politics

'Quad' officials reaffirm need to advance free and open Indo-Pacific

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I don't care about Australia, I only care about Japan. Counter China has no future, get out before too late.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

As I keep saying talk is nice, but Japan needs to build up her Military power. Japan needs to speak the language China understands: Guns

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Weak language. Headline should read 'Free and open SOUTH CHINA SEAS'

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Without some sort of a military alliance against China the Quad will not be taken seriously. If there is a military alliance it will encourage other smaller countries at the receiving end of China's bullying to join as well.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

I don't care about Australia, I only care about Japan. Counter China has no future, get out before too late.

Counter China is the only future. Nobody is getting out of International waters so get used to it staying very busy for a long time.

The Quad seem to be getting more serious about their gatherings and that is a good thing to ensure peace and security in the region. It will support free and open trade and laws based rules. A pity there are those opposed to a free and open region.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

The last thing that the QUAD wants is to see Vietnam sided with China.

Trump’s recent treasury acts are deteriorating the USA-Vietnam relations. I know Biden will remove it but Trump has left a mark on the minds of Vietnamese leaders that the USA can’t be trusted. This will prove difficult for Biden and Japan to persuade Vietnam to join QUAD plus.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

I dont care about China, It is a provocateur interested only in creating evil in the world that it can profit from. The Quad is designed to stop the evil doings and maintain peace in the region.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Septim Dynasty Today  11:25 am JST

The last thing that the QUAD wants is to see Vietnam sided with China.

I do not think the above scenario would ever happen in my life time.

Even though China is Vietnam’s biggest trading partner with around 22.2% the country’s total imports and exports, the Vietnamese government is clever enough to know that it would lose the rest of the world in case it sided with China.

With my local knowledge, I believe the Vietnamese government, as well as the Vietnamese people inside and outside Vietnam are always aware that China is the biggest threat to the existence of their country and that Xi Jinping and Beijing cannot be trusted.

Similarly, despite China is its biggest trading partner, to protect its national interests and moral values, Australia has stood up against China readily accepting China's retaliation as the world has seen in the current time.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Keep international waters, international

1 ( +1 / -0 )

With my local knowledge, I believe the Vietnamese government, as well as the Vietnamese people inside and outside Vietnam are always aware that China is the biggest threat to the existence of their country and that Xi Jinping and Beijing cannot be trusted.

But if and when Vietnam has to stand for itself, it will pick communism and authoritarianism, and the closest ally is the CCP and Putin.

Seriously, Vietnam rarely picks Japan over China for contracts, when it does pick Japan, payments is very slow, if at all. All the lucrative projects are given to China, even at the expense of Vietnamese poor.

Vietnam has a long way to go before it has enough credibility towards free nations. I've worked in Vietnam too, nice beautiful people, held back by communists.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Sh1mon M4sada Today  07:34 am JST

But if and when Vietnam has to stand for itself, it will pick communism and authoritarianism, and the closest ally is the CCP and Putin.

I do not think Vietnam – without the US and Russia – would want to stand up against China.

Historically and politically, the relation between Vietnam and China is a relation of teaming for survival, distrust, and discontent.

As it happened, after the Vietnam War ended in 1975, China demanded Vietnam to choose between the Soviet Union (USSR) and China, and Vietnam picked the first to be its big brother. Consequently, China troops launched a bloody attack along the 600-kilometer border that the two nations share in 1979. Then, after suffering a heavy loss without achieving much (except what Beijing claimed as "having taught Vietnam a lesson"), China troops withdrew. Nonetheless, since the fall of USSR in 1991, to protect its Communist regime, Vietnam had relied on China for political stability until it became a member of the WTO in 2007. Since then, with the approval of the US Congress, Vietnam has step-by-step improved its relation with the US in across all areas including trade and defence.

Given this, I do not think Vietnam would pick China if it has to choose a big brother. Since the Covid pandemic, Vietnam is considered by many as one of the best alternative locations to China. There is no point for Vietnam to choose China particularly when it has a huge trade deficit with China. On the other hand, Vietnam has enjoyed its trade with the US, Korean, and Japanese counterparts. To date, the US has urged Vietnam to buy more products, such as Boeing planes and cars from the "big three" to reduce the trade deficit between the two countries. The problem is that, the products that Vietnam really needs to destroy Chinese warships are the US hi-tech weapons. Without these weapons, Vietnam will have to rely on Russia but Russia is the major arms provider for both China and Vietnam!

Seriously, Vietnam rarely picks Japan over China for contracts, when it does pick Japan, payments is very slow, if at all. All the lucrative projects are given to China, even at the expense of Vietnamese poor.

To a large extent, your remark was quite true to the northern part of Vietnam where China's political influences are still persistent among the old guards some years ago. For more information about why Vietnam is shifting toward giving Japanese companies its important projects, you can refer to the article titled "Vietnam’s tale of two metros, one built by the Japanese and the other by the Chinese" published in South China Morning Post on July 30, 2017.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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