Business as usual amid rising nationalism
While the ruling of an international arbitration court over territorial disputes between China and the Philippines has had a negative impact on other regional countries such as Vietnam, it's smooth sailing for the deeply intertwined business and people-to-people relations between China and Vietnam.
People said they hope China-Vietnam relations can improve so their lives and businesses won't be affected.
In Ho Chi Minh, Chinese companies the Global Times reporter visited said they are unaffected by recent anti-China events that have erupted in Vietnam.
Vietnam has long had territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. Protests broke out in Vietnam against China on July 17, only a few days after the arbitration court in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in its dispute with China. The local government arrested more than 30 people.
On July 23, reports said a Chinese national who was entering Vietnam found handwritten profanity on her visa over the Chinese map where it showed the nine-dash line that marks China's maritime territory.
Reports of similar cases have angered Chinese citizens, who still recall the mass protests in Vietnam in 2014, when rioters smashed Chinese companies in Vietnam in protest against China's oil exploration near disputed areas in the sea.
However, Chinese people in Vietnam and local people said they do not feel the same tensions as two years ago.
Yang Kaiyong, Vice General Manager of the China National Electric Import and Export Corporation, told the Global Times that while tensions may have risen, it's business as usual for many Chinese companies here. In fact, many of them have hired Vietnamese staff, so the companies don't want tensions to get in the way of business ties.
Home appliance company TCL is a typical example. Only 10 of its employees come from China and the rest are Vietnamese, many of whom occupy middle and upper management-level positions.
Ryan Do, director of TCL Vietnam's Key Accounts department, has been working at the company for 10 years. He said he's aware of the tensions between the two countries, but the rising nationalism has hardly affected him.
"I like Chinese companies because they give young people a chance. It took me only 10 years to reach this position," he said.
Do's view was echoed by Trang Nguyen, a Vietnamese woman who has lived in Beijing for seven years. She works for a private Chinese company that provides Vietnamese visa services.
She told the Global Times she could feel the tension between the two countries in the past few years. Once, while eating at a restaurant, a man found out she was Vietnamese and cursed at her. But she dismissed it, knowing only a few people do that.
"We hope ties return to normal," she said. "This is not good for business between the two countries. I know Vietnamese in China and many Chinese in Vietnam, and they all want the same."
Little impact on tourism
Tensions haven't had much of an impact on tourism. On the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, the Global Times reporter saw Chinese tourists. When asked if they fear what might happen, one said she thinks ordinary Vietnamese people are nice.
Bui Tan Cuong, merchandise department director of Thien Hoa, a home appliance retail company, told the Global Times he has been to China several times on business, and he hopes relations can improve so business can flourish because China is a good market.
Thien Hoa imports products from many countries, including China. Despite recent events, the company's operations haven't been disrupted.
Huang Xingqiu, a professor at the Vietnam Studies Center of Zhejiang University of Technology, told the Global Times that while some events that might have damaged relations, both governments have handled things well.
However, he added the Vietnamese public might not have a good impression of China and fear it may change the Vietnamese government's stance.
