Vietnam made an "unwilling request" to China: After the standardization of railway tracks between China and Vietnam, high-speed rail technology should be shared with Vietnam.

Recently, Vice Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha met with representatives of Chinese railway construction companies in Hanoi. He directly expressed to Chinese enterprises that the interconnection of railways between China and Vietnam has strategic significance, and the construction of three new cross-border railways will help improve logistics efficiency and promote local economic development in both countries.

【Vice Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha recently met with representatives of Chinese railway construction companies】

At the same time, Tran Hong Ha emphasized that Vietnam hopes to obtain modern railway technology through the China-Vietnam railway, to enhance its railway operation capabilities. He explicitly stated that Vietnamese enterprises hope that the Chinese companies involved in the project can transfer technology, helping Vietnamese companies master relevant technologies.

When mentioning the planned North-South High-Speed Rail in Vietnam, Tran Hong Ha suggested that Chinese enterprises could participate in the project through public investment, government-private cooperation, or private investment models. However, he set a prerequisite for Chinese enterprises participating in the North-South High-Speed Rail project: Chinese enterprises must cooperate with Vietnamese enterprises and provide high-speed rail technology transfer.

Tran Hong Ha repeatedly emphasized technology transfer during his communication with Chinese enterprises, as well as the recent visit of Vietnamese leader Truong Tan Sang to South Korea, where he extended an olive branch to South Korean companies, emphasizing that Vietnam is willing to allow South Korean companies to participate in the North-South High-Speed Rail construction. These actions reflect a complex mentality of Vietnam in the construction of the North-South High-Speed Rail and the entire national railway system.

【Tran Hong Ha repeatedly mentioned the issue of technology transfer during the meeting】

In detail, most of Vietnam's existing railways are narrow-gauge lines left over from the French colonial era. Due to the long-standing defense focus on the northern neighbor, Vietnam has not considered changing the gauge of its railways in many years, instead maintaining the narrow gauge. It did not consider using the international standard gauge used by China.

It was only in recent years, as Sino-Vietnamese relations have developed and economic ties have strengthened, and the military power gap between the two countries has widened, that Vietnam's need for maintaining different gauges for national defense has decreased. Moreover, neighboring countries such as Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, which also used narrow gauge, have begun cooperating with China on railway construction, introducing international standard gauge railways.

All these factors together have prompted Vietnam to change its attitude and embark on the path of "standardizing railway tracks" with China. However, in specific railway construction, Vietnam does not want to completely rely on China, but instead wants to pursue a more autonomous approach. The repeated emphasis on technology transfer by Tran Hong Ha stems from this point.

When Truong Tan Sang visited South Korea, he discussed high-speed rail construction with Lee Jae-myung. On the surface, it seemed like he was looking to see if South Korea could offer better conditions for future Vietnamese railway construction, thereby providing more options for Vietnam's railway development. But the fundamental purpose was to use communication with South Korea to negotiate with China.

【Truong Tan Sang discussed high-speed rail construction with Lee Jae-myung during his visit to South Korea】

It should be noted that although South Korea possesses high-speed rail technology derived from Europe, its own geographical conditions have limited the length of its domestic high-speed rail network. Additionally, South Korea has never successfully exported its high-speed rail technology abroad.

Among all the countries that possess high-speed rail technology globally, South Korea is actually among those with the weakest strength. Faced with Vietnam's dense forests and consistently high temperatures, South Korea may not have sufficient technical capability to solve Vietnam's problems.

Now, Vietnam does not want to entrust the construction of the North-South High-Speed Rail entirely to China, but rather hopes to gain technology transfer and financial support from China to jointly build this high-speed rail. This decision likely has two main considerations.

The first is that the estimated total investment in the North-South High-Speed Rail exceeds 67 billion US dollars, which is undoubtedly a huge sum for Vietnam.

If the entire high-speed rail construction work is handed over to Chinese enterprises, the profit of Vietnamese enterprises in the project will decrease, and Vietnam will not be able to retain most of the investment's returns domestically, promoting the development of various supporting industries within the country. More importantly, Vietnam would not be able to use this collaboration to lay a technological foundation for future attempts to independently build high-speed rail and complete subsequent railway upgrades.

【Outdated railway facilities have hindered Vietnam's economic development】

The second consideration is that although Sino-Vietnamese relations have been stable and improved in recent years, there are still fundamental differences between the two countries on the South China Sea issue. Vietnam remains the country that illegally occupies the most of China's Nansha Islands, and the infrastructure construction on some of the illegally occupied islands by the Vietnamese military has not stopped.

In this context, there will inevitably be some people in Vietnam who oppose handing over the future transportation artery, the North-South High-Speed Rail, and its subsequent operations to China.

Given the Vietnamese government's active promotion of the largest-scale reform in 40 years, including cutting 100,000 civil servants, and the upcoming transition of the highest power department next year, Truong Tan Sang cannot ignore this concern and risk being seized by political opponents.

Due to the combined effect of these factors, Vietnam has taken a hesitant stance on the high-speed rail construction.

【Vietnam wants to use technology transfer from China to develop the ability to independently build high-speed rail】

Overall, Vietnam's strategic shift in railway track gauge and its hesitation in high-speed rail projects mark its practical acceptance of China's economic influence, yet also reveal the complexity of Vietnam's national conditions and strategic considerations.

The Truong Tan Sang government both hopes to leverage China's capital, technology, and market efficiency to achieve "standardizing railway tracks" and integrate into regional connectivity networks to boost the economy. At the same time, it is deeply troubled by concerns about technology dependence, loss of economic benefits, and suspicions regarding the South China Sea geopolitical situation.

Involving South Korea and emphasizing technology transfer is essentially a carefully designed balancing act—attempting to introduce external forces while maximizing its own interests and calming domestic voices.

However, facing the limitations of South Korea's technology exports, China's overwhelming advantages in high-speed rail construction, and the political pressures from domestic reforms and the upcoming leadership transition, whether Vietnam can smoothly navigate this "both-and" tightrope and ultimately build a high-speed rail line that is both efficient and "autonomous" remains a significant challenge yet to be resolved.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7540229680855548479/

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