Hanoi Plays America for a Sucker

Hanoi has an even greater interest in containing China than the United States , so the United States should not turn a blind eye to the need for democratic reform in Vietnam in the name of the "China Factor".

While the state visit of President Nguyen Minh Triet – the first official trip to America by a leader of Communist Vietnam -- is controversial, marred with protests and critical questioning by senior United States lawmakers regarding his government's recent arrests of human rights and democracy activists, the real politik behind the way America coddles Hanoi --the China factor – seems to escape most press radar screens. But Hanoi is none the wiser.

It seems American geopolitics trumps even its very founding tenets of democracy and freedom in favor of the containment of China. Yet for a viable and long-term solution, Washington must not forget a democratic Vietnam based on popular support is more suited for the stability of Southeast Asia than a declining police state with oppressive turmoil.

At a time when communist Vietnam can no longer rely on brutal oppression to keep the lid on its people's legitimate aspirations nor count on its hallowed and pyrrhic victory against the United States (and France) as the mandate to rule in lieu of popular support, the United States is trying to prop up the Hanoi regime militarily as buffer against an expanding China. Aware of this American courtship, Hanoi is playing the China card to the hilt.

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