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> Vietnam might he another alternative, but they are also a communist country, so the optics might not be better than China. It's already a booming manufacturi
by adventured 6y ago
> Vietnam might he another alternative, but they are also a communist country, so the optics might not be better than China.
It's already a booming manufacturing alternative center to China. It's also a center of booming tech manufacturing. Samsung has invested a huge amount of money into factories there.
Their GDP has gone from $35 billion in 2003, to $261b in 2019. They've had one of the fastest growing economies for the past decade.
US imports from Vietnam have climbed from $14b in 2010, to $30b in 2014, to $66b in 2019. 371% increase in one decade. The US imports more from Vietnam than France ($57b) or the UK ($63b) now.
US exports to Vietnam by contrast are a mere $10b, so we're pouring an epic positive trade surplus (surplus for them) into the country. The same exact way China developed. US investment is going to build Vietnam into a middle income country in the span of 20 years. We'll probably soon have nearly a $100b trade deficit with Vietnam. If they keep on the right track, they'll develop very rapidly.
The Communism isn't a problem. The US wants Vietnam to develop so it can help be another strategic counter to China. The people of Vietnam also hold the highest opinion of the US of any people of any nation.[2] The US also doesn't have to worry about Vietnam becoming a superpower competitor, so they don't pose a China-like strategic threat. They're an excellent ally accordingly, we have many shared interests.
"40 years after fall of Saigon, Vietnamese see U.S. as key ally"
[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/30/vietnamese-see-u-s-as-key-ally/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/30/vietnamese-...
"84% of Vietnamese people view the US favorably"
[2] https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2017/06/26/tarnished-american-brand/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2017/06/26/tarnished-amer...
- Der_Einzige 6y agoAnd to top it all off, Vietnam forever and ever will hate China. The enemy of my enemy...
- petre 6y agoWhich is kind of ironic after what the US has done to people in Vietnam. But it's similar to what happened in Japan, only Japan was under US occupation, while Vietnam was not.
- wow_no 6y agoApparently Vietnamese really like Americans, I literally can not fathom why. Heard it from Viets too. Time is weird.
- petre 6y agoMaybe they don't have anti-US propaganda, like North Korea does.
- moreorless 6y agoWinners normally do not get overly worked up about the vanquished.
- magnio 6y agoNot only Americans. Vietnamese people view white, Western people very favorably, since they generally look up to those developed nations (and their citizens). And yes, part of the reason is that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
- xuki 6y agoVietnam for the most part stopped the anti-America propaganda in the nineties. Sure, everyone learns about the American war in the history books, but they're also exposed to the huge amount of movies, tv shows and music from America. Vietnam also had a decade long border dispute with China which started with the war of 1979 (funny enough, this is rarely mentioned in school), so hatred of China is common. In recent years Vietnam and China have clashed multiple times on the issues of South China Sea (the Vietnamese call this the "East Sea"). The enemy of my enemy is my friend, that kind of thing.