The Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Minh Chinh, met with Chinese business leaders Friday and with business leaders from the US on Saturday. Talks with both countries followed basically the same line with the Vietnamese Prime Minister pushing for greater foreign direct investment and long term commitments to Vietnam’s economic development.
Of interest is the timing of the two meetings, just one day apart. There was a similar situation back in 2023 whereby the US President, Joseph Biden, paid a visit to Hanoi in September only for the President of China Xi Jinping to stop by in December of the same year. In this context it looks a lot like the strategy when dealing with these two superpowers is to try and create a balanced visual. That said, it’s not clear at all that the two countries are of equal importance to Vietnam.