Coping With a Rising Power: Vietnam's Hedging Strategy Toward China
Abstract
The competition for power and influence between China and the United States in Southeast Asia has presented strategic uncertainties in the region. Vietnam, like the rest of Southeast Asia, has adopted a hedging strategy to minimize security and political risks, and maximize the diplomatic benefits of flexibility. In recent years, however, Chinas increasing aggression in the South China Sea may have put pressure on Vietnam to balance against China. By using a hedging spectrum between balancing and bandwagoning, this thesis seeks to understand Vietnams hedging behavior in response to Chinas aggression and the possible reasons for that degree of change. It examines how Vietnam continues to pursue contradictory hedging behaviors to address Hanoi's low-intensity balancing policies toward China while providing a closer engagement and solidarity with Beijing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1052914
Entities
People
- Tuan U. Tran
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School