In the Circle of Chinese Civilization centered on China, there are two countries that are the most special, and their relations with China have been cut and confused for thousands of years, and even today, these two countries are China's two close neighbors, North Korea and Vietnam.
Vietnam
The two countries have too many similarities. For example, they are both neighbors of China, historically they were all vassal states of China, and in modern times, these two countries have been able to defeat the United States and achieve independence with the strong support of New China, including the economies of the two countries, which are now inseparable from China.
And interestingly, perhaps influenced by Confucian cultural thought, these two countries, which are only small countries for China, have invariably a great power ambition.
Naturally, the DPRK needless to say that even if the DPRK is poor, it has never given up developing various types of strategic weapons, and externally, even when facing the world's only superpower, the United States, the DPRK has always been extremely tough.
North Korea's great power ambitions can also be seen from the words and deeds of the South Koreans who come from the same source as it, and in the eyes of the South Koreans, they are the center of the world and the cosmic power. Moreover, North Korea has indeed developed a certain foundation of great power.
North Korea
For example, in the 21st century, North Korea became the only country that successfully mastered nuclear weapons. Today, North Korea has frequently made blunt remarks but has not encountered Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and other countries, which has a considerable relationship with its nuclear weapons.
North Korea has ambitions to become a world power, and Vietnam has no choice but to let it go. There is a well-known "YouTube Five Permanent" circulating on the Internet, one of which is Vietnam.
With its rapid economic development and growing population, Vietnam has a considerable influence on mainstream video sites such as YouTube. Although the "YouTube Five Permanents" have a very strong sense of ridicule, the ability to have such a large influence on YouTube itself also shows the vietnamese people's urgent desire to become a big country.
Located on the Indochina Peninsula, Vietnam covers an area of nearly 330,000 square kilometers, nearly three times that of North Korea, and thanks to the extremely fertile Red River Delta, Vietnam also has a population of nearly 100 million, which is four times that of North Korea.
With hundreds of millions of people, a land area of more than 300,000 square kilometers, rich resources in the territory, and agriculture can maintain self-sufficiency, such unique conditions, placed in the world, do have the potential to become a big country.
Vietnam
You know, many of the old European powers in the West are not as large as Vietnam, and the population is even smaller. With the population base and land area to become a big country, and the Vietnamese themselves have great power ambitions, then why is Vietnam not as good as North Korea and has never mastered nuclear weapons?
You know, nuclear weapons are an extremely important aspect to become a great power with great influence in the world. Without nuclear weapons, once faced with bullying by great powers, there is not even the courage to bargain.
This can also be seen in the current situation of the Russo-Ukrainian war, although the mouth is extremely hard, but Ukraine is obviously the party beaten by Russia.
Imagine if Ukraine had not chosen to give up its nuclear weapons when the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine had just become independent, not to mention how the economy of Ukraine is today, at the very least, when Russia attacked Ukraine, it would not have been as easy as it is today.
Of course, Vietnam is well aware of the importance of nuclear weapons, and even during the Vietnam War, Vietnam was threatened by the American atomic bomb. Why, then, have they never seen their efforts to acquire nuclear weapons? The area is larger than North Korea, and the population is more than North Korea, so why is it inferior to North Korea?
Vietnam
In fact, it is not that Vietnam does not want to possess nuclear weapons, but it is simply impossible.
First, Vietnam's industrial prowess is far inferior to North Korea's.
Today's North Korea has become increasingly depressed under the long-term blockade and suppression of the United States, and even food problems are in trouble. What many people don't know, however, is that north Korea in its heyday was one of the richest countries in Asia before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
After the end of the Korean War, North Korea became the focus of Soviet aid, and at that time, North Korea received even more Soviet aid than China, while North Korea was only a few tenths the size of China. So, with the help of the Soviet Union, North Korea quickly established its own industrial system.
The 1960s and 1970s were the pinnacle of the North Korean economy, when It was known as the "Miracle of Economic Development in the Far East", and was even once called a parallel to Japan. North Korea's economic and mutual exchanges established in the Soviet Union have taken advantage of the situation, not only have a fairly perfect industrial system, but also benefit ordinary people.
For example, in the 1960s, North Korea had achieved full electricity in its rural areas, and by the end of the 1970s, North Korea had even achieved food self-sufficiency. With the help of a sound industrial system, North Korea basically got rid of the farming methods of the small-scale peasant economy, and more than 70% of North Korea's arable land at that time realized the mechanization of irrigation and harvesting.
Korean peninsula
It was also in this context that the living standards of the North Korean people at that time were quite rich, even much higher than those of his close neighbor South Korea. Therefore, in the 1970s, there were even a large number of South Koreans running to North Korea, which was very different from today's phenomenon.
At the same time, North Korea, which has great power ambitions, is also ambitious to establish its own nuclear industry. North Korea's nuclear weapons development time is even before the new China, and thanks to the help of the Soviet Union for decades, North Korea finally has the foundation for developing nuclear weapons.
Therefore, the reason why North Korea was able to possess nuclear weapons was inseparable from Soviet assistance, development that lasted more than half a century, and strong industrial strength.
Most crucially, since the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, North Korea has enjoyed a period of nearly 70 years of peaceful development. During this period, although there were tensions, north Korea never had a war from the beginning to the end, and its homeland remained peaceful. This has brought extremely convenient conditions for the steady development of the DPRK.
So, what was Vietnam doing at the same time?
Vietnam War
Vietnam has been at war almost all the time.
Like North Korea, Vietnam was a vassal state of China, and for a long time Vietnam was part of mainland China. However, in modern times, with the aggression of the Western powers, the Qing Dynasty, which was not busy with itself, naturally had no time to take care of this southern vassal.
So, in the 1880s, Vietnam eventually fell into French hands. Thus began the history of Vietnam being colonized by the French. During the colonization period, France regarded Vietnam as a colony for plundering materials and dumping goods, and naturally there was almost no industrial construction for Vietnam. Therefore, during this period, Vietnam did not have any industrial strength to speak of, let alone development.
After the outbreak of World War II, the desperate Japanese attacked Southeast Asia in September 1940 and eventually occupied Vietnam, which was originally a French colony.
Under Japanese colonization, Vietnam suffered more brutal oppression, and its limited economy suffered more severe damage. Even after the surrender of the Japanese in August 1945, Vietnam did not usher in the independence it had hoped for.
Vietnam, divided in two
Because the French, who had won World War II, were back, the French were trying to reintegrate Vietnam into its colonial system. So, Vietnam was once again at war. Although with Chinese help, Vietnam eventually won the War of Resistance against France.
But Vietnam, with its extremely important strategic position, has attracted the United States, one of the world's superpowers, and the United States has begun to replace France and try to occupy Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnam began the Vietnam War against American aggression without stopping.
The war lasted for 11 years. That is to say, from the outbreak of the War of Resistance against France in 1946 to the victory of the Vietnam War in 1975, Vietnam was always in a state of war for a full 30 years.
Although Vietnam, with the help of China and the Soviet Union, eventually won two wars, destroyed the old colonialism and established a socialist state. However, the brutal war also made Vietnam unable to modernize from the beginning to the end, and its industrial strength was almost negligible.
Without even the slightest peace, Vietnam naturally does not have the energy and strength to develop a major power's heavy weapon, nuclear weapons. So, until 1975, Vietnam had no concept of nuclear weapons development.
atomic bomb
In 1975, after victory in the war and the completion of reunification, Vietnam was finally able to clean up the wasted land and truly carry out modernization.
However, because of the ambitions of Lê Tần and others, Vietnam at this time not only did not cherish the hard-won peace and build a country, but instead tried to expand its territory by way of war and realize its ambitions of being the world's third military power.
Therefore, after Vietnam won the victory in the war of unification, it continued to fight. At that time, Vietnam launched aggression against Cambodia and Laos, and even frequently provoked China on the Sino-Vietnamese border.
It was Vietnam's deathly ambitions that forced post-reform and opening up China to "teach a lesson to disobedient children", and since then, it has begun a 10-year-long self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
The self-defense counterattack against Vietnam lasted for 10 years, and it was not until 1989 that it finally ended. It is precisely because of this protracted "spanking" war that Vietnam's economy is on the verge of collapse. The 44-year war, which began in 1945, left Vietnam a complete ruin of war.
Self-defense counterattack against Vietnam
During its period of becoming a vassal state of China and a colony of France and Japan, Vietnam had little opportunity to have an industrial base, and after 1945, Vietnam was always in a state of war, whether it was an anti-aggression war or a war launched by itself as an aggressor, Vietnam was always in a state of war, and there was little peace time.
In this case, Vietnam naturally did not have the time, energy and financial resources to complete industrial construction. Therefore, before 1989, Vietnam did not have much modernization, naturally, and there was no opportunity and strength to start the development of nuclear weapons.
Second, after the economic development of Vietnam, there are still no conditions for the development of nuclear weapons.
After its ambitions to become the hegemon of the Indochina Peninsula were completely snuffed out, Vietnam, which was on the verge of economic collapse, finally began to turn to economic construction. Vietnam began to "cross the river by feeling China", and from the 1990s, Vietnam, which finally stopped fighting, began to build.
It was also at this time that Vietnam finally began its own rapid economic growth. Today, Vietnam's economy has become one of the fastest growing countries in the world, and in 2018 and 2019, Vietnam's GDP growth rate has exceeded 7%, ranking the world's leading position.
Especially with the rising cost caused by Chinese, environmental and other factors, more and more companies choose to set up factories in Vietnam. As a result, Vietnam is becoming more and more optimistic about the world, and even regarded as the new "world factory".
Vietnam
During the war, Vietnam's industry was almost non-existent, and the economy was very bad, so naturally there was no time and energy to develop nuclear weapons. So, with Vietnam's economy getting better and better, are there conditions for developing nuclear weapons today?
Although today's Vietnam has indeed experienced considerable economic growth after more than 20 years of development, most of Vietnam's growth is low-level industries for incoming processing, and for the fundamental of a big country - heavy industry, Vietnam's shortcomings are actually very serious.
At this point, Even compared to North Korea, which has been blockaded for decades, Vietnam is far inferior. You know, even after being blockaded by the United States, North Korea still has the ability to manufacture submarines, warships, and tanks, and has a relatively backward but quite perfect heavy industrial system.
However, Vietnam did not have such an opportunity, with the assistance of the Soviet Union, Vietnam was at war, and when Vietnam finally calmed down and wanted to develop, the only country that could help the heavy industrial system, the Soviet Union, disintegrated.
USSR
Therefore, Vietnam, which missed the best opportunity for development, has lost the opportunity to establish its own heavy industry system. The heavy industrial system is obviously the most fundamental guarantee for the military industry, including the development of nuclear weapons. As a result, even if Vietnam wants to develop nuclear weapons, there are no conditions at all.
Moreover, if a socialist country such as Vietnam wants to possess nuclear weapons, it is bound to be strongly opposed by Western countries led by the United States. Today's North Korea and Iran are the most typical examples.
North Korea and Iran have now been almost completely blockaded by the West, led by the United States. Today, the reason why Vietnam has a vigorous economy and a rapid development speed is precisely because it has learned from China's opening up to the outside world and joined the tide of world economic development.
Therefore, if Vietnam really wants to develop nuclear weapons, it is bound to be severely sanctioned by Western countries led by the United States, and the blockaded Vietnam will completely lose the most important market and environment for economic development. To gain the opportunity to develop nuclear weapons at the expense of economic development is obviously a price that Vietnam cannot afford.
Finally, today's Vietnamese military has no ambition to develop nuclear weapons.
Vietnamese Army
Since the victory in World War II in 1945, Vietnam has been in a state of war in order to resist the aggression of France, the United States and other countries, and as a result, for decades, with the help of China, Vietnam has indeed formed a large and weak army with considerable combat effectiveness.
It is also this army that makes Vietnam have unrealistic illusions, and even wants to become a hegemon in Southeast Asia. Therefore, objectively speaking, although the Vietnamese army after the completion of independence does not know the height of the sky, its combat effectiveness and will to fight are commendable.
However, after ending the border conflict with China and choosing to innovate and open up, the Vietnamese army underwent earth-shaking changes. Especially after the Vietnamese army began to do business, the Vietnamese army was no longer the army that was not afraid of death and could even defeat the American army.
What does it mean for an army that wields force and also has the right to do business? Under the corrosion of money, what they are chasing is no longer to win the war and have more powerful fighting power, but to have more wealth.
Vietnamese female soldier holding lv
In this case, what motivation and ambition does the Vietnamese army, which devotes its energy to making money, have to master nuclear weapons?
So, although Vietnam has three times the size of North Korea, more than four times the population, and the conditions are far superior to North Korea, but because of its long-term state of war, it missed the best opportunity to acquire a heavy industrial system, and at the same time, after the opening of the army, everything was looked at for money, and in the end, even if it was ambitious, Vietnam failed to master nuclear weapons from beginning to end.
In fact, Vietnam is well aware that there is no longer a chance to master nuclear weapons. Therefore, Vietnam has taken advantage of this to deepen its weight in Southeast Asia and thus integrate more deeply into Southeast Asia.
For example, in 1995, ten countries in Southeast Asia declared their regions non-nuclear. The 10 Southeast Asian countries are the seven ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, as well as Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.
Today, Vietnam, which is increasingly dependent on Southeast Asia and the world economy, has even less opportunity to develop nuclear weapons.