From golf resort to rail links, Vietnam finds way through US-China tensions

The South-east Asian nation was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the first Trump administration's trade war with China. But with the return of global economic uncertainty, Hanoi is now reaching deep into its diplomatic toolkit to ensure its momentum doesn't fade.

- Philip Wen

HUNG YEN, Vietnam - There is a flurry of activity not quite seen before in this nondescript, hardscrabble village tucked inland along Vietnam's winding Red River, its inhabitants descending from a long line of pomelo and longan growers.

Fish are being dredged out of breeding ponds. A tractor is busy clearing clay being stored on a plot of land belonging to the owner of the local brickworks.

Most notably, there are real estate deals waiting to be done, with asking prices soaring sixfold in the space of just a couple of months.

"This is 100 per cent Trump," said one villager, matter-of-factly.

The return of US President Donald Trump to the White House, and his declared intention to reshape world trade in the mould of his America First agenda, has upended global financial markets and crimped economic growth forecasts.

Vietnam finds itself stuck squarely in the middle of US-China trade tensions, and is itself trying to negotiate down 46 per cent "reciprocal tariffs". This was part of the wave of "Liberation Day" tariffs unleashed on the world's exports on April 2, before Mr Trump announced a 90-day pause a week later for all countries except China.

Yet, for some villagers along the Red River in Hung Yen, the home province of Vietnamese Communist Party general secretary To Lam which borders the capital Hanoi, the Trump name represents a potential windfall of a lifetime.

The land surrounding their homes has been earmarked for development by none other than the Trump Organization, with local property developer KinhBac City.

Speeding up the development of the Trump Organization's golf resort and real estate development in Hung Yen is a prime example of Vietnam's multi-pronged, often out-of-the-box approach to challenges as it finds itself precariously sandwiched between the US and China and resulting trade tensions.