China's Soft Power Diplomacy in Vietnam

Abstract

China's economic rise, coupled with its military heft and soft power acculturation, stimulates a sense of enigma in international relations. The “Chinese dream” theorizes the realization of great national rejuvenation and comprehensive national power, and the BRI is ample evidence to this effect. This is discernible in the Southeast Asian region, demonstrated by China's credence and acceptability, notwithstanding the fact that many of these states share contested sovereignty claims with China in the disputed South China Sea. Vietnam's inclusion in the BRI offers a unique case study, as it endeavors to strike a harmonious balance between realism and neoliberal considerations of national interests. The BRI, in synergy with Vietnam's “Two Corridors, One Economic Circle” framework, offers the pedestal for bilateral cooperation. Given this backdrop, this chapter analyzes the dynamics, principal areas of cooperation within the BRI framework, and its social, political, and economic ramifications for Vietnam as well as on China's international image as facilitator of soft power.