The ruling communist parties of Vietnam and Laos have formally named their new leadership teams after five-year reshuffles, and the new lineups appear very peculiar. Politicians whose experience should have made them ideal candidates for certain roles were installed in positions ill-suited to their skills. Round pegs have been placed in square holes.
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When India and Vietnam’s prime ministers held a virtual summit on December 21, the two allied leaders nominally agreed to a joint vision for peace and prosperity against the backdrop of perceived rising Chinese aggression in the wider Indo-Pacific region.
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By choosing Vietnam and Indonesia as first destinations abroad, Suga has underscored Japan’s commitment to Southeast Asia, as well as providing a counterbalance to China. Expanding Japan’s defense and strategic ties with both Vietnam and Indonesia, Suga emphasized the centrality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to regional security, and reinforced Japan’s “free and open Indo-Pacific” policy.
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Through early and efficient border closures, uncharacteristic official transparency and strategic Covid-19 diplomacy, communist-run Vietnam is fast emerging as a likely post-pandemic winner. For a nation that has long-sought to secure it’s place as a reliable and responsible global actor, the coronavirus outbreak and its minimal impact on Vietnam has presented the nation an opportunity in crisis analysts say it is firmly grasping.
It is clear that U.S.-based technology companies will continue to shape the geo-economic trajectory of data governance, and thus play a key role in the trade, investment and diplomatic landscape in Asia. So long as the Big Tech lobby works closely in consultation with the governments of emerging economies to respect sovereign autonomy and promote citizen welfare over rabid corporate greed, it will continue to be a key stakeholder in shaping a free, fair and equitable digital future.
The US president promised tariffs on Chinese goods as part of the trade war would help bring jobs back to the United States, but while firms are leaving China, it is the likes of Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Mexico, and Bangladesh that are benefiting the most.
One of the most celebrated diplomats of his generation, Richard Holbrooke helped normalise U.S. relations with China; served as U.S. ambassador to a newly reunified Germany and then to the United Nations; and, most famously, negotiated the 1995 Dayton peace agreement that ended the war in Bosnia. But he began and ended his career struggling with how to resolve two American wars: first in Vietnam, then in Afghanistan.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump will conduct their summit over the course of two days in Hanoi, starting with a one-on-one meeting on Wednesday before a dinner that evening. On Thursday, the two leaders will have a “series of back and forth” meetings, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, who briefed reporters aboard Air Force One as Trump left the US. The US president is expected to arrive in Hanoi later on Tuesday, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo already in the Vietnamese capital.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un began the long train journey to Vietnam on Saturday for his second summit with President Donald Trump, state media reported. The official Korean Central News Agency confirmed early Sunday local time that Kim was en route, accompanied by his sister, Kim Yo Jong, and Kim Yong Chol, who’s been a key negotiator in talks with the U.S. Russia’s TASS news agency reported the North Korean leader’s departure hours earlier, citing a diplomatic official it didn’t identify.
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Donald Trump thanks ‘helpful’ Xi Jinping as Vietnam fine-tunes security in Hanoi for summit with Kim
