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Sino File | Flying distance for a dictator, neutral on nukes: why Vietnam is perfect for Trump-Kim summit
- When you’re a communist nation with ties to both the world’s leading democracy and its most repressive regime, it’s hard even for China to oppose your credentials as host
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The location for the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has become a topic of much speculation by the global media following the White House’s announcement that the meeting would take place in late February.
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The selection of the venue is highly symbolic diplomatically, and therefore the decision will have strategic implications and reflect geopolitical considerations.
Multiple recent reports have identified Vietnam as front runner. Among its cities seen as most likely to host the summit are: Hanoi, the national capital; Da Nang, site of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting; and Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s commercial hub and once the capital of the US-backed Southern government during the Vietnam war.
Other countries that have emerged as potential candidates include Thailand, Indonesia, Mongolia, Singapore and Hawaii.
Hanoi has made no secret of its interest in hosting the highly anticipated event, with the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc vowing last week to “do our best to facilitate the meeting” were his country to be chosen.
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