China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday that Beijing would “strengthen strategic cooperation” with Moscow during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
In comments reported by the RIA Novosti news agency, Wang said Beijing and Moscow would “provide each other with strong support.”
The meeting took place during a two-day visit by Lavrov to China. The two powers have improved their diplomatic ties since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, declaring a “no limits” partnership.
The West is “implementing unlawful sanctions toward a number of states, Russia is among them of course. This policy is starting to be actively applied toward [China] as well,” Lavrov said, referencing efforts by the US to restrict China’s access to key US-made technologies.
Vietnam historically had a tighter relationship with the USSR and now Russia, than with China. The Viets have been fighting the Chinese off and on for hundreds of years, most recently in the 70s.
The answer is to move it out of Asia, with northern Mexico being especially appealing, for several reasons.
Vietnam and the U.S. are getting friendlier all the time. And, unfortunately, Asia is just cheaper for manufacturing than a lot of the rest of the world. The lowest bidder will almost always win.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-vietnam-elevate-ties-during-biden-visit-with-eye-china-2023-09-09/
This is an extremely reductionist take on Vietnam and ignores, y’know, the Vietnam War.
In fact, it’s a completely reductionist view on the entirety of ASEAN. Just as Canada and Mexico are forever coupled to America’s industrial gravity, ASEAN is forever coupled to China’s industrial gravity. You can have infighting, but you don’t piss off both your largest trade partner and the country that simultaneously supplies the market and expertise for your continued economic development. The ex-United States of the Philippines is an exception because of obvious reasons