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Trends in Southeast Asia ISSN 0219-3213 2016 no. 17 Trends in Southeast Asia NEW CONTEXT OF VIETNAM’S NATIONAL SECURITY CHALLENGES NGUYEN MANH HUNG TRS17/16s ISBN 978-981-4311-14-4 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Singapore 119614 http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg 9 7 8 9 8 1 4 3 1 1 1 4 4 Trends in Southeast Asia 16-J00896 01 Trends_2016-17.indd 1 21/11/16 11:21 AM The ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (formerly Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) was established in 1968. It is an autonomous regional research centre for scholars and specialists concerned with modern Southeast Asia. The Institute’s research is structured under Regional Economic Studies (RES), Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS) and Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and through country- based programmes. It also houses the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC), Singapore’s APEC Study Centre, as well as the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre (NSC) and its Archaeology Unit. 16-J00896 01 Trends_2016-17.indd 2 21/11/16 11:21 AM 2016 no. 17 Trends in Southeast Asia NEW CONTEXT OF VIETNAM’S NATIONAL SECURITY CHALLENGES NGUYEN MANH HUNG 16-J00896 01 Trends_2016-17.indd 3 21/11/16 11:21 AM Published by: ISEAS Publishing 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Singapore 119614 [email protected] http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg © 2016 ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission. The author is wholly responsible for the views expressed in this book which do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. ISEAS Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Nguyen, Manh Hung. New Context of Vietnam’s National Security Challenges. (Trends in Southeast Asia, 0219-3213 ; TRS 17/16) 1. National security—Vietnam. 2. Vietnam—Foreign relations. I. Title. II. Series: Trends in Southeast Asia ; TRS 17/16. DS501 I59T no. 17(2016) November 2016 ISBN 978-981-4311-14-4 (soft cover) ISBN 978-981-4311-15-1 (e-book, PDF) Typeset by Superskill Graphics Pte Ltd Printed in Singapore by Mainland Press Pte Ltd 16-J00896 01 Trends_2016-17.indd 4 21/11/16 11:21 AM FOREWORD The economic, political, strategic and cultural dynamism in Southeast Asia has gained added relevance in recent years with the spectacular rise of giant economies in East and South Asia. This has drawn greater attention to the region and to the enhanced role it now plays in international relations and global economics. The sustained effort made by Southeast Asian nations since 1967 towards a peaceful and gradual integration of their economies has had indubitable success, and perhaps as a consequence of this, most of these countries are undergoing deep political and social changes domes tically and are constructing innovative solutions to meet new international challenges. Big Power tensions continue to be played out in the neighbourhood despite the tradition of neutrality exercised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Trends in Southeast Asia series acts as a platform for serious analyses by selected authors who are experts in their fields. It is aimed at encouraging policy makers and scholars to contemplate the diversity and dynamism of this exciting region. THE EDITORS Series Chairman: Tan Chin Tiong Series Editors: Ooi Kee Beng Lee Hock Guan Editorial Committee: Terence Chong Francis E. Hutchinson Daljit Singh Copy Editors: Veena Nair Kenneth Poon Jian Li 16-J00896 01 Trends_2016-17.indd 5 21/11/16 11:21 AM 16-J00896 01 Trends_2016-17.indd 6 21/11/16 11:21 AM New Context of Vietnam’s National Security Challenges By Nguyen Manh Hung EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • Vietnam’s concept of national security is based on “the survival of the ruling regime that acts in the name of the country”. This is unlike in many countries where national security relates merely to the survival of the state. • Because the challenges to Vietnam’s national security are perceived as challenges and threats to the ruling regime, the concept of national security tends to focus on the internal dimension of national security. • The Mid-term National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in 1994 listed “four threats” facing the country, namely, the danger of falling behind neighbouring countries economically; the threat of “peaceful evolution”; deviation from socialism; and corruption and bureaucratism. None of them, except for peaceful evolution, comes from outside. • Today, these threats remain but are now joined by the threat of “self- evolution” or “self-transformation” leading to socialist deviation and peaceful evolution, as well as the threat to national sovereignty and territorial integrity resulting from the conflict in the South China Sea. • Consequently, the military is tasked not only with the mission of protecting the fatherland but also protecting “the party, state, people and the socialist regime”. • The Twelfth National Congress of the CPV in 2016 attempted to re-establish the control of the party over the state; to launch a renewed effort to combat corruption and purge the party of those who exhibited signs of degeneration in morality, political thinking and lifestyle; and earn the people’s trust. 16-J00896 01 Trends_2016-17.indd 7 21/11/16 11:21 AM • Today, China is the only external threat to Vietnam’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the focal point of that threat is the South China Sea. • Vietnam has responded to this threat with a three-point policy: accommodating China’s security interests; building up self-defence capability; and mobilizing international support. • The strategy to mobilize international support is based on three elements: reliance on diplomacy and international law; mobilizing international support through integration in the regional and international system and a policy of “openness, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations”; and soft balancing between the major powers. • Recent serious challenges to Vietnam’s national security policy include: the unpredictable politics of the United States over ratification of the TPP and uncertainty over its “pivot” to Asia strategy; President Rodrigo Duterte’s tilt towards China, his country’s “separation” from the United States, and the uncertain future of the U.S.-Philippines military alliance; China’s strong reaction to the July ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in favour of the Philippines, and a divided and weakened ASEAN. 16-J00896 01 Trends_2016-17.indd 8 21/11/16 11:21 AM New Context of Vietnam’s National Security Challenges By Nguyen Manh Hung1 CONCEPT OF NATIONAL SECURITY Vietnam has a distinctive concept of national security. Unlike most countries where national security relates to the survival of the state, to Vietnam it is, according to a senior Vietnamese diplomat, “the survival of the ruling regime that acts in the name of [the] country”.2 Its latest defence White Paper, “Vietnam’s Defence Policy at the beginning of the 21st Century,” while declaring that the country was ready to defend itself against “all aggression, threat against national security, infringement on its national interests”, insisted that the “preservation of a peaceful and stable environment for economic and social development, the achievement of industrialization and modernization under socialist orientation are the highest national interests”.3 1 Nguyen Manh Hung is Professor Emeritus of Government & International Affairs, George Mason University, USA, and Visiting Senior Fellow, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. He would like to thank the editing team for their excellent work and the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for its assistance and support without which his research would not have been possible. 2 Tung Nguyen Vu, “Vietnam’s Security Challenges: Hanoi’s New Approach to National Security and Implications to Defense and Foreign Policies”, in Asia Pacific Countries Security Outlook and Its Implications for the Defense Sector. The National Institute for Defense Studies, Japan, NDIS Joint Research Studies No. 5, 2011, p. 107. 3 Interestingly, the White Paper was announced and summarized by the Embassy of Vietnam in Hungary on 12 September 2016, and reported by Vietnam Press, Thong Tan Xa Viet Nam (Vietnam Press), “Cong bo sach trang ve quoc phong Viet Nam” [Public release of Vietnam’s Defense White Paper] <http://www. vietnamembassyhungary.org/vnemb.vn/tinkhac/ns041210084441>. Author’s translation and italics. Today, this link has been removed. The author was told that the White Paper had been completed but not yet publicly distributed. 1 16-J00896 01 Trends_2016-17.indd 1 21/11/16 11:21 AM A major architect of Vietnam’s defence diplomacy, Vice-Minister of Defence Senior General Nguyen Chi Vinh insisted that defence diplomacy is only an “important part of, and an instrument to implement the [broader] foreign policy of the Party and State in defence matters”. While asserting that defence diplomacy must contribute, and has contributed, to “the defence of the country’s independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and national interests”, he linked this traditional mission of the military to the mission of protecting the party and socialism. According to him: Defence diplomacy contributes to the struggle against peaceful evolution and subversive violence, protects the Party and socialism and political stability to develop the country, and plays an important role in the mission of providing solid protection for the country’s independence, sovereignty,
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