Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Vietnam is playing an increasingly important diplomatic role in maintaining regional stability and strategic balance amid intensifying geopolitical competition, while helping ASEAN preserve its autonomy and central role in regional affairs, according to Collins Chong Yew Keat, a foreign policy, security and strategic affairs analyst at the University of Malaya.
Talking to the Vietnam News Agency ahead of the 49th ASEAN Summit in Manila, the Philippines, Chong highlighted Vietnam's strategic diplomatic approach, saying it not only protects the country's national interests but also helps ease geopolitical competition pressures across the region.
Assessing Vietnam's foreign policy at regional and international forums, he said the country's multilateral diplomatic approach demonstrates the importance of strategic autonomy and practical multilateralism in an increasingly fragmented regional and global order.
Amid complex geopolitical developments worldwide, Vietnam recognises that the greatest threat to ASEAN is not simply the intensifying competition among major powers, but also the gradual weakening of the bloc's ability to shape its own strategic environment, he noted.
Against this backdrop, Vietnam has gradually established itself as an increasingly influential diplomatic actor in the region.
Chong said Vietnam has successfully combined its longstanding principles of independence, self-reliance and non-alignment with a more active role in regional institution-building, economic integration and international engagement.
Its policy of maintaining and diversifying relations with all major powers, including the US, China, Russia and Japan, as well as other strategic partners, has provided considerable diplomatic flexibility. More importantly, this balanced approach has enabled Vietnam to strengthen its security and economic development interests without becoming overly dependent on any single major power, he commented.
According to the expert, Vietnam's experience offers valuable lessons for ASEAN as strategic competition among major powers intensifies. Countries in the region are facing growing pressure to make difficult choices concerning trade, technology, security arrangements and geopolitical alignments.
Vietnam's experience demonstrates that maintaining strategic autonomy does not require a country to isolate itself or distance itself from major powers. Rather, autonomy lies in the ability to proactively engage and cooperate with all major countries while retaining independent decision-making and safeguarding core national interests.
Looking at ASEAN as a whole, Chong said the real test of the bloc's centrality is no longer simply whether major powers continue to participate in ASEAN-led meetings and forums. Instead, its central role should be measured by its ability to influence the behaviour of major powers, establish meaningful and binding regional rules and prevent external rivalries from determining the region's future.
In this process, Vietnam's contributions are particularly important in helping strengthen ASEAN's practical relevance and diplomatic value through persistent consensus-building, constructive engagement and its commitment to international law and regional institutions. This approach is clearly reflected in the East Sea, where Vietnam consistently emphasises the importance of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), advocates the peaceful settlement of disputes and resolutely protects its sovereign rights.
Vietnam's consistent position helps reinforce the principle that regional stability must be based on commonly recognised international rules rather than the exercise of power or unilateral actions by any party, he said.
On ASEAN unity, the expert cautioned that solidarity should not be measured merely by the bloc's issuance of joint statements. ASEAN member states have different levels of economic dependence, security priorities and perceptions of risk. Genuine unity therefore requires sufficiently deep political trust and sufficiently strong common interests to prevent internal differences from undermining collective decision-making and action.
He also described Vietnam as an increasingly important strategic force in sectors likely to shape the next phase of geopolitical and economic competition. These include emerging technologies, supply chain resilience, digital transformation, strategic resource management, energy transition and food security.
Such sectors are no longer simply economic development priorities but have become central elements of national power, strategic influence and regional security, he said, adding that Vietnam's increasing capabilities and importance in these areas are providing the country with greater diplomatic leverage and a stronger voice in shaping the regional order.
Chong particularly highlighted Vietnam's growing role in maintaining the regional balance of power, especially in narrowing strategic gaps between China and the US. Its ability to maintain constructive and substantive relations with both major powers while firmly safeguarding its strategic independence enables Vietnam to actively contribute to regional balance, reduce the risk of strategic polarisation and preserve ASEAN's collective autonomy.
Although Vietnam cannot independently resolve fundamental differences between Washington and Beijing, its proactive diplomacy and growing strategic weight can help prevent major-power competition from becoming a source of division in Southeast Asia, he said.
The expert concluded that Vietnam's emerging strength is reflected not only in its growing economic or technological importance but also in its practical contributions to a more balanced, stable and strategically autonomous regional order./.
