Hanoi, Vietnam – When Vietnam’s Communist Occasion Basic Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and United States President Joe Biden upgraded diplomatic relations to their highest degree final weekend, Chinese language officers responded by elevating the spectre of a brand new Chilly Conflict taking part in out in Southeast Asia.

China’s overseas ministry spokesperson Mao Ning suggested Washington to discard its “hegemonic and Chilly Conflict mentality” when requested about Trong and Biden signing as much as a complete strategic partnership equal to Beijing’s personal relations with Vietnam.

Mao stated that Washington ought to “abide by fundamental norms governing worldwide relations” when coping with Asian nations.

“We ask the US to respect regional nations’ shared aspiration for stability, cooperation and growth,” she stated, mentioning that Vietnam had “careworn on a number of events” that its relationship with Beijing was a “prime precedence within the nation’s overseas affairs”.

US officers swiftly rejected claims that cosying as much as Vietnam’s rulers – whom the US as soon as fought a conflict in opposition to – was a chess board transfer in a brand new confrontation with China within the Indo-Pacific area.

Removed from “any form of Chilly Conflict transfer”, the partnership with Vietnam “epitomises what fashionable partnership appears to be like like from the USA perspective”, Mira Rapp-Hooper, particular assistant to the president and senior director for East Asia and Oceania on the Nationwide Safety Council, informed journalists on Wednesday.

Partnering with the US didn’t lock Vietnam into selecting between Washington or Beijing, Rapp-Hooper stated.

“It’s not about [Vietnam] selecting the USA over anybody or something; it’s about what all of us stand for collectively,” she added.

US ambassador to Vietnam Marc E Knapper stated the brand new relationship with Vietnam “isn’t about anybody else”. Although the references the ambassador gave for the worth of the US-Vietnam partnership invoked hot-button subjects involving China and its rising assertiveness within the Asia-Pacific area.

“It’s about our two nations and the intrinsic worth this relationship has when it comes to our shared prosperity, our shared safety, our shared pursuits in a free and open Indo-Pacific and a free and open South China Sea,” Knapper informed reporters.

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea and its rising assertiveness to possession of the huge maritime space has led to confrontations between the Chinese language coast guard and vessels from nations in Southeast Asia who additionally declare territory within the disputed waters, significantly the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

On the eve of Biden’s go to, Al Jazeera spoke to a number of Vietnamese folks about their authorities’s rising heat in the direction of the US, and what it would imply for relations with China.

‘Vietnam can stay in a impartial place’

Biden left a faint impression as president in contrast along with his predecessor Donald Trump, stated My Linh, a 22-year-old regulation pupil primarily based in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis and at present taking a niche yr from her research.

However, Biden was the third US president in a row to go to Vietnam, after Trump and Barack Obama, and Vietnamese folks had been pleased with the eye from Washington and the “US relationship is sort of good”.

“Joe Biden’s arrival goes additional to point out that Vietnam can preserve good diplomatic relations with the US – no matter who the incumbent president is, or which political social gathering they arrive from,” Linh stated.

That the US would signal as much as such a partnership regardless that Vietnam stays “a socialist nation” confirmed a sure shrewdness in Vietnam’s diplomacy, Linh informed Al Jazeera, including that she hoped elevated financial and academic alternatives would move from huge US corporations investing within the nation.

Whereas China may accuse the US of pulling Vietnam in the direction of its sphere of affect, Linh stated Vietnam was being pulled by each superpowers of their respective instructions. Vietnam, nonetheless, would stay impartial.

“I believe any world energy would wish to pull different nations near them, particularly the US and China, who each attempt to attain international hegemony,” she stated.

“I’ve confidence and take delight in Vietnam’s diplomatic insurance policies. We may be stern when it’s known as for however nonetheless stay diplomatic. We don’t draw back from historic info … Whether or not we welcome an American or Chinese language delegation, Vietnam can stay in a impartial place.”

Crucial of Biden for escalating the conflict in Ukraine, which Nguyen Hien described as a battle actually between NATO and Russia, the small rubber elements producer from Hanoi stated the vast majority of Vietnamese folks need good relations with the US.

Nearer ties with Washington means Vietnam has a possibility to “advance our financial and social circumstances”, Hien stated. However he additionally warned that Vietnam should not lose “company” in such a relationship and should not be drawn solely to any specific aspect amid present geopolitical tensions.

“With the US, China and even Russia, Vietnam is standing in the midst of conflicting tides. The US needs to tug us in the direction of them as Vietnam has an essential place within the Southeast Asia area,” Hien stated.

“Vietnam shouldn’t lean in the direction of anybody extraordinarily. However Russia and Vietnam have been keen on one another because the previous. They [Russians] have made many sacrifices for us. So I personally lean in the direction of them,” he stated.

‘We are going to depend on ourselves’

Questioning why it had taken so lengthy for the US and Vietnam to raise their relationship to a complete strategic partnership provided that they grew to become complete companions a decade in the past, Le Nam, a monetary specialist primarily based in Da Nang, informed Al Jazeera he anticipated that nearer relations with the US will give a jolt to Vietnam’s lagging economic system.

Whereas Vietnam’s place as China’s neighbour makes it tough for the nation to be seen visibly leaning in the direction of the US, the brand new partnership could be “a possibility for America to point out its influence on Vietnam extra visibly” within the coming years.

Nam stated he was pinning his hopes on the 2 nations increasing their financial relations, which might have a beneficial influence on Vietnam’s banking sector at a time of financial stagnation domestically and slowing commerce globally.

Entry to instructional alternatives when it comes to pupil change programmes and joint analysis with US establishments was on the thoughts of Cao Thanh Hien, 28, who’s employed at a college in Hanoi.

Not a fan of Biden both, Thanh Hien stated the present US president was, at the least, an enchancment on the chaos of the Trump presidency.

Biden may be “outdated”, Thanh Hien stated, however he “doesn’t trigger a scene within the media like Trump and his insurance policies”.

Thanh Hien additionally stated she anticipated the great strategic partnership to carry advantages for Vietnam when it comes to the South China Sea dispute.

“I believe the US does need [Vietnam closer],” she stated.

“Within the South China Sea, the US can be wrangling for affect in opposition to China … On this matter, they [the US] will attempt to pull Vietnam nearer, however Vietnam’s stance is at all times impartial – we are going to depend on ourselves.”