there are lot’s of areas where Viet Nam desperately needs investment and modernization, but Viet Nam has this delusional “we’d rather go it alone” attitude towards China, but warmly embraces western investments of any kind
Many such cases in the global south, even in AES countries. Cuba is another example. A lot of problems could be solved by simply asking for help from either Russia or China, and i highly doubt they would refuse in most cases. But these governments do have to ask. They have to stop being so stubborn about it.
I think it’s a mix of genuine concern about presrving sovereignty (or i guess you could call it pride) and the government’s fear of being accused of or seen as being a proxy or a vassal to a country that has been heavily demonized by the Western media (which reaches citizens in these global south countries too, unfortunately). Especially if the Western propaganda already accused them of being too close to these countries, they wish to go out of their way to show, including to their own people, that these accusations are false.
It’s very unfortunate. One part of the solution is of course to reign in the West’s influence in the information space by establishing tighter control over foreign propaganda vectors, and building domestic alternatives for the media and online spaces. The other part is simply, unfortunately, time. The reason why Western investment is not seen in the same way as help from Russia or China, is because the West has been hegemonic for so long. Thus ties with the West are seen as “normal” and apolitical. But this is slowly changing as the West declines and China rises, and China becomes an indispensable part of global south economies.
There’s been talk about building a nuclear plant, but it would probably take 30+ years and pretty much no one believe it will ever happen. Not unless we accept a lot of help from China.
Or Russia. Russia arguably has the most expertise in the world on building nuclear power.
I think it’s a mix of genuine concern about presrving sovereignty (or i guess you could call it pride) and the government’s fear of being accused of or seen as being a proxy or a vassal
I think here it’s more of an alignment issue, which is, IMO, rooted in economic coercion by the US for decades. By the time China became a major power Viet Nam was already very dependent on US imports. Corruption is a massive problem, too. Capitalism thrives in corruption and our soil very is fertile.
Many such cases in the global south, even in AES countries. Cuba is another example. A lot of problems could be solved by simply asking for help from either Russia or China, and i highly doubt they would refuse in most cases. But these governments do have to ask. They have to stop being so stubborn about it.
I think it’s a mix of genuine concern about presrving sovereignty (or i guess you could call it pride) and the government’s fear of being accused of or seen as being a proxy or a vassal to a country that has been heavily demonized by the Western media (which reaches citizens in these global south countries too, unfortunately). Especially if the Western propaganda already accused them of being too close to these countries, they wish to go out of their way to show, including to their own people, that these accusations are false.
It’s very unfortunate. One part of the solution is of course to reign in the West’s influence in the information space by establishing tighter control over foreign propaganda vectors, and building domestic alternatives for the media and online spaces. The other part is simply, unfortunately, time. The reason why Western investment is not seen in the same way as help from Russia or China, is because the West has been hegemonic for so long. Thus ties with the West are seen as “normal” and apolitical. But this is slowly changing as the West declines and China rises, and China becomes an indispensable part of global south economies.
Or Russia. Russia arguably has the most expertise in the world on building nuclear power.
I think here it’s more of an alignment issue, which is, IMO, rooted in economic coercion by the US for decades. By the time China became a major power Viet Nam was already very dependent on US imports. Corruption is a massive problem, too. Capitalism thrives in corruption and our soil very is fertile.