From Hostility To Cooperation:A Study On The Evolution Of Vietnam Singapore Diplomatic Relations

Based on the development of Vietnam-Singapore bilateral relations,this paper describes the specific process and characteristics of the relationship from hostility to cooperation,analyzes some factors influencing the change of bilateral relations from global,regional and domestic levels,and makes some comments and supplements to the small state diplomatic theory.First,in the course and characteristics of the development of bilateral relations,before the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam,the bilateral relations were dominated by hostility for a long time,during which Vietnam was in a passive position while Singapore took the initiative.It was due to Singapore’s position in supporting the United States’ participation in the Vietnam War and opposing Vietnam’s position in the Cambodia incident for its own security and interests.After the Sixth National Congress,Vietnam took the initiative to ease relations with Singapore due to difficulties in domestic and foreign affairs.At this time,the two sides were consistent in national interests.Therefore,their bilateral relations,especially trade and investment relations,developed rapidly and finally into a Strategic Partnership in 2013.Second,in terms of the causal mechanism of the bilateral relations,this paper analyzes the global,regional and domestic levels.At the global level,when the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union and the bipolar system became tense,the security space of small countries was narrow.Atthis time,due to the lack of the ability to rely on their own strength in the international and regional situation,small countries could only choose the one-sided strategy,place hope on the protection of big powers,or choose the strategy of balancing of big powers and use diplomatic means to keep balance in the region.It is easy to destroy the relationship with other small and medium-sized countries.The end of the cold war and the reduction of the security pressure of small countries are the fundamental reasons for Vietnam and Singapore’s cooperation.At the regional level,due to the different geopolitics characteristics and different strategic directions between Vietnam and Singapore,although Vietnam did not take Singapore as the object of conquest,Singapore always regarded Vietn am as a potential threat to its own survival and actively chose to become Vietnam’s enemy.After cold war,the close relationship between Vietnam and ASEAN provided an important motivation for the development of bilateral relations between Vietnam and Singapore.At the domestic level,the political and economic conditions within a country can also have an impact on the their bilateral relations.Sometimes,changes in key domestic factors can even accelerate or slow down the process,and play a direct or indirect catalytic role in the development of bilateral relations.Finally,this paper supplements the diplomatic theory of small states with the concrete historical facts of Vietnam-Singapore bilateral relations and three levels of theoretical analysis,that is,the one-sided and balance of great powers policies of small countries are not simply in accordance with the literal meaning,but there are other complex mechanisms within them.For example,Vietnam had to face Sino-Soviet relations and the US intervention in the process of their one-sided policy.Similarly,in the process of balancing,Singapore never just sought a balance point between the US and the Soviet Union through arithmetic,but needed to consider the geopolitical characteristics of the two super powers and other small states in the groups of both sides.Therefore,this paper holds that there is still room for the development of small state diplomacy theory.