Sino-Vietnamese Relations

This is a well-practiced drill that I relive on a daily basis:

1. A local speaks to me in Vietnamese.  
2. My woefully limited Vietnamese vocabulary and my powers of deduction tell me that they are not asking me how my day is, inquiring about my age/martial status or declaring the chicken phở delicious.
3. I shrug my shoulders helplessly and give them my best “I don’t know what you’re on about, but let’s remain cordial, shall we?” smile.
4. If they persist in Vietnamese (95% of the time), I'm left with no option but to pull out the big guns: “Xin lỗi, tôi không nói được tiếng việt.” Translation: "Sorry, I don’t speak Vietnamese,” which I memorized by heart before arriving in this country.
5. Local giggles and invariably responds with “Blah blah blah tiếng việt blah blah blah.” Approximate translation: “But you just spoke Vietnamese!! How funny am I!?” If their friends are around, they will also join in to laugh at me and the fact that I’m linguistically challenged. They chortle in a nice way, though. Sometimes I even join in and laugh along with them.
6. Once they have exhausted themselves with laughter, they will ask in English: “Where you from?"
7. Me: “Australia.”
8. Local: “Malaysia?” 
9. Me: “No, Australia. Tôi là người Úc.”
10. Local: *with some suspicion* “No. But your looking Asian. *with added emphasis in case I'm not only linguistically but mentally challenged as well* "Where. You’re. From?”
11. Me: *with resignation* “My family is from Hong Kong.”
12. Local: “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Hom Kom! You are Chinese.” It’s as if all the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place, and all is well with the universe.

Given the regularity with which this occurs, the aforementioned dance is one that I’m gradually growing tired of. And, incidentally, it's not just the locals who mistake me for Vietnamese. The other day, a well-meaning tây (westerner) asked me where I learnt to speak such fluent English. 

It all feels just a tiny bit unfair. My white friends don’t have to put up with daily interrogations. But I'll also acknowledge that I have no one else to blame but my supposedly Vietnamese-looking self and my slow retention of the Vietnamese language. [Some locals have even asked me to explain to them why I look "so Vietnamese". Explain my Viet-face? Really?! How the frick am I supposed to know?!?!]

Before arriving in Vietnam, I heard from various sources that Sino-Vietnamese relations oscillate between 'icy' and 'verging on hostile'. I've also been warned that there are some ill feelings toward ethnic Chinese, particularly those from Mainland China.

To be honest, all the Vietnamese people I’ve encountered here have been unfailingly affable, even after I’ve identified myself as a Chinese-Australian. I think the hostility is directed more at the Chinese government. There is, however, always the chance that some people may not be savvy enough to make the distinction between the actions of an authoritarian government and the people of a particular ethnic group. 

During my first week at work, my colleague instructed me to avoid the Chinese Embassy on Sunday mornings. In the past few months, demonstrators have held a series of anti-Chinese protests outside the Chinese embassies in Hanoi and HCMC to rally against what Vietnamese see as China's violations of their country's sovereignty in the South China Sea. To read between the lines of my colleague's warning, I should stay well away from the angry mobs least they sense my Chinese-ness and lynch me. 

Given I am apparently "Vietnamese-looking" to the extreme, I think I'll be pretty safe.

Anti-Chinese protests have remained largely peaceful.

The uneasy - some would say turbulent - relationship between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the People's Republic of China (PRC) has a history extending back 2200 years. Throughout the ages, Vietnam has been subjected to four periods of Chinese domination with Vietnamese forces maintaining their independence as a vassal state from time to time. 

Eminent Vietnamese historian, Dr. Huu Ngoc, who gave the Australian volunteers a 53 minute lecture on Vietnamese history as part of our in-country training, likened Sino-Vietnamese relations to the relationship between a man and a woman. Make of that what you will.

The territorial dispute between China and Vietnam revolves around the Paracel and Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Ownership of these islands have long been contested, but the dispute has escalated in recent decades following geological surveys which indicate that the islands and surrounding sea floor hold significant oil and mineral reserves (nevermind the fact that these purported reserves sit far beneath the oceanic crust in sedimentary beds, and nobody currently has the technology to extract anything.)

One of the Spratly Islands which is currently the subject of Sino-Vietnamese territorial dispute. Apparently, also rich in Unobtainium.

During my second week of work, my Vietnamese colleague informed me that “many Vietnamese people hate China” (his emphasis, not mine). I don’t even recall there being a segue to his comment. He obviously felt that this piece of information was important enough to bring up out of the blue. He proceeded to tell me that I should inform people specifically that I’m from Hong Kong and never say that I’m from mainland China, before rattling off a litany of PRC offenses. I nodded and murmured in agreement, not only because I could see he was getting quite upset about the actions of the Chinese government but also because I actually agree with him. 

"That is why, " he said, "it's probably better if don't tell people you are from China." 

“How do the Vietnamese feel about the ethnic Chinese in Vietnam, like the huge Chinese-Vietnamese community in Saigon? Ethnic Chinese who were born in Vietnam and whose parents and grandparents were also born here.” I asked. 

“That is true, there is a big Chinese-Vietnamese community in Saigon” he nodded thoughtfully before adding without any sense of irony, “for example, my grandparents are Chinese.”  

I smiled and kept my Chinese-Australian mouth shut.