Nguyen Tan Dung

Vietnam has a long history of conflict with its large neighbor to the north, China. Conservative and incumbent Nguyen Phu Trong bested populist Nguyen Tan Dung in a contest for chief of the Vietnamese Communist Party. “Reforms will continue, albeit at a slower pace, as would increasingly closer ties with the United States,” explains Vietnamese journalist and Fulbright scholar Dien Luong. Likewise, he predicts, Vietnam’s economic and foreign policies will not fundamentally change. Trong would be wise to listen to public opinion about an aggressive China. Vietnamese policymakers and citizens must likewise determine if the United States is a dependable partner—whether the United States might cut a deal with China, sidelining Vietnam, or should even consider confronting China over issues like the South China Sea. In the end, Luong concludes, a thorough public understanding of complex issues combined with public support is essential for the success of any nation’s system of government.

Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung is pulling no punches in criticizing China’s new deep-water drilling platform in nearby disputed waters.