Vietnam Neutral Or Isolated?

No country is truly neutral in a global power competition.
There are only nations that have not been fully trusted to become enduring allies.

Vietnam shifted sides once.

In politics, once is enough.

From Beijing’s perspective, Vietnam forgot what China once provided.

That memory has left Beijing with a permanent layer of strategic skepticism.

So is Vietnam’s neutrality today a wise strategy of balance-of-power diplomacy?

Or is it the price of a history that makes no bloc willing to place a long-term bet?