A secondary partner. Despite reinforced cooperation agreements, France is no longer a leading partner for Vietnam, at a time when Hanoi celebrates the 80th anniversary of its independence of the supervision of Paris.
As you approach a giant parade scheduled for Tuesday, the capital has adorned innumerable red flags with a yellow star, which covers the inherited colonial houses of the French.
For days, hundreds of people have been camping on the sidewalks to ensure that they are at the forefront and attend the essays of the largest military parade ever organized in the country.
On September 2, 1945, in front of hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, Ho Chi Minh declared Hanoi the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, taking advantage of the weakening of the French colonial power and the withdrawal of the Japanese occupant. There will be years of war.
Today, “Vietnam does not need to hold on to another country or rest in another power to advance,” said Huynh Nhung, a 24 -year -old tourist, known by the AFP to the sinister Hoa Lo prison, a vestige of French colonization, in the center of Hanoi.
“There are no particular favors”
Despite a commonly painful common past, the two countries have returned to the links, which provides their highest level association in 2024.
During a visit in May, marked by the signing of contracts of several billion euros, French president Emmanuel Macron presented his country as a “safe and reliable friend” of Vietnam, moving forward the idea in a third French way as an alternative to the United States and China.
But trade remains limited and Paris does not benefit from Hanoi “private favors compared to other Asian competitors, or even Europeans,” says Pierre Joiroud, professor of contemporary history at the Paul-Valéry University in Montpellier (France).
Even if the bilateral commercial figure increased by 60% between 2015 and 2024, to 8.5 billion euros, France was only last year in the 24th Vietnam partner and only the room in Europe, behind the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, according to the customs of the two countries.
“History of the past”
Vietnam, in full economic takeoff (7% growth in 2024, one of the most dynamic in Southeast Asia), advocates flexible diplomacy, called “bamboo”, to maintain good relations with the greatest possible amount, Beijing and Washington first.
In practice, Paris “certainly does not have the material means to fully credibility” its third way, and finally offers “only an extra modest” for Hanoi’s geopolitical positioning, Pierre Joiroud points out.
For example, “cooperation with France can serve the strategic interests of Vietnam at least in the energy transition and aspects of safety and sovereignty in the South China Sea,” Judge Juliette Loesch.
Less than 1% of Vietnamese people speak French
At the cultural level, less than 1% of the population of 100 million inhabitants still speak French, a proportion in constant decrease with the disappearance of the old generations.
France, “is a history of the past” and “a lot of suffering,” says Huynh Nhung, for whom his “positive aspects” in his “beautiful culture” and his “very aesthetic” architecture are summarized.
In his study, which offers a series of accessories that celebrate Vietnam, seen to THI NGOC LINH helps their customers take photos.
As expected, during the festivities on Tuesday, political leaders “will rent Vietnam’s successes in the last eight decades (…) with minimal references to French colonialism,” says Carlyle Thayer, Professor Emeritus at the University of Nueva Gales del Sur in Sydney.
Source: BFM TV
