Vietnam is stuck between us and China

In the Great Day in Vietnam, Tung Lynn stated that “mostly knows nothing” about the bloody, decades of the war that raised the communist section north of the US.

“My grandparents fought in the war, and because of this we can look at the sky and see the plane, and we do not feel frustrating as they are,” says a 20-year-old college student.

Lanks on the right cheek was a small yellow star on the red rectangular flag. Like her, the capital, Ha Chimin, is preparing for the 50th anniversary of the end of the war when the Communists won.

Today’s Vietnam is an extremely different country than the one who comes out of the defeat – it is enterprise, it grows rapidly and becomes richer.

His authoritarian communist leadership has accepted capitalism. They strive to follow in the footsteps of China, and plowed money and efforts to become a reliable production center, even an alternative to China.

But this is a risky ambition during the US President Donald Trump’s trade war – it is partly threatened with 46% of the Southeast Asia nation. This can destroy the country’s economic potential.

Vietnam was a French colony, a Chinese vassal and for 20 years, a proxy field in the bloody struggle in America to stop the spread of Chinese communism through southeastern Asia.

But this cannot avoid its geography. Located under China’s wide cereal, it is again on the front line in the new American battle – who hopes to stop Beijing as an economic superpower.

Vietnam is a young country that is in a hurry. Medium age 33, much younger than Thailand or China (40), and much younger than Japan (50).

“I want to do a job that will bring more success in Vietnam,” Lin said in free English. It studies economics and marketing. “And so, and for me success,” she admits with a smile when she stands out.

It is a dream that fits the lively city where lives live, with a wide metropolis of 10 million people, in the Vietnamese capital there is the same strangled traffic, dressed in glass, five-star hotels, restaurants and seeded massage salons, like any Asian city.

It would be difficult for you to find traces of socialist ideology that led to the city’s capture in 1975 when it was the capital of South Vietnam. The winners renamed him in the city of Hoszi Mina after the revolutionary father of Northern Vietnam. But for the locals it is still Saigon.

And when it fell on that day 50 years ago, South Vietnam ceased to exist when the North -Wietian tanks made it through the high iron gates of the presidential union and raised a red flag with a yellow star over the presidential palace.

The American ally, the southern regime, was defeated. The last president fled the day before. For more than two decades, the bitter conflict has ended.

The victory won huge costs. Three million killed and millions were estimated. Between 1968 and 1975, a greater tonage of bombs was dropped on this slim land than in all World War II theaters.

But few want to talk about war, even when they celebrate the anniversary of their “reunion”.

Lynn and her friends shouted with delight when a truck transported by the soldier drove by. The shy idols waved back – they went to the barracks after the rehearsals for the anniversary parade.

“I am excited because this is the day when we reunited again when we became one country again,” Lin said.

Her response was a little rehearsal, not least because of the Minder-assisted Minder, which accompanied the BBC throughout. But her enthusiasm for her future – and her country is not uncommon.

A little further along the way, an 18-year-old Minh, who did not want to share her last name, told us that she was studying to become a lawyer so that she could “become successful”. With laughter she added, “And rich!”

When we asked how young people treat the Americans, the Michaez wrinkled noticeably and tried to stop the answer.

“We’re not angry,” she says. “We don’t hate them. It was the past. Now we want to trade with America. Do you know globalization? We want to study in America.”

Vietnam’s new leaders have the same ambitions. In January, the new head of the country’s Communist Party, to start a bureaucracy program that could impress Elon Musk, who oversee the controversial team to reduce Trump administration.

63 provinces and municipalities of the country are reduced to 34, and state ministries and agencies are reduced from 30 to 17. This year, 100,000 civil servants are being fired.

The ambitions are huge. So far, only one country of Southeast Asia, Singapore, has managed to avoid “medium-level traps”, where economic growth slows down before countries get rich. Vietnam, whose economy grows in a stable 5%, intends to become the second. He opened his doors for investment – and welcomes those who once drove off their shores.

After the victory in 1975, about two million southern Vietnamese escaped from the country. Many of the ethnic Chinese. They packed up on far -fetched boats and went through the South -Chinese sea. They became known as “boat people”. Today, their descendants make up a diaspora of almost six million, reaching from the US and Canada to France, Germany, Japan and Taiwan.

“Since 2017, I have been promoting a lot of Taiwan companies to invest in Vietnam, and I myself have been an advisor to several major electronics companies that I brought here,” said Lisa Wu, born in Saigon, but spent three decades in Taiwan. Now she has returned.

“The most attractive is that the Vietnam government is very supportive. The electronics industry is expanding from China, and many will choose Vietnam.”

It is no coincidence that this change began approximately in 2017, when Trump declared his first trade war against China.

Two young entrepreneurs from South China, who did not want to share their names, tell us that they have spent the last two years here, creating a shoe factory here: “He is ready to go now.”

They plan to export to the US. They are concerned about the possibility of raising the tariffs in Vietnam – now it is confronted with a 10% collection, like most of the world – but “here is much better than China,” they say with laughter. Chinese imports in the United States face a number of tariffs that make up up to 245% for some goods.

However, Vietnam has an impact, said Ms. Wu. “I had several factories preparing to start operations here. But because of the policy change, everyone stopped and everyone is waiting.”

Vietnam is again asked to choose – America or China. But this is not the choice he or she can do because he needs both.

Less than two weeks ago, they rolled out a red carpet to welcome Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Hanoi. Warm words spoke about brotherly friendship and support. But relationships with its big communist neighbor are more difficult than they may appear. Over the years, Vietnam has walked on sewage between Washington and Beijing – the expansive ambitions of the latter can be a threat to neighbors, especially growing economies seeking to seize US business.

Since Vietnam insists on “waiting forward”, it seems almost forgotten by men and women who fought in the jungle and through the hell of American bombs.

But even they say that the return to the past should not be. “I had a scar here,” says Le Tan Gian, pointing to the right hand where the bullet once sat.

“There are still a few pieces of shrapnel that could not be removed in my body. There were battles where we all would be killed. But some of us survived and others fell.”

But he says he no longer has anger.

“We must have peace. We have already made great progress. People are more thriving and executed. Now we have to work with the Americans for the future.”