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Vietnam had seemingly conquered Covid. Then Delta spread

Ho Chi Minh City and the wider south in Vietnam finished its 24-hour-a-day Covid-19 lockdown of three months last week, allowing people to venture out to buy food rather than wait for soldiers to coordinate deliveries to their homes. Soldiers had manned barricades between precincts as part of social

By Helen Clark

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Russia and Vietnam: An alliance of convenience

Russia is one of the biggest suppliers of weapons to Southeast Asia, with Vietnam alone a major customer for Russia’s arms. While it is estimated that throughout the 1980s Moscow had provided Vietnam with an average of US$1 billion annually in military assistance and another US$1 billion annually

By Nikola Mikovic

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Bad news for Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

The release of recent research from the Netherlands adds an additional insight into what is happening in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, the country’s all-important food producing region that contributes some fifty per cent to its agricultural GDP. In a stark conclusion the research cites 2050 as the

By Milton Osborne

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Jagged sphere

China’s quest for infrastructure and influence in mainland Southeast Asia

By Greg Raymond

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Obstacles and opportunities in Vietnam-Australia ties

Australia and Vietnam officially became strategic partners in 2018, promising to expand cooperation across multiple domains. Yet economic ties have grown slowly from a relatively low starting point, while defence relations are mostly restricted to training and high-level dialogues. Education and

By Hanh Nguyen

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The ups and downs of the Vietnam–North Korea relationship

When the 2019 Hanoi summit ended in failure, then–US President Donald Trump generously offered his counterpart, North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un, a ride home on Air Force One. Little did Trump know that unlike him, Kim was in Hanoi not only for the summit. He was also there to revive Vietnam–

By Khang Vu

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The South China Sea map that wasn’t

On 9 September, the US embassy in Hanoi published on Facebook a map of Vietnam on a poster to commemorate the 25th anniversary of US-Vietnam diplomatic relations. At first the map did not attract much attention, given both countries had celebrated the occasion on 11 July, the official date of the

By Khang Vu

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Chinese dams and the Mekong drought

The latest reports from the Lower Mekong Basin are cause for growing concern that another period of drought will succeed that of 2019, affecting Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Expected rainfall from late May through June and July has not arrived, and the level of water flowing in the river is

By Milton Osborne

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What’s the secret to Southeast Asia’s Covid success stories?

After almost seven months, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to challenge the world, but some places seem to have managed surprisingly well. Thailand has not reported any local transmission for over 60 days. The countries of the Mekong region have reported so few cases that many people are asking

By Dominic Meagher

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Get behind Southeast Asia with clear policy against China bullies

Originally published in The Australian

By Malcolm Cook

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Southeast Asian democracies in declining health amid Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic is affecting democracies in the Asia-Pacific region in ways that demand Australian attention. The ability to weather a crisis of this magnitude depends upon partnerships and collaboration – economic, social and political – with key countries in the region. These

By Melissa Crouch

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Why Vietnam embraces multilateralism at this uncertain time

Today the mere mention of multilateralism leaves many jeering that the heyday of international cooperation has past. Isolationist politics appear preferred. Yet Vietnam’s recent activism in multilateral forums appears to demonstrate that Hanoi does not believe that cooperation is a faded luxury.

By Le Dinh Tinh

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Vietnam defies the odds on Covid-19

If you want to see real Olympic-level panic-buying, head to a Vietnamese supermarket a week before Tet, or Lunar New Year. Yet when the coronavirus broke out in China, Vietnam, with which it shares a border, there was only an hour or two of panic-buying before things settled down to

By Helen Clark

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Troubled waters: China’s sovereign ambition in the shadows of Covid-19

Around midnight on 2 April, a Vietnamese fishing vessel sank in the disputed waters in the South China Sea after allegedly being rammed by the Chinese coastguard. Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded swiftly, stating that the act had violated its country’s sovereignty. A similar

By Trinh Le

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Vietnam, North Korea, politics and Covid-19: The numbers tell a story

As Covid-19 continues its relentless spread to almost every country, Vietnam and North Korea stand out in Asia for reporting low numbers of infections and zero deaths, despite neither country possessing the resources of many of their neighbours. So far, Vietnam has reported roughly 250 infections

By Khang Vu

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On the Mekong, Khon Pi rapids saved – for now

Just over a year ago, I reported on the uncertain future of the Khon Pi rapids, located near the Thai town of Chiang Khong and lying in the riverbed between Thailand and Laos. At issue was the desire of a Chinese company to blast the rapids and thus open the course of the Mekong for commercial

By Milton Osborne

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Forging consensus in the South China Sea

Analysis as to how Hanoi might resolve its South China Sea disputes with other claimants has been overshadowed by a near exclusive depiction of its competition with Beijing. Hanoi’s current maritime disputes with Beijing have presented few opportunities for strategic progress. Comparatively, the

By Michael Nguyen

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Another dam on the Mekong

Since the announcement in July last year that the Lao government was notifying the Mekong River Commission (MRC) of its intention to proceed with the construction of a dam due to be completed by 2027, not far from the old royal capital of Luang Prabang, there has been a steady increase in the

By Milton Osborne

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Belt and rail: New Vietnam-China train aims to put relations on track

Last year, China and Vietnam unveiled plans to refurbish a colonial-era railway between the two countries. It was an attempt to update a historical legacy – and also signified new bilateral dynamics in a consequential and sometimes fraught regional relationship. Announced on 25 November, the

By Wu Shang-Su

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Policing Vietnam: How Australia could help

Visitors to Vietnam’s premier police training institution are greeted by a statue of the country’s first president Hồ Chí Minh with his right hand raised and the index finger gently pointing as if to convey an important lesson to the audience. Vietnam has a reputation for valuing education

By Melissa Jardine

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Vietnam’s 2020 strategy: a year of diplomatic force-multipliers

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s raising of the ASEAN gavel last month signalled not only Vietnam’s commencement as chair of the regional grouping, but also the start of a critically definitive period for its foreign policy in the South China Sea. 2020 is set to be a busy year for

By Michael Nguyen

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Economic diplomacy: Tourism power, defining China, and Vietnam jackpot

Paying the piper Last Thursday as Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne was talking up the role of values in foreign policy to a business audience in Canberra, Indonesia was promoting its tourism investment opportunities to a different business gathering in Sydney. It will probably never be

By Greg Earl

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The Amazing Race flies into North Korea

Even as tensions between the United States and North Korea remain high – North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui recently berated the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for describing Pyongyang’s behaviour as “rogue” – the North Korean charm offensive is still in full

By Khang Vu

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The Vanguard Bank standoff shows China remains undeterred

Tensions have risen once again in the South China Sea. For weeks, Chinese and Vietnamese coastguard vessels have been involved in a confrontation after the Chinese survey ship Haiyang Dizhi 8 (HD8) entered waters near the Vietnam-controlled Vanguard Bank on 3 July. The incident has upset both Hanoi

By Trinh Le

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Vietnam shapes as a key winner from the US-China trade war

Even a few hours in Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by the locals, will give you a feel for how much the Vietnamese economy is booming. The international airport completed in 2007 can handle 17 million passengers a year, the city’s first metropolitan train line is under construction, and

By Michael Sainsbury

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Why North Korea – and Vietnam – can benefit from the Hanoi Summit

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to begin two days of talks in Hanoi, Vietnam, in what will be their second meeting within eight months. While it might not draw as much attention as the earlier landmark event in Singapore, the Hanoi summit is expected to produce

By Trinh Le

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The Vietnamese venue will shape the second Trump-Kim summit

The news is in. US President Donald Trump will meet North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un for the second time on February 27-28. Instead of Singapore, this time Vietnam will play host. Although there are many concerns regarding the prospect of success for the second summit and North Korea’s

By Khang Vu

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Vietnam: why blogger Mother Mushroom went free

During US Secretary of Defense James Mattis’ two-day visit to Vietnam last week, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) quietly released the high-profile dissident blogger known as ‘Mẹ Nấm,’ or Mother Mushroom, on the condition of her exile to the United States. While Mattis’ trip and the

By Hunter Marston

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Vietnam’s quandary: red or green?

A hand-crafted map on the wall of the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture Sciences (VAAS) neatly captures the country’s strategic vulnerabilities as it emerges as a dynamic new regional player. The map is fashioned out of grains of rice to demonstrate Vietnam’s agricultural production prowess, but it

By Greg Earl

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Death of a president: no power vacuum in Vietnam

The death of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang was unexpected by the general public: he was due to address the UN General Assembly this week, and Vietnam’s one-party system has a long tradition of keeping a veil of secrecy around the health status of its top leaders. But Quang’s passing

By Vu Lam

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Facebook and Vietnam’s new cybersecurity law

This article was co-authored with a Vietnamese journalist, Cecelia Nguyen. She is a freelance journalist in Vietnam working across a range of media. Her works focus on social injustice, culture, gender issues, youth and education. She has worked with a range of international news

By Sarah Logan

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Vietnam: a month of mass protests

June 2018 may go down as a new record for mass protests in Vietnam. Thousands of people across the three main regions of the country took to the streets, mostly in a peaceful manner, to protest against two controversial bills tabled at the National Assembly: the now-delayed special

By Vu Lam

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Vietnam: reconciling the diaspora

In 2018, Vietnam and Australia marked the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations by upgrading their ties to a strategic partnership. On this occasion, however, it is hard not to reflect on the disparity between the Vietnamese diaspora and homeland. Almost 45 years after the

By Vu Lam

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Vietnam’s crackdown on dissent could undermine its stability and growth

Since General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emerged in firm control atop Vietnam’s political leadership in early 2016, Hanoi has gone on the offensive in a massive effort to clamp down on internal political dissent of all stripes, arresting bloggers and purging corrupt state officials. The

By Hunter Marston

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Deterrence under the dragon’s shadow: Vietnam’s military modernisation

On 5 March the USS Carl Vinson made a port call to Danang, in central Vietnam. It was the first time since the War (the Vietnam War to Americans, and the American War to Vietnamese) that a US aircraft carrier anchored in Vietnamese waters – by invitation this time – for an official visit. The

By Wu Shang-Su

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Russian pragmatism on display in South East Asia

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Myanmar recently in a clear display of Moscow’s pragmatism. Many Western observers, especially from the US, present Vladimir Putin as either a Machiavellian mixer with almost superhuman abilities – he who put Donald Trump in the White House and

By Dmitry V. Shlapentokh

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The Vietnamese Communist Party’s corruption hunt

On Monday, Vietnam’s former transport minister Dinh La Thang was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Another prominent figure, Trinh Xuan Thanh, received a life sentence for “deliberate violation of state regulations on economic management”. It is first time in Vietnam’s recent political

By Huong Le Thu

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The missing middle: A political economy of economic restructuring in Vietnam

Despite impressive economic performance, Vietnam’s strong trade and investment gains have yet to fully overcome the vestiges of its economic past

By Matthew Busch

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Trump in Vietnam must not trump Asia's pivotal emerging economy

Originally published in the Straits Times

By Matthew Busch

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Vietnam: Kidnapping undermines efforts to seek friends and influence

Foreign investors and world trade institutions have long wished one thing for Vietnam: reform of its inefficient and corrupt state-owned enterprise sector. Competency, transparency and a measure of real competition would aid the nation’s economy and its business and trade relations tremendously.

By Helen Clark

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Vietnam and India: Shared interests in the South China Sea

Vietnam's recent request to India to play a more prominent role in Southeast Asia and the South China Sea did not come as a total surprise. It's not the first time Vietnam has asked a nation with no direct interest in the area for backing – it made a similar call to South Korea a few months ago.

By Helen Clark

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Vietnam’s free trade pitch to the US

It was trade, not China's manoeuvring in the South China Sea, that was top of the agenda when Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met US President Donald Trump on Wednesday in the first visit by an ASEAN leader to Washington under the new administration. It was a slightly surreal affair with

By Helen Clark

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Australia, Vietnam, the diaspora and generational change

Australia's Vietnamese diaspora is a remarkable element in the fast-evolving relationship between the two countries. Hanoi and Canberra are both doing what they can to help Australian Vietnamese to forge and strengthen links that can pay enormous dividends in trade and tourism. This latest chapter

By Emma Connors

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What is Vietnam’s fishing flotilla doing at Scarborough Shoal?

Those who have written off last July’s Hague Arbitral Tribunal ruling in the South China Sea as a dead letter should keep an eye on Scarborough Shoal. Late last week, reports surfaced on Twitter, showing the AIS signals from a flotilla of Vietnamese trawlers close to the shoal. Significantly,

By Euan Graham

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In Vietnam, Castro receives his dues

Vietnam is to hold a national day of mourning for Fidel Castro this Sunday, 4 December. Even now the old comrade commands respect in Vietnam. The country has been cultivating a varied network of foreign relationships in recent years, lately strengthening its ties with India and dismantling

By Helen Clark

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High hopes and a big let-down: Vietnam and the TPP

Vietnam was thought to be a big winner from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). As such, US President-elect Donald Trump's promise to withdraw from the deal is obviously bad news. Though it wasn’t unexpected, Vietnam has several reasons for disappointment: It might be a signal of a slowdown in

By Huong Le Thu

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Laos dams bad news for those downriver on the Mekong

A few days after Donald Trump's stunning election victory, a potentially bigger story broke for the millions who depend on the Mekong river for their food and livelihood: Laos informed the Mekong River Commission that it intends to proceed with a new hydro dam in the Pak Beng district, its

By Helen Clark

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What the Philippines and Australia can learn from Vietnam about living with China

It is early days, granted, but the Philippines' crude and crass new president Rodrigo Duterte appears increasingly intent on reversing his predecessor's plucky South China Sea policy and pro-Alliance leanings, opting instead for a tilt towards China. The Philippines' proclivity to flip-flop in its

By Euan Graham

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