Vietnam

Arriving in the World — and at a Crossroads

Bibliographic Data

ID16625571
AuthorsAlexander L Vuving (0000-0001-8191-7512, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume2008
Issue1
Pages375-393
Publication date2008-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSoutheast Asian affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0377-5437 • E-ISSN: 1793-9135
PublisherISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute (PUBLISHER • SG)
DOI10.1355/seaa08t
OpenAlexW1986697150
LanguageEN
Citations received4

The year 2007 in Vietnam was bracketed by two events that could go down in history as watersheds in the country’s post-Cold War life. On 11 January, Vietnam began its membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). In December, thousands of Vietnamese took to the streets to protest against China’s claims to the Paracel and Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The accession to the WTO marked the full integration of Vietnam into the Western-led international system, closing a protracted process that began twenty years ago and opening a new era in the country’s economic life as well as its relations with the outside world. The anti-China protests demonstrated the re-emergence of nationalism, and with their suppression by Vietnamese authorities, that the banner of patriotism has changed hands from the state to alternative elite groups that are Internet-based and wealthy. These protests and Beijing’s urge to suppress them have put Hanoi in a dire strait where it cannot avoid taking sides. Vietnam has just arrived in the world but already stood at a crossroads. The WTO Era, Year One Vietnam’s economy in 2007 continued to gain momentum in an overall stable macroeconomic environment but challenges and pitfalls are also mounting up, suggesting that it might be evolving into a bubble economy. Gross domestic product (GDP) reached US$71 billion and per capita GDP stood at US$835, double the figure of 2001. The country’s balance of payments recorded a high

Political science · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

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