Vietnam and China – An Intimate Relationship?
Posted by MyLaowai on Sunday, April 29, 2007
There was a good article in the Asia Times the other day. There were a few sentences that hit the nail square on the head. These, for example:
No country in Southeast Asia is culturally closer to China than Vietnam, and no other country in the region has spent so long fending off Chinese domination, often at a terrible cost in lives, economic development and political compromise.
the Chinese recognized the Vietnamese as a kindred people, to be offered the benefits of higher Chinese civilization and, ultimately, the rare privilege of being absorbed into the Chinese polity. On the other hand, as near family, they were to be punished especially severely if they rejected Chinese standards or rebelled against Chinese control.
Ho Chi Minh warned his Viet Minh colleagues in forceful terms against using Chinese Nationalist troops in the north as a buffer against the return of the French: “You fools! Don’t you realize what it means if the Chinese remain? Don’t you remember your history? The last time the Chinese came, they stayed a thousand years… I prefer to sniff French shit for five years than to eat Chinese shit for the rest of my life.”
Says it all, really.
Wo Shi Laowai - Wo Pa Shui 
Meursault said
And notice how Vietnam is the last international stop on the Olympic Torch relay before it passes into China. How long before San Francisco Chinatown becomes an inalienable part of the Motherland too?
mylaowai said
Ha! They’ve already starting making noises about how they discovered everything east of California. That includes Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and yes, San Francisco, too. They’ve put in official claims for parts of Korea, and I’m confidently told by the peeps here that Korea and Japan will be part of China in 20 years (in fact, they teach that in some schools now).