Although Vietnam has responded positively to calls from the United States, India and Russia for increased engagements, its relations with China remain irreplaceable. As a Chinese saying goes, a neighbor living nearby is better than a relative far away. Cooperation with Beijing, especially in the economic sphere, will help Hanoi develop its economy and improve Vietnamese people's livelihood.

Therefore, Hanoi has everything to gain by continuing to build on the positive outcome of Sang's visit to Beijing. Given the anti-China sentiments in Vietnamese society and the country's failure to honor its words with deeds in the past, Hanoi needs to show greater political will and abide by the agreement reached by the two neighbors over the South China Sea if it wants to capitalize on Sang's visit.

Instead of creating more bad blood over the South China Sea issue, Vietnam should take concrete measures to ease tensions. It is thus essential for the two sides to make more efforts to deepen mutual trust, both at the government and people-to-people level. The anti-China protests seen in Hanoi from time to time demonstrate the lack of mutual trust.

This trust deficit, though, had drawn the attention of both countries even before Sang visited China. When Nguyen Chi Vinh, Vietnam's deputy defense minister, visited Beijing earlier this month, the two sides announced the establishment of a navy hotline, a move that would facilitate communication and help build strategic mutual trust.

It was heartening to hear Vinh tell reporters in Beijing that it would be suicidal for a small country to form an alliance with another country that targets a third. It is this kind of realistic strategic thinking that should be encouraged, because the region needs such voices to help cultivate a friendly environment necessary for fruitful interaction between the two neighbors.

The author is a senior writer with China Daily. E-mail: wanghui@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/22/2013 page5)