Vietnam's Domestic–Foreign Policy Nexus:DoiMoi, Foreign Policy Reform, andSino‐Vietnamese Normalization

Abstract

This article examines the link betweenVietnam's adoption of theDoiMoi(renovation) policy and transformations in itsChina policy in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a case study of the domestic–foreign policy nexus. The article argues that during this period, changes inVietnam's foreign policy in general and itsChina policy in particular originated first and foremost from theVietnameseCommunistParty's (VCP) domestic agenda of promoting economic reform and protecting the regime's survival. As theVCPconsidered hostile relations withChina as detrimental to both its economic reform and regime security, it strived to mend relations withChina as quickly as possible. Against this backdrop,Vietnam made a number of important concessions toChina regarding theCambodian issue in order to accelerate the normalization process, which eventually concluded in late 1991.