Vietnam’s leader’s visit to China reflects key relationship, even as it works to build ties with the United States

BEIJING (AFP) – On his first trip abroad as Vietnam’s new leader, Tu Lam visited China, signaling the Southeast Asian nation’s continued importance to its giant neighbor even as it strengthens ties with the United States and other countries.

Chinese state media reported that Lam arrived on Sunday morning on a Vietnam Airlines flight to Guangzhou, a major manufacturing and export hub near Hong Kong.

He will then head to Beijing, where he will meet President Xi Jinping. His three-day visit comes about two weeks after Lam was appointed general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the country’s top political bureau. He succeeded Nguyen Phu Trong, who died last month after 13 years in power.

Lam has also held the largely ceremonial title of president since May.

The new president is expected to continue his predecessor’s strategy of balancing relations with China, the United States, Russia and other countries, Yu Xiangdong, director of the Institute of Vietnam Studies at China’s Zhengzhou University, wrote in the state-run Global Times on Saturday.

“The fact that Lam chose China as her first foreign destination since taking office is a sign that Vietnam attaches great importance to its relations with China,” Yu said in an editorial. “But at the same time, based on experience, the country will by no means turn its back on the United States.”

Vietnam strengthened its ties with the United States and Japan last year to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the country’s highest designation for diplomatic relations. Relations with China and India also received the same designation.

The United States and its ally Japan are trying to improve their relationship with the communist government in Vietnam — a former U.S. enemy in the Vietnam War — as they look for partners in a growing economic and strategic rivalry with China.

When Xi visited Vietnam in December, the two countries announced that they intended to build a “shared future of strategic significance.”