CHINA'S RISE PROMPTS VIETNAM TO STRENGTHEN TIES TO OTHER NATIONS
John Pomfret
The Washington Post, October 30, 2010
HANOI - Three weeks ago, an exhibition opened at the Vietnam Military History Museum. On one side of a long hall, the mementos of Vietnam's 25 years of war against the United States and France - letters of surrender, quotations from Ho Chi Minh, hand grenades and AK-47 rifles - lined the walls. Nothing new there.
But on the other side, the History Museum was actually making history. Along those walls hung daggers, paintings and quotations from Vietnam's struggle with another rival: imperial China. Battles dating to 1077, 1258 and the 14th and 18th centuries were featured in intricate detail.
Putting China on a par with "Western aggressors" marks a psychological breakthrough for Vietnam's military and is troubling news for Beijing. For years, China has tried to forge a special relationship with Vietnam's Communist government. But China's rise - and its increasingly aggressive posture toward Vietnam - has alarmed the leadership of this country of 90 million, prompting it to look differently at its neighbor. Beijing risks losing its status here of a fraternal Communist partner and being relegated to its longtime place as the empire on Vietnam's northern border that has shaped and bedeviled this country for centuries.
(...) [artículo aquí]
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