Vietnam’s national leadership struggle could impact Asean: Jakarta Post writer

Vietnam, however, is perhaps the only country in the world that can claim to have defeated three major powers: France, the United States and China.

The US withdrew its troops from Vietnam in the 1970s after years of bloody war.

After the war, North and South Vietnam were unified on July 2, 1976. Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi became the capital of the new Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

China and Vietnam were involved in a border war in early 1979. In 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia to topple the China-backed Khmer Rouge and install Hun Sen as Vietnam’s puppet leader of Cambodia.

With the full support of Vietnam, Indonesia hosted years-long negotiations between Hun Sen on one side and the Khmer Rouge, King Sihanouk and a small nationalist camp on the other in Jakarta and Bogor.

After China assured Indonesia that it had abandoned its support for the Khmer Rouge, Indonesia and France hosted a meeting that resulted in the Paris Peace Agreement of 1991. Without strong support from Vietnam and the changes in China’s position, the prolonged civil war in Cambodia might not have ended. Vietnam joined Asean in 1995.

The founding members of the bloc, which was established on Aug 8, 1967, were Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. This year, Timor-Leste is expected to become the group’s 11th member.

The strong determination of Vietnam to fight France, the US and China, and later, its big achievements in economic development, confirm that Asean needs Vietnam as a source of inspiration and strength to build resilience and solidarity in the face of major powers competing for influence in South-east Asia.

A politically stable Vietnam is instrumental in maintaining peace and stability in the region.

We all hope that the party elite in Vietnam will find a win-win solution for the sake of the Vietnamese people, Asean and the world. – THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

• The writer is a senior editor at The Jakarta Post. The paper is a member of The Straits Times media partner Asia News Network, an alliance of 22 regional media titles.