INTRODUCTION

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's landmark visit to Vietnam in late 2023, both nations pledged to forge a “China-Vietnam Community with Shared Future”. As part of this, they signed an agreement to accelerate mutual learning and cooperation and to promote the “special role of party channels”. This initiative follows the agreement made during the late Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's trip to Beijing in 2022 when both sides agreed to promote the 2021–25 Cadre Training Cooperation Plan between the two communist parties. Since China re-established its training programme for Vietnamese officials in 2007, there have been four occasions where altogether around 6,000 senior officials were sent to China by 2022. This shows remarkably close ties between the two regimes.

For CPV leaders, learning how to govern is essential for maintaining their regime. This has become even more important since the collapse of the communist Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union, which Vietnam had looked to as an example during the Cold War. China has since emerged as the most significant source of learning for Vietnam in its search for a new model. Like Vietnam, China has successfully maintained communist rule and promoted economic growth. As a rising global superpower, China has its unique development model, challenging the traditional liberal democratic model that has been dominant since the end of the Cold War. The cultural similarities and historical links between Vietnam and China make it a justifiable choice for Vietnam to look to China as a model for learning.

There has however been a paucity of in-depth studies on Vietnam's position as an active learner in its relationship with China. The Vietnam-China relationship is often viewed through the lens of great-power competition or contested maritime disputes. Due to a lack of understanding about how this learning process works, there are misconceptions that Vietnam has blindly followed China's lead or fully accepted China's worldview and submitted to Chinese influence. This is of significant concern, especially considering the complicated nature of the Vietnam-China relationship and the anti-China sentiments found among the Vietnamese people.

This article provides a nuanced examination of what Vietnam has—and has not—adopted from its northern neighbour. It also discusses the practical aspects of authoritarian learning and diffusion. While this latter concept is widely debated among academics and policymakers, there are few concrete explanations of how authoritarian diffusion actually occurs and what specific steps are involved.