French President Emmanuel Macron announced over $10 billion in deals with Vietnam on Monday, including an agreement for Vietnam to buy 20 French-made Airbus planes.
Macron also announced deals on nuclear energy, defense, vaccines, satellites, and ground and sea transportation.
Reuters noted that Macron’s trip to Vietnam, the first made by a French president in almost a decade, was actually rather disappointing compared to the hype in Paris before he left. Macron reportedly left Hanoi with 14 deals in his pocket, with a few more announcements possibly still to come, but his office anticipated dozens of agreements would be signed.
Macron’s economic achievements were overshadowed in the press by the bizarre spectacle of his wife Brigitte pushing his face away as they prepared to disembark from their plane in Vietnam. Macron told reporters the two were merely “horsing around” and “joking.”
The Elysee Palace certainly did not want the headlines of Macron’s journey to Southeast Asia to be dominated by footage of the president getting shoved around by the first lady. Macron wanted to make common cause with the Vietnamese against President Donald Trump’s tariffs and develop closer defense ties with Vietnam against growing aggression by China.
The French president made a point of restating his country’s commitment to freedom of navigation during his press conference in Hanoi, which was music to Vietnam’s ears, as it has been pushing back against China’s land grabs in the South China Sea.
European officials have been quietly urging Vietnam to avoid making big concessions to Trump, at least until the Europeans have a chance to present themselves as alternative trading partners to the United States.
The Airbus sale announced by Macron was his big headline accomplishment in Vietnam to date, but it did not really represent a Vietnamese realignment away from the United States. Vietnam already gets 85 percent of its passenger planes from Airbus, including twenty more it agreed to buy last year — and the Vietnamese are reportedly considering a gigantic purchase of at least 250 planes from Boeing.
“Vietnam should make sure not to make decisions at the expense of European interests,” a European Union official sniffed to Reuters on Monday, suggesting the EU would be very unhappy to see that Boeing deal go through.
Macron’s defense talks with Vietnam included a pledge to cooperate on cybersecurity, which is a major concern in Hanoi. Vietnam’s rate of Internet usage grew much faster over the past few years than its cybersecurity teams could handle — it now has the 12th-largest population of Internet users in the world.
This created many opportunities for mischief and, like every other country that squabbles with China, Vietnam found itself on the receiving end of some massive hacker attacks originating in the Chinese mainland. The worst of these attacks tend to come right after Vietnam has a major public disagreement with Beijing, or Vietnamese companies refuse to regurgitate Chinese propaganda, such as the “nine-dash line” map that shows China in control of the entire South China Sea.
Along with Indonesia and Pakistan, Vietnam has become one of China’s top targets for spreading its propaganda and authoritarian ideology over the Internet. The Vietnamese have certainly been influenced by China’s approach to controlling the online environment, implementing their own draconian speech codes and repressive moderation of online content. Vietnam forbids citizen journalism, punishes criticism of the government, and frequently orders social media companies to delete posts the government finds offensive.
Despite this oppressive online environment, French tech companies are eager to work with Vietnamese partners. Dr. Marko Erman, chief scientific officer of French aerospace and electronics giant the Thales Group, on Monday praised Vietnam as a key part of the global technology supply chain, and a crucial development partner for artificial intelligence.
Erman was especially impressed by Vietnam’s large supply of eager young tech workers. He noted Vietnam’s defense cooperation with France made its tech industry highly compatible with French ventures.
France is the only European nation to hold a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Vietnam, which is Hanoi’s highest ranking for diplomatic ties — but Vietnam also has comprehensive strategic partnerships with Russia, China, the United States, India, Australia, and Singapore.
“Vietnam is better than any other country in Southeast Asia at hedging its bets and diversifying its markets, economic and diplomatic partners; France is the key to that strategy in Europe,” U.S. National War College professor Zachary Abuza told Deutsche Welle (DW) on Monday.
France and Germany have been angling to get Vietnam’s defense business, as Hanoi seeks to pivot away from 90 percent reliance upon Russia for its arms. The Vietnamese seem very reluctant to give that business to China, which alternates between being Hanoi’s closest friend and most likely future military adversary.
What might push Vietnam back into China’s orbit is America and Europe’s insistence on freedom and human rights — although Macron’s trip to Vietnam might have been intended to signal that France, at least, is prepared to back down on demands.
DW noted that human rights groups heavily pressured Macron to confront the Vietnamese about their crackdown on political dissent and free speech, but there was scant evidence on Monday that he did so. A big part of China’s sales pitch to the Third World is that it can provide 90 percent of the industry, technology, and funding the West can give, but with 100% fewer hassles about political freedom and human rights. Macron might have quietly signaled Hanoi that France is willing to look the other way on a few matters, in order to cement a closer relationship with its former colonial possession.
