Recently, China has built a railway in Vietnam, realizing the sinicization of track standards in Southeast Asia. For both China and Vietnam, this event can be described as significant. This is the first time in 40 years that China and Vietnam have been connected by land rail.
It is very significant for Vietnam. At present, the entire Indochina Peninsula, except for Vietnam, uses Chinese railway standards. These railways connect the land part of China and Southeast Asia, laying a good foundation for the economic development of the two places and Southeast Asian countries to undertake the industrial transfer from China. At present, the great economic development of the countries of the Indochina Peninsula is due to the economic advantages brought by the railway. If India does not join the Trans-Asian Railway network, it will become a peripheral country forced to close itself off from the whole of East Asia and Southeast Asia.
In addition, this railway is said to have been built by China with the help of Vietnam, but considering the repayment period set by our country and the extremely low interest rate, it is about equivalent to the railway being built by Vietnam for free.
It can be said that China is using its own resources and money to help Vietnam develop its economy. Of course, from the perspective of industrial restructuring and future economic and trade activities with Vietnam, China's investment in Vietnam now will definitely be economically rewarded in the future. But more important than the financial rewards are the political feedback.
The biggest benefit for Vietnam to achieve political détente with China is that the northern part of Vietnam can be developed, and Vietnam has not dared to develop the northern region for 40 years because of the fear of China's influence. So much so that Vietnam's version of reform and opening up was maintained only in a small part of the south. Now that a comprehensive economic and political détente has been achieved with China, the north can begin to develop.
As far as China is concerned, the great détente between China and Vietnam has also stuck the US conspiracy to cut off China's land access to the Indian Ocean on the Indochina Peninsula by provoking Sino-Vietnamese relations.
On the basis of diplomacy that there is no eternal friendship but only eternal interests, as long as Vietnam and China cooperate to obtain lasting military security guarantees and national economic development guarantees, there is no possibility for Vietnam to turn the other cheek with China.
Of course, in addition to Vietnam itself, détente with Vietnam also has a layer of meaning of "fighting the Philippines and stabilizing Vietnam". The meaning is inside.
At present, China's main sovereignty conflicts in the South China Sea are concentrated in four countries: Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Among them, because China and Brunei and Malaysia have a very close relationship due to various reasons, including political, historical, and cultural factors, and both countries are willing to accept China's proposal for joint development by shelving disputes, we can basically be regarded as having a sovereignty conflict in the South China Sea, but there is no international dispute.
The only countries that really have disputes are Vietnam and the Philippines. Vietnam and the Philippines are both very important and influential countries among the 10 ASEAN countries. So once they join forces to start a conflict with China, they can lead the vast majority of ASEAN countries to confront China.
It is not in the interests of our country to fight against multiple enemies at the same time, so it is the most suitable way to make more friends and fewer enemies to become the most in line with the current national conditions of our country.
So the Philippines and Vietnam, who are we going to choose? The answer is self-evident, of course, Vietnam. Although these two countries have conflicts with our country, they are still different in nature.
The conflict between Vietnam and China stems mainly from the sovereignty dispute between the two countries. Vietnam is a sovereign country with complete military, political and economic autonomy, and it can apply normal national logic and use interests and morality to carry out the first thing.
And the Philippines is different. As a colony of the United States, the leaders of the Philippines are pawns of the United States, and not only the entire family is in the United States, but even the leaders' family assets are in the United States. Therefore, this country does not have diplomatic autonomy. Especially after the re-establishment of the "US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty", the Philippine military bases in the Philippines have been stationed, and the national sovereignty of the Philippines is basically controlled by the Americans. Therefore, the situation in the South China Sea seems complicated, but in fact it is very simple, since the Philippines is the only country in the entire ten ASEAN countries that is willing to sell its sovereignty, then our choice is to win over other ASEAN countries to isolate the Philippines. It can even be said that the strategy of "fighting the Philippines and stabilizing Vietnam" was not chosen by China, but that China can only go this way now.
I believe that this time, what China needs to solve is not only the broken ship of the Philippines sitting on Ren'ai Jiao, but also the Philippines' coveting of China's territory and the recovery of the territory occupied by them. Remove the United States from the ASEAN sphere of influence. This is the overall goal of China's Southeast Asia strategy.