Vietnam - China Comradeship: Its Historical Change and Prospect for the Future

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K11775
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 80010:Area studies-related
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
• Principal Investigator: Kurihara Hirohide 東京外国語大学, その他部局等, 名誉教授 (30195557)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 同志 / 共産党 / ベトナム / 中国 / 党・国家関係

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The “comrades plus brothers” relationship between China and Vietnam, which was based on the personal friendship of the communist leaders, ended in the late 1970s due to their passing away. Then, since the normalization of relations between the both countries in 1991, the younger leaders have come to refer to the word “comrades plus brothers” as a symbol of the historical friendship between both countries. Especially since the establishment of the Xi Jinping leadership in China, the difference of attitude to the use of the word has been getting apparent between the both sides: the Vietnamese side has been trying to limit the coverage of the word to the specific period of the past, whereas the Chinese side has been making an effort to strengthen the communist unity between the two countries under the name of “comrades plus brothers”.

Free Research Field

地域研究

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ベトナムと中国の関係は，両国間で対立や衝突が発生すると注目されるが，それ以外の平時の関係はあまり注目されることがないといってよい。学術研究も個別のトピックに特化したものが多く，両国関係を長期的な視点に立って考察した研究も1960年代以降皆無である。本研究は「同志・兄弟」という語に着目して，比較的長期にわたる両国関係を分析した結果，平時にみえるような時期であっても，両国間で絶えず駆け引きが続いていることを明らかにしえた点で意義があった。その中で，ベトナムが中国との対立を避けながらも，巧妙な戦術で中国から距離を保っている点は，日本の対中外交にとっても示唆に富むものであるといえよう。