As Việt Nam attempts to reinvent itself as Southeast Asia’s next digital powerhouse, the ruling Communist Party has chosen to prioritize short-term economic growth over long-term stability and security through a series of questionable partnerships. Specifically, the country has solidified agreements with two of the global tech world’s most controversial players: Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE and the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

These deals appear to run counter to Hà Nội’s usual practices. In Hồ Chí Minh City, authorities signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Binance to help build the city’s digital asset framework, despite the exchange’s documented history of regulatory evasion. Simultaneously, Việt Nam has awarded ZTE lucrative contracts to supply 5G infrastructure, effectively breaking a long-standing policy of excluding Chinese hardware from critical networks due to security concerns.