In the prelude to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Hanoi on Sunday, two old foes of Vietnam, China and the United States, has stepped up the courting of the South East Asian host-country.

Both Washington and Beijing have emphasized the importance of closer bilateral relations with Vietnam, and in the past couple of years diplomatic initiatives towards improving relations have resulted in a series of bilateral exchange-programs, cultural, educational and political, and even cooperation on some military issues.

On Wednesday the Chinese President Hu Jintao will arrive on a two-day official visit to Vietnam, at the invitation of General-Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nong Duc Manh and the country's President Nguyen Minh Triet.

The upcoming visit by the Chinese President, who also is the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is expected to further promote the good neighbourly and cooperative relations with Vietnam, the Chinese news site People's Daily Online reports.

At the same time the Bush-administration in Washington has pushed for the adoption of a new bilateral trade-bill between US and Vietnam, which will normalize the trade-relations between the two countries.

The adoption of the bill though, suffered a legislative setback on Wednesday, as it failed to muster the two-thirds majority needed for passage under special rules that speeded its consideration in the House.

The legislation received 228 votes in favour and 161 against, but it needed 32 more votes to pass on Monday. House Republican leaders said they would bring the legislation back in the next couple of days under normal procedures, which require only a majority, or 218 votes, for passage, The New York Times reports.

The White House still hopes for the bill’s approval in the next couple of days so that President Bush can cite its passage as a milestone in relations with Vietnam while attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Hanoi.

Vietnam’s political relations to both these great powers have through history been greatly influenced by war, hostility and animosity.

Sino-Vietnamese relations during the Chinese dynasties

The relationship between Vietnam and its big neighbouring country in the north, stretches back at least a couple of thousands years, and has been tumultuous, and violent on a number of occasions through history.

In ancient times, the relationship between the two political entities was dominated by the struggle for preserving power and influence for the various Chinese Emperors, more specifically whether the land areas and the people that today constitutes Vietnam, should be ruled by the Chinese dynasties, or by local princes and warlords.

The First Indochina War

In the 20th century, the Sino-Vietnamese relations were very much influenced by the cold-war between the US and the Soviet Union, and the intra-communist rivalry between China and the Soviet Union.

During World War II, Vietnam was occupied by Japan, but in the final years of the war, a forceful nationalist insurgency emerged under Ho Chi Minh, committed to independence and communism.

Following the defeat of Japan, nationalist forces established a power-base in the northern parts of Vietnam, and the world community divided the country at the 17th parallel into North Vietnam and South Vietnam during the Geneva Conference in 1954. This division was meant to be temporary, pending democratic elections and reunification.

The nationalists’ forces in the north began fighting the French colonial forces in the First Indochina War that lasted from 1945 to 1954.

During the initial stages of the First Indochina War with France, the recently founded communist People's Republic of China and the Viet Minh had close ties, and in early 1950, China became the first country in the world to recognise the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and the 'Chinese Military Advisory Group' in Vietnam played an important role in the Viet Minh victory over the French.

The Second Indochina War

The US-Vietnamese relations have been dominated by the US involvement in Vietnamese affairs during the cold war, trying to curb the expansion of communism.

This involvement eventually led to the Second Indochina War, or the war in Vietnam.

Hồ Chí Minh, who in 1950 had re-asserted the dominance of the Vietnamese Communist Party within the Việt Minh, established a power-base in the north, and was opposed by the US for its proximity to the Soviet Union and Communist China. Disagreements emerged over the organizing of elections and reunification, and the U.S. began increasing its contribution of military advisers even as Soviet-supplied arms and munitions strengthened communist forces.

By July 1964 the US had app. 21000 troops in South Vietnam and after the infamous incident in the Tonkin Bay 2-4 August 1964, involving US and North Vietnamese navy vessels, the second Indochina War was a reality.

The war ended with the Paris Peace Agreement of 1973, and American military forces withdrew from Vietnam. Despite the peace treaty, North Vietnam continued the war, and defeated the South in April 1975. In 1976, Vietnam was officially reunited under the current Vietnamese government as The Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The Third Indochina War.

The Third Indochina War was in reality a war sparked by the rivalry between the two major communist-states Soviet and China, over the influence in Indochina.

Stalin and the Soviets saw themselves as the champions of the communist world, a position the new leader, Mao Tse-Dong, in the People's Republic of China also aspired to.

The new Chinese leadership with Mao Tse-Dong at the helm though, reluctantly accepted Stalin as the senior leader of the communist-world.

With the death of Stalin in 1953, and the subsequent renunciation of Stalin and his years in office by the new Soviet leadership under Nikita Khrushchev, the close bilateral relations between China and Soviet Union gradually weakened.

The close relationship between the Chinese and the communist North-Vietnam also started to deteriorate, to the extent that the leadership in Hanoi from 1965 and onwards turned to the Soviet Union for help and sponsorship.

Vietnam after the end of the Second Indochina War, and the unification, gradually emerged as the strong regional power in Indochina.

In the neighbouring country to the west, Cambodia, Khmer Rogue under the leadership of Pol Pot, had come to power with the backing of China, and established Democratic Kampuchea. The new Cambodian regime quickly challenged the Vietnamese, and put forward a claim to certain tracks of land on the Vietnamese side of the border. The Vietnamese rejected the claim by Khmer Rogue, which in turn responded by killing ethnic Vietnamese inside Cambodia, and eventually started supporting a Vietnamese guerrilla army making incursions into western Vietnam.

In late 1978, the Vietnamese, with the backing of the Soviet Union, invaded Cambodia. The experienced and well-equipped Vietnamese troops had little difficulty defeating the Khmer Rouge forces, and on January 7, 1979, Vietnamese-backed Cambodian forces seized Phnom Penh, and ended the rule of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Alarmed by the increasing political influence of the Soviet Union, and the toppling of their allies, the Khmer Rogue in Cambodia, China under its new leader Deng Xiaoping, on February 15, 1979 publicly announced their intention of invading Vietnam.

Two days later, on February 17, Chinese military forces crossed the border into Northern Vietnam, with 80000 troops backed up by 200 tanks. The Third Indochina War was a fact.

The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) managed to advance about forty kilometers into Vietnam, with fighting mainly occurring in the provinces of Cao Bang, Lao Cai and Lang Son. On March 6, the Chinese occupied the city of Lang Son. Now they claimed the gate to Hanoi was open and declared their punitive mission achieved.

The Chinese began to withdraw their forces, and by March 16, the withdrawal was complete.

New Times and New Friends

The political landscape has changed dramatically since the times of the cold war, and new players, roles and issues have emerged in international politics.

One great change that increasingly is setting the agenda in bilateral and multilateral relations in the world today, is the apparent switch of focus from predominantly military affairs during the cold war, to a stronger emphasis on economic affairs.

The emerging economic rivalry between US and China has sparked off a race for increased economic influence, with the search for new markets and trade-partners. Vietnam seems to be perceived by both countries as an important emerging economic power in South East Asia, which the recent charm-offensive by China and the US confirms.