The Vietnamese guide to love and war

Plus: Going for a spin in a gigacast car and more [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a salmagundi of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Must-Reads - Orban throws another wrench at [Ukraine](. - Redefining [totaled](. - The Disney-Ambani [tryst](. - [Hand]( me your food. - The trouble with [shareholder]( democracy. - Gale warnings for Europe’s [far-right storm](. We Love All Our Trade Partners The US fought a vicious war in Vietnam for two decades, with more than half a million combat troops in the country at one point. Four years after the Americans departed, China sent troops into northern Vietnam in a nearly month-long invasion. While brief, it was an echo of past occupations — some lasting hundreds of years — of the southeast Asian nation by its northern neighbor. During World War II, Japan took Vietnam from the French colonial overlords of Indochina. Yet, Hanoi is happily being wooed by Washington, Beijing and Tokyo. US President Joe Biden visited in September. Chinese President Xi Jinping did the same this week. Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida welcomed Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong to Japan shortly after Biden’s trip. All three have signed agreements elevating trade and diplomatic ties with Hanoi. Indeed, the Vietnamese are being very agreeable: Pliantly avoiding the objectionable past as they push their own economic agenda via commerce. The “bamboo diplomacy” — so dubbed by Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in 2016 — is a winning strategy as Hanoi plays the suitors off each other, [says]( Karishma Vaswani: “Both the US and China are eager to drag Hanoi to their side — but the Communist country should stick to its long stance of non-alignment and act in its own best interests. This multipolar foreign-policy strategy will ensure the nation exerts agency in dealing with the two largest economies.” (Japan — while a major investor in Vietnam’s burgeoning manufacturing sector — is also acting as the US’ wingman in countering China as the superpowers wrangle for dominance in the region.) Is there evidence that trade and commerce can help keep the peace? Not if they’re used as threats without effective weaponry to back them up. Hal Brands [cautions]( that trade as the lure in a carrot-and-stick strategy has limitations. “The British discovered, early in World War I, that they could only cripple Germany’s economy by [wreckingÂ](the global economy — and making a powerful enemy in the US. In the 1930s, economic sanctions failed to deter the aggression of fascist powers — Japan in Manchuria and Italy in Abyssinia, for example.” Hal points to the ongoing war in Ukraine and says Beijing isn’t likely to be deterred from an invasion of Taiwan simply because of the threat of economic sanctions, which have had limited effect on Russia. Being bellicose seems to be getting mixed results in the Philippines. A billionaire clan there this week [cautioned]( that commerce and the economy should play a greater role in easing tensions between Manila and Beijing over islets claimed by both countries in the South China Sea. The government of Philippine President Ferdinand (Bongbong) Marcos Jr. is counting on its rekindled ties with the US to help bear the brunt of a vociferous confrontation with China. But, says  SM Investments Corp. Vice Chairperson Teresita Sy-Coson, “What we have to do is to have peaceful discussions with them because, after all, we can’t change our neighbors.” Vietnam too has territorial disputes with China over islands in the same sea — and as recently as May reportedly had naval run-ins over oil exploration in the area. However, Vietnam has not aligned itself with Washington over the strategic waterway. That’s been key. As a result, says Karishma, China “has not deployed the forceful response to Hanoi’s objections the way it has with the Philippines, partly because of Vietnam’s independent foreign strategy.” She adds, “Cooperation rather than conflict has been a key part of how Vietnam has engaged with competing interests and not just survived, but thrived.” The Curse and Promise of the Gigacast Car I don’t drive. In fact, I shouldn’t be allowed to: I fail road tests every time I take them. So, I’m resolved to be driven. Still, I found this new trend in car manufacturing fascinating: gigacasting. That would be die-casting large sections of a car rather than separately producing dozens of pieces that then have to be combined through welding into a single automobile. The technique has been around for a couple of years: Tesla Inc. started with its Model Y in 2020. Tim Culpan [provides]( a crisp summary of the process: “Using [Giga Press]( equipment from Italian supplier Idra Group, gigacasting (also called megacasting) cuts the number of welds and reduces weight. These massive machines work by applying 9,000 tons of force upon molten aluminum alloys within a casting mold, punching out larger panels that can weigh more than 200 kilograms (440 pounds) apiece.” The key takeaway, says Tim: “While the reduction in production steps requires upfront investment and a rethink of the assembly process, it could lead to a 30% [saving in manufacturing costs](.” The trouble, say critics, is that a minor accident may become extremely expensive to repair because it’ll no longer be just a bent fender that needs to be replaced but a huge section of the vehicle. Tim points out another thing: Most cars are as much chip-based as anything else. “The first task a body shop undertakes is to plug into a car’s onboard-computer and analyze all the sensors and controllers to check what’s damaged. Broken components need to be replaced and recalibrated, which is costly and time consuming.” It may not take much of an impact to total a car. Insurers could choose to replace rather than fix a damaged car. “That may not be a bad thing,” says Tim. “An entire industry could open up refurbishing and reselling cars.” He sees it as a parallel to the refurb/resale trade of electronics companies. “iPhones are bought with three options in mind: fix the device, certify it as in working order, and then sell it; cannibalize the smartphone for components that go into new or refurbished model; or break it up and recycle the scraps.” As for me, I’ll stay away from steering wheels and stick to my phone. Telltale Charts "Chinese billionaire Li Shufu’s attempt to create a global automotive empire to rival Volkswagen AG has hit a road block, as equity markets sour on electric-vehicle companies amid worries about a price sapping oversupply and rising trade tensions between China and the West. Polestar Automotive Holding and Lotus Technology Inc., two electric brands nurtured by Li, have turned to riskier funding to pay for their rapid international expansion, while Li’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. has high borrowings and appears to carefully guard its own capital." — Chris Bryant in "[Chinese Billionaire’s Auto Empire Hits a Road Block](.” “Foreign interest in European football clubs remains resilient even though the market for broadcasting rights has cooled. US private equity firm Arctos Partners LP bought a minority stake in France’s Paris Saint-Germain this month at an eye-watering valuation of more than six times revenue. Across the English Channel, in the world’s richest soccer division, the next potential sale of a Premier League club [Brentford FC] may struggle to match that excitement.” — Matthew Brooker in “[Moneyball Can’t Guarantee Brentford a Ticket to Soccer’s Elite](.” Further Reading Discriminating what’s [indiscriminate](. — Marc Champion An [oligopoly](in the crosshairs. — Chris Hughes Rishi Sunak’s not out of [danger](from his own Tories yet. — Martin Ivens Did [Shohei](Ohtani get a raw deal? — John Authers Mystery of the Copenhagen [stowaway](. — Howard Chua-Eoan Walk of the Town: Sartorial and Culinary Sequels I wrote a column last week about the blue tie King Charles wore to COP28, the climate conference ([covered](by Lara Williams in a [number](of [pieces]() that produced an agreement that Javier Blas has [annotated](. I wondered — like many others — if the monarch, who has lots of Greek royal relations, was signaling his sympathy for repatriating the Parthenon marbles from the British Museum to Athens. Or was it just a favorite tie? A perceptive reader sent in this observation: Dec. 5 — which was just a couple of days after Charles’s appearance in Dubai — is also the death anniversary of his grandmother, Alice of Battenberg, who became a Greek Orthodox nun and is buried in an Orthodox church in Jerusalem. You can count that as Greek sympathy, I think. The marbles also came up for debate at the House of Lords on Thursday, after the peers discussed fire safety regulations. I watched online, admiring the paneling and the skill of the speakers as they addressed mostly empty but comfortably upholstered red leather benches. David Frost, the former Brexit negotiator who became a [life peer]( in September 2020, said loaning the sculptures back to Athens would just keep the issue going. He proposed handing them back as a “grand gesture.” I recall being at the quite grand Peers Dining Room at Westminster Palace, where both the Commons and the Lords have their separate eating halls. The Peers dining room is open to the public for a few days every now and then. I managed to get in with a friend who had the foresight to book when it was available for three days in April during a recess in legislative proceedings. I worked up an appetite walking the two miles from the office. The food was edible. The wine was quite good. In the Peers Dining Room in the Palace of Westminster Photograph by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg The fate of the marbles won’t be decided for a while. There is, at least, some progress in resolving feuds in the culinary world. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the [showdown](between a master chef and his disciple in a small town in Spain. The younger cook, Japanese-born Tetsuro Maeda, had set up his restaurant Txispa — with a similar style — just a few minutes walk down the road from the world-famous Asador Etxebarri, run by the man who trained him, Bittor Arginzoniz. As the senior chef fumed, I advised the younger chef to make peace and show respect. I can’t say Maeda read my column, but on Dec. 6, he posted a photo of the front door of Etxebarri on his Instagram [account]( and wrote an accompanying caption in Spanish: “Now, I have my own door. But Today I returned to touch this door one more time, but this time with some news. My teacher: Thank you so much for receiving me today. Thank you so much for all the teachings you’ve given me. I intend to continue being your best student ...” Sometimes, peace can break out. Just give it a chance. Drawdown Thanks for staying through it all. Here’s an eye-opener for you. ”I’ll have another epiphany, please.” Illustration by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg Notes: Please send revelations and visionary feedback to Howard Chua-Eoan at hchuaeoan@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. 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