The rise of Vietnam could well represent one of the shifts in global balance of power that takes place after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietnam’s response to the novel coronavirus has been one of the most successful in the world. Since mid-April, the country’s only cases of new infection were among people from overseas in quarantine after entering the country, although local infections have been growing in recent weeks. There have been some 500 cases of infection in total, and one death. Domestic air travel routes have all been restored to pre-coronavirus status.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has announced that international air travel will resume with countries that have not confirmed new cases of infection for 30 days or more. Vietnam Airlines has said it will resume operations between Vietnam and South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other Southeast Asian countries. Vietnam was the first country with which Japan relaxed immigration restrictions (for business travelers) that had been imposed to contain the infections.