Without Trump, China threatens Vietnam

 Peter Kaufner:

While U.S. pundits see Vice President Kamala Harris's visit to Hanoi as a way for her to get out of town and avoid awkward questions, the Chinese media responded with sharp commentary accusing her of inciting Vietnam against China.  For her part, Harris accused China of "bullying" in the South China Sea.  The U.S.-China-Vietnam strategic triangle is certainly on the minds of ordinary Vietnamese.

At a park in central Saigon, some students asked me, "Do you know why we love Trump?"

"Is it because he hates China?" I asked.

"Yeah!"  They responded in unison.

Yes, Donald Trump is a Vietnamese folk hero.  In fact, Trump is more popular in Vietnam than in any other country except the Philippines.

Why do Vietnamese like Trump?  Everyone tells me it is the way he talks, which I am pretty sure means the way he talks about China.  Fearing Beijing's reaction, the government limits what the Vietnamese can say about this subject.  Many are fed up with worrying about what might make China angry.  When Trump talks about China, he is a tribune of the Vietnamese people.

...

There is more.

Vietnam and China both have disputed claims to "islands" in the South China Sea.  Many Vietnamese would like to be as blunt as Trump but fear repression so they instead talk about their affection for Trump.

They clearly aren't like the US media and Democrats who hate the way Trump talks.  Personally, I don't mind his bluntness.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Washington Post: Some Democrats eye adding more justices to the Supreme Court to change its ideological bent The once-remote idea has gained the attention of liberals angered by the GOP push to remake the federal courts. Probably the easy way to defeat this court-packing scheme is for Trump to propose doing the same thing now.  It would lead to Democrat denunciations and claims that it would be wrong, thereby blowing up any attempt by them in the unfortunate event of Democrats winning a presidential election.
Read more

Is the F-35 obsolete?

Headline USA: Pentagon Fires Back after Musk Calls Its Most Expensive Project ‘Obsolete’ 'Yeah, as I'm sure you can appreciate, Mr. Musk is, currently, a private citizen, I'm not going to make any comments about what a private citizen may have to say about the F-35....'   ... ... Drones appear to be replacing jets for many operations.  The Russia-Ukraine war is an example of that.  Drones are often hard to detect and can be used for intelligence operations as well as for attacking enemy targets.  It would not surprise me to see drones engaging other drones in combat.  They also cost much less than manned fighters.  
Read more

Apple's huge investment in US including Texas facility

Blaze: Apple announced a $500 billion commitment to infrastructure in the United States over four years, its largest commitment to domestic spending to date. Apple said it will expand teams and facilities in Arizona, California, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington as part of its new spending. With a new facility in Houston, Texas, Apple will reportedly double its investment in advanced manufacturing along with increasing investments in AI and silicon engineering. The company said in a press release that the Houston facility will produce servers to support Apple Intelligence, the "personal intelligence system that helps users write, express themselves, and get things done." ... The Texas facility will be for advanced technologies.   Texas has become a place that is very supportive of the tech industries.  Austin and Houston have seen much of the tech growth in the state.  Texas universities have been active in the AI field.
Read more