Beyond bamboo: Vietnam’s To Lam mounts a diplomacy offensive

His itinerary, which also included stops in New Delhi, Helsinki, Paris, London and several Southeast Asian capitals, reads less like a diplomatic calendar than a world tour – and analysts say that is precisely the point.

“Where previous leaders practised a restrained, reactive diplomacy, To Lam is positioning Vietnam as a rising middle power with something to say and offer,” Dr Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow at the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and coordinator of its Vietnam studies programme, told This Week in Asia.

“[It is] not merely a country navigating great power competition, but one shaping the terms of its engagement.”

For a nation that has long cultivated the art of strategic diplomatic quietude, bending under pressure and surviving through flexibility, it is a striking evolution.

Instead, analysts say he is reinforcing it with steel.