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The Paracel Islands of the South China Sea has increasingly become a source of conflict between China and Vietnam. The international society is watching closely how China will respond to the message from Vietnam that it will not surrender China's threat when it comes to sovereignty issue. Under the circumstances, perspectives of Vietnam suggested during the Korea-Vietnam relations in the era of globalization forum held by the Northeast Asian History Foundation and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences on May 17 raised public awareness of China-Vietnam relations.

Korea-Vietnam Cooperation and Rising China

In his remarks, President Do Tien Sum of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences reiterated that the rising China poses both challenges and opportunities as other emerging nations do. He argued that Vietnam can capture opportunities in the sense that Vietnam can learn from the astonishing economic development China has achieved as it did with Korea's economic advancement. Vietnam can also serve as a bridge between ASEAN and China. In addition, China values its ties with Vietnam while the rise of the nation can provide a chance for the two neighbors to solve lingering border issues in a peaceful manner, considering that China thinks improving security in the region is crucial. As for the challenges that come with the rise of China, deteriorating trade conditions with China and possible increase in crimes that can occur in the process of increasing exchanges between the two nations are suggested. The issue of South China Sea is also on the list.

But the president argued that the so-called "One center, two wings" strategy, which is the core of China's globalization strategy in Southeast Asia should be seen as a challenge rather than an opportunity. The strategy was first suggested at The first Pan-Beibu (泛北部) Gulf Economic Cooperation Forum in July 2006 and the main idea of it is to connect the following three regions. First, one center refers to the region encompassing the Western China city Nanning and eight cities in five neighboring countries –Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore--that will be linked by railroads and highways. Second, one wing represents regional cooperation in Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) which includes China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. The other wing refers to development of Pan-Beibu (泛北部) Gulf Economic Cooperation zone which involves China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines. A Vietnamese attendant of the forum reminded that the China-ASEAN FTA and GMS development project is led by China and said Vietnam needs to cooperate with China if doing so will benefit the nation while taking a cautious approach in order not to fall for China's trick. To back up his argument, the participant pointed out that China has been taking a two-track approach which involves both threats and negotiations to secure its territorial rights in the Spratly and Paracel Islands which are gateway to the Strait of Malacca and rich in natural resources, and added that the "One center, two wings" strategy is China's appeasement foreign policy.

Another Vietnamese participant said that it needs to be constantly reminded that Vietnam plays an important role in ASEAN in order to send a message to China that any disputes with Vietnam will make it tougher for the nation to expand its influence in the region. To elaborate on China-Vietnam relations, the participant compared them to the US and its neighbors. For example, Canada thinks it should neither be too close to or too distant from the US as Vietnam feels about China. The participant also noted that Vietnam should avoid falling into the kind of a situation described by the Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz in his famous quote "Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States!"

The speaker also emphasized the importance of neighboring countries' cooperation in coping with the challenges posed by the rising China because although China argues it aims at "peaceful rise," its neighbors can feel intimidated. If they strengthen ties, they can maintain a certain degree of influence on China and present a concerted front against it when it claims ungrounded rights. The other participant also suggested Vietnam has learned how to handle China throughout its history.

Continuous Awareness Campaign Is Crucial for Korea's ODA

Noteworthy statements were also made during the session on official development assistance (ODA). Since July 2005, Vietnam has been one of the most exemplary recipients among developing nations. Around forty donor and recipient countries gathered in Paris in February 2005 to come up with the Paris Declaration and set objectives to improve the efficiency of aid. Five months later, Vietnam held a donors' meeting in Hanoi to select tasks that fit with Vietnam's circumstances and put out development plans. Based on that, Vietnamese participants brought up problems of Korea's ODA during the session.

A major issue identified during the execution process is that Korean ODA agencies operating in Vietnam have failed to provide effective advice due to the lack of manpower. And Vietnamese participants expressed regrets that regional experts dispatched from Korea to serve as advisors in relation to execution do not fully understand Vietnam's development strategy system. And they urged the Korean government to launch more aggressive campaign to raise awareness about Korea's ODA projects in Vietnam. Participants also pointed out that it is difficult to obtain data on Korea's ODA due to the absence of continuous reporting on ODA projects.

If we only focus on releasing and discussing theses at an academic forum, there is little room for opinion sharing on other issues. So this forum was designed to encourage experts from multiple institutions of both countries to share their ideas and views freely. Indeed, meaningful debates took place to meet the goal of the forum. At the closing of the free discussion session, a Vietnamese participant cast a question, "Does China have a diplomatic strategy for Northeast Asia that can be compared to the one for Southeast Asia?"