Opinion | Australia-Vietnam ties crucial ‘on own terms’, not just in relation to US, China
- PM Albanese seems determined to rebuild regional relationships, taking the heat out of tensions with China and enhancing collaboration in the region
- His government also recognises that the significance of ties with middle-sized regional nations like Vietnam has diminished in recent years
As such, it was surprising to see that a nicely executed state visit to a mid-power in the region, which resulted in the mooted upgrading of a “strategic partnership” to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, had failed to generate substantive headlines, or capture the public imagination.
Australians need to see the enhancement of regional partnerships such as the one with Vietnam as having significant interest, with implications for Australia’s future.
Decades of rebuilding relations
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Australia and Vietnam. This was, of course, a particularly potent moment due to Australia’s involvement in the war in Vietnam (known there as the “American War”).
Over the course of the war, more than 60,000 Australians were deployed to the country and 523 died. The war and the means of its prosecution – particularly conscription – became heated points of polarisation domestically in Australia.
The cost of the war to Vietnam itself was incalculable.
