Vietnam - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Northern Thailand - page 338

Post-Cold War
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Vietnam and Western nations sought rap-
prochement. The 1990s brought foreign investment and Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean) membership. The US established diplomatic relations with Vietnam in
1995, and in 2000 Bill Clinton became the first US president to visit north Vietnam. Ge-
orge W Bush followed suit in 2006, as Vietnam was welcomed into the World Trade Or-
ganisation (WTO) in 2007.
Relations have also greatly improved with the historic enemy, China. China may still
secretly think of Vietnam as 'the one that got away', but Vietnam's economic boom has
caught Beijing's attention and trade and tourism are booming across mutual borders.
TOP OF CHAPTER
People & Culture
People
The Vietnamese are battle-hardened, proud and nationalist, as they have earned their
stripes in successive skirmishes with the world's mightiest powers. But that's the older
generation, which remembers every inch of the territory for which it fought. For the new
generation, Vietnam is a place to succeed, a place to ignore the staid structures set in stone
by the communists, and a place to go out and have some fun.
As in other parts of Asia, life revolves around the family; there are often several gener-
ations living under one roof. Poverty, and the transition from a largely agricultural society
to that of a more industrialised nation, is changing the structure of the modern family unit
as more people head to the bigger cities to seek their fortune. Women make up 52% of the
nation's workforce but are not well represented in positions of power.
Vietnam's population is 84% ethnic Viet-namese (Kinh) and 2% ethnic Chinese; the
rest is made up of Khmers, Chams and members of more than 50 minority peoples, who
mainly live in highland areas.