Public sentiments in Vietnamese society towards China and the US in the 2020s are drastically different from the 2010s. Throughout the 2010s, when liberal nationalist dissidents and intellectuals dominated public debates, many in the Vietnamese public and diaspora called for Vietnam to move towards a formal alliance with the US to contain China, especially in relation to China’s steady expansion into the South China Sea. The Party was often criticized for not moving closer and quickly enough towards the US. These years were marked by extremely high pro-US sentiments throughout society. Trump’s latest tariff war has even been regarded by some Vietnamese as an opportunity for “liberation” from China.
Since 2020, the broader trend has nevertheless been that of rising red nationalism throughout society. Following Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s visit to China after the latter’s 19th Party Congress in November 2022, which was hailed by both the CCP and the CPV as a new “
” in the bilateral relationship, and with the ongoing ramifications of the Russia-Ukraine War reverberating widely, Vietnam has accelerated its rapprochement towards China and Russia while maintaining strong ties with the US. Red nationalism, which views the Vietnamese revolution and the leadership of the CPV overall more favourably than in previous times, has manifested especially sharply among Vietnamese millennials and Gen Z. This nationalism is both critical of and selectively embracing towards both China and the US. In this ambiguity, the 2020s contrasts greatly with the 2010s, when anti-party, anti-China, and pro-US nationalism once proliferated.