographical proximity; it is much more nuanced. Read more…
Author: Le Hong Hiep, Vietnam National University
Some researchers liken China to a rooster, with Korea as its beak and Vietnam its leg.
The analogy highlights the strategic importance of Vietnam toward China, especially in terms of security, while also suggesting that Vietnam must live under China’s weight. Vietnam is therefore, in Carlyle Thayer’s words, condemned to a ‘tyranny of geography’ where it has no choice but to learn to share its destiny with neighbouring China. Read more…
