On April 14, 2025, Mr. Xi Jinping, President of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, will visit Vietnam. This visit was not prepared long in advance and is in the context of the fierce trade war between the United States and China. Vietnam has been subject to a heavy tax of 46% by the United States along with several other countries such as Laos (48%), Cambodia (49%), Myanmar (44%), Madagascar (47%), because the United States accused Vietnam of being a transit point for Chinese goods to be exported to the United States with the label “Made In Vietnam”.

Vietnam and these countries also participate in the “Belt Road Initiative” initiated by China, with the consequence of borrowing too much money from China to build infrastructure and not being able to pay it back, so they have to lease or transfer to China to operate strategic locations such as seaports, industrial centers, railways, etc. In Vietnam, in addition to the three special economic zones of Van Don, Bac Van Phong, and Phu Quoc, many Chinese factories have invested in Vietnam to turn Vietnam into an important link in Southeast Asia in the supply chain and transit station for Chinese goods.

With Vietnam’s almost total political and economic dependence on China, VWD is wary of China increasing pressure on Vietnam:

– allowing Chinese people and goods to flood into Vietnam to establish economic autonomous zones (special zones), exploiting the labor of Vietnamese workers, in order to overcome US tariff barriers

– allowing Chinese contractors to build infrastructure that does not comply with international standards on construction, labor safety, durability, solidity, and environmental protection

– taking advantage of Vietnam to exploit rare earths, which require many complex purification processes that can cause many harmful effects on the environment, health and labor safety.

VWD calls on the Vietnamese government to:

– stop helping China export Chinese goods labeled “made in Vietnam” to the United States, to prevent the United States from imposing high tariffs on Vietnamese goods, claiming that Vietnam is committing trade fraud.

– abolish preferential treatment for Chinese contractors for important infrastructure projects on highways, electricity, airports, and seaports, allowing Western companies (including the United States) to participate in bidding,

– respect the international standards of the International Labor Organization on the right to form independent unions, the right to collective bargaining, to protect the practical rights of workers regarding wages, holidays, overtime, respect for human dignity, etc.

In the current unstable world economic and political situation, which has a negative impact on Vietnam, VWD recommends that the Vietnamese government should have effective domestic and foreign policies to protect jobs and stable income for workers.

California, April 12, 2025

Vietnam Workers Defenders (VWD)