04/16/2023 08:49 pm (act. 04/16/2023 08:50 pm)
Schallenberg is expected in Hanoi on Sunday afternoon (archive image) ©APA/AFP
At the start of his visit to Vietnam, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) emphasized the country’s key role in the conflict region of Southeast Asia. “There is a certain logic to the fact that … many Western politicians are taking turns here at the moment,” Schallenberg told Austrian journalists in Hanoi on Sunday night. Vietnam has good relations with Russia, but at the same time is “actively challenged” militarily by China.
Specifically, it concerns territorial claims in the South China Sea. In this regard, Schallenberg emphasized the constructive position of Vietnam, which recently reached a corresponding agreement with Indonesia. “This has huge psychological implications because for the first time in the region, two states are agreeing to the demarcation.” He hopes this deal will have a “model effect”.
In advocating a “rules-based order,” he sees Vietnam on Austria’s side, Schallenberg emphasized. Both economies are “dependent on trade” and do not want “the law of the jungle”, but an international order based on international law with its principles of prohibition of violence and respect for integrity and territorial sovereignty. “It’s something we certainly have a lot of overlap on. Those are very fundamental interests that we share.” With this line of argument, the Minister of Foreign Affairs also wants to convince the representatives of the Vietnamese government during the negotiations on Monday to be more on the side of Ukraine. After all, Vietnam also has a nuclear power on the UN Security Council as a neighbor.
At the same time, Schallenberg highlighted why Austria should be interested in events in Southeast Asia. “What is happening here in this region could have a direct impact on our quality of life in Austria,” he said, referring to threatened supply chains for everyday products such as smartphones. The geopolitical effects of an escalation of the Taiwan conflict would be “much greater and more significant than Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine” because the “main artery of international trade” runs through the conflict zone in the South China Sea. “It means that we cannot be indifferent to this region.”
Schallenberg is also in no doubt that Europe will take a clear and firm position in the event of Chinese aggression against Taiwan. If a theoretical discussion had taken place in September 2021 on how to react to a Russian attack on Ukraine, “it would have gone wrong”, recalled the foreign minister, when asked about recent controversial statements by French President Emmanuel Macron. “But on February 25 (February 2022) we knew where we were. It will be the same with China. For me, that is the most important message of the current Western unity for Xi Jinping: the price will be huge.”
Schallenberg doesn’t think much of an economic withdrawal from Europe from Asia or other politically volatile regions of the world. “I don’t want the regionalization of globalization, I want diversification”, he emphasized. “Vietnam can play a big role there,” he said, referring to the ongoing relocation of production facilities from China. So now is the right time for Austria to come to the country with a large business delegation.
At the start of his meeting, Schallenberg met with members of the 21-business delegation on Sunday night, led by WKÖ Vice President Philipp Gady. The company’s leaders are mainly focused on a forum for cooperation in infrastructure and technology on Monday afternoon (local time), where they want to get involved in lucrative government contracts. On Monday, Schallenberg has appointments with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bui Thanh Son, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Minister of Planning, Nguyen Chi Dung. On Tuesday, he will also meet with Industry and Trade Minister Hong Dien.