H&M was previously boycotted by the Chinese for banning Xinjiang cotton, and was reported to have “problematic Chinese maps” on its website by the Chinese government, but unexpectedly H&M revised the map and angered Vietnam because of the division of the Xisha (Hoang Sa) and Spratly (Zhongsha) Islands belonging to Vietnam, the Vietnamese people rose up in protest on the streets, so H&M is in a A dilemma. Shen Rongqin, an associate professor at York University in Canada, pointed out that although the residents of Vietnam have different impressions of China from the north to the south, more and more young people are holding a negative view of China, raising doubts about how China and Vietnam will continue to maintain good relations after the change of generations in the future.
Shen Rongqin pointed out on Facebook that after H&M was boycotted by China for refusing to use Xinjiang cotton, someone reported that H&M had a “problematic China map” on its website and was interviewed by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, which has since amended the China map on the Internet to cover the nine-dash line in the South China Sea, a claim that was lost in a lawsuit with the Philippines in an international court. The map was then amended on the Internet to cover the nine-dash line in the South China Sea, which was the subject of a lawsuit against the Philippines in the International Court of Justice.
This move angered Vietnamese people, who believed that H&M had violated international law by dividing the Xisha (Hoang Sa) and Spratly (Zhongsha) islands belonging to Vietnam into Chinese, and therefore started a boycott on Facebook and Twitter, and held a march in the capital Hanoi. Shen Rongqin pointed out that under the Vietnamese system, the march can be carried out smoothly because of the tacit approval of the government and the party. The last time a similar march was held in Vietnam, the Chinese Communist Party deliberately set up an oil exploration well off Vietnam, even though it may not be cost-effective, but it symbolizes the nine-dash line claim that the sea off Vietnam belongs to China, which not only caused the Vietnamese people to march in protest, but also caused a wave of anti-China movement, and even some Taiwan factories that are not preferred by the local people were also affected. factories are also affected.
Shen Rongqin said, H&M in China has 520 stores, only 11 in Vietnam, although the two are not proportional, but more and more textile and footwear industry from China to Vietnam, including Samsung’s largest cell phone manufacturing plant is also in Vietnam, many ready-to-wear and shoe multinational companies also dare not easily offend this manufacturing base.
In terms of Taiwan-Vietnam relations, Shen Rongqin pointed out that there were many cross-border marriages between Taiwan and Vietnam in the early days, but many of these marriages were reported in the media, which led to a bad impression of Taiwan and Korea among Vietnamese. Although Taiwan also has a few movies and TV shows in Vietnam, they are far less popular than Korea in terms of quantity and popularity, and their image is also a little less favorable.
Recently, more and more people in Vietnam are arguing that unless China abides by the “One Vietnam” policy, Vietnam does not need to abide by the “One China” policy either. The One Vietnam policy not only requires China to recognize Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, but also requires China not to interfere with Laos and Cambodia behind the scenes and incite anti-Vietnamese movements. The language and tactics used in Vietnam are similar to those used in China, as the Vietnamese political system is of the same origin.
In addition, Shen Rongqin also analyzed the change in Vietnam’s attitude toward China, saying that Vietnam’s perception of China varies significantly according to geographic region and age. The older the Vietnamese, the more positive their attitude toward China, the younger the age, the more negative their attitude toward China, especially the dog of war diplomacy after Xi Jinping came to power, and the conflict between China and Vietnam in the South China Sea in recent years, China has almost become the most unwelcome country for Vietnamese youth.
Shen Rongqin said that only the northern region adjacent to China, because of frequent trade and economic exchanges, coupled with the influence of Chinese film and software, young people still have a positive attitude toward China. But overall, the negative perception of China among young people raises doubts about how China and Vietnam will continue to maintain good relations after the change of generations in the future.
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