Vietnam at 80: French Legacy Fades as China Gains Influence

An Independence Anniversary Reveals a Cultural Shift

Only 400 Vietnamese high school students chose French for their graduation exams in 2025, compared with more than 358,000 choosing English and 4,400 choosing Chinese, according to Vietnam's education ministry. As the country marks 80 years since its declaration of independence from French colonial rule, those choices show how far the language of its former rulers has slipped behind languages associated with opportunities today.

The anniversary on September 2 recalls the day in 1945 when Ho Chi Minh proclaimed independence in Hanoi's Ba Dinh Square. The grand military parade at the heart of the commemorations puts the struggle against nearly a century of foreign domination at the center of national attention. Around the square, French architectural influences remain visible in buildings that now serve the Vietnamese state.

France's presence also survives in bread, coffee, education and the Latin alphabet used to write Vietnamese. Yet these familiar features of everyday life do not always carry a clear connection to France for younger people. Some appreciate a building or eat a baguette without thinking about the colonial history behind it.

China, meanwhile, is becoming more prominent through trade, language study and popular culture. Its proximity gives it a practical importance that distant France cannot easily match. Vietnam is responding by maintaining relationships with several major powers while trying to protect its own room to act.

The result is a changing relationship with the past: French influences remain woven into Vietnamese life, while the decisions young people make about study and work increasingly reflect the economic and political geography around them.

What French Rule Changed

French colonial expansion in Vietnam gathered force in the late 19th century and culminated in the creation of French Indochina in 1887. Over the following six decades, the colonial administration seized land, established plantations and exploited natural resources, often at the expense of local communities.

Forced labor, harsh working conditions and repression left lasting scars. According to historians, by the 1930s, more than 80% of Vietnamese land was controlled by French colonists and their allies. Access to education in the native language was restricted, and literacy remained low.

France also introduced railways, telegraphs and electricity, alongside boulevards, bridges and public buildings. These developments changed how people, goods and information moved through the country. French influence reached into government and law, with a centralized administration modeled after France and new laws that reshaped Vietnamese society.

Education had a similarly complicated role. Although its reach was limited, it exposed a generation to French language, literature and philosophy. Those ideas helped shape both collaboration with colonial authorities and resistance to their rule.

The main dates behind the anniversary trace a long struggle between the establishment of colonial power, the declaration of independence and the eventual defeat of French rule:

• 1887: French Indochina was formed as France consolidated its colonial control.
• 1899 to 1902: Long Bien Bridge was built in Hanoi, becoming an enduring part of the city's infrastructure.
• September 2, 1945: Ho Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnamese independence in Ba Dinh Square.
• 1954: The Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu ended French colonialism.
• September 2, 2025: Vietnam marks the 80th anniversary of its declaration of independence.

Buildings Remain as Their Origins Become Less Familiar

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City retain some of the most visible reminders of French rule. The yellow painted presidential palace and foreign ministry headquarters around Ba Dinh Square, the neoclassical Hanoi Opera House and Notre Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City remain prominent landmarks.

Ornate facades, domed ceilings and elegant balconies continue to attract residents and tourists. Their continued appeal, however, sits alongside a generational gap in knowledge about who built them and under what circumstances.

Nguyen Thi Trang, a 30-year-old Hanoi resident, visited the foreign ministry headquarters because of its appearance and celebrity appeal. She described its attraction in these words:

unique architecture

Trang was unaware of the building's French roots. Her experience captures a change in how colonial buildings are encountered: a place can be admired as part of Hanoi's contemporary cityscape without its visitor knowing its origin.

Across Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Dalat, old French villas and public buildings are also the focus of restoration and preservation efforts. French expertise and funding remain involved in some of these projects. Preserving the buildings means deciding how to keep useful and valued places while acknowledging the conditions in which they were created.

French Food Became Vietnamese Through Adaptation

Banh mi is one of the clearest examples of a French introduction becoming something distinctly Vietnamese. Its crusty baguette descends from French bread, while its fillings and flavors have been adapted to local tastes. The sandwich's identity now rests on that transformation.

Cafes serving strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk offer another everyday connection to the French period. Coffee culture introduced under French rule has become a familiar part of Vietnamese street life, with local preferences shaping how the drink is prepared and enjoyed.

French culinary influence also appears in dishes such as banh xeo, the rice flour pancake, and pho noodle soup, where local ingredients and European techniques have blended. The wider pattern is one of adoption and adjustment, with Vietnamese cooks and customers determining what survives.

Nguyen Van Hoan, a bakery owner in Hanoi, acknowledged the French origins of Vietnam's bread culture. He explained that the cuisine's survival depended on changing with its surroundings:

French cuisine has had to adapt to match Vietnamese tastes,

Hoan's observation helps explain why France's cultural presence can remain strong in daily habits even as recognition of its origins fades. Bread and coffee continue to matter because Vietnamese people have made them fit their own lives.

The Writing System Outlasted the Colonial Language

Quoc Ngu, the Latin based script used to write Vietnamese, is among the most lasting inheritances associated with the French era. Developed by missionaries and later promoted by the French, it replaced Chinese characters and helped increase literacy. It remains central to Vietnamese identity.

The script, also known as chu Quoc ngu, made written communication and administration easier to spread. Its continued use gives the colonial period a connection to almost every aspect of written public life, from schooling to government business.

French itself has followed a different course. For much of the 20th century, it was the language of the Vietnamese elite, opening routes into government positions, higher education and international diplomacy. Today, its practical appeal has weakened as students consider other languages.

The education ministry's graduation exam figures put Chinese selections at 11 times the French total: 4,400 compared with 400. English, with more than 358,000 selections, was chosen by more than 895 times as many students as French. Those figures place English far ahead of both languages in this particular educational choice.

About 63,000 people are registered in French language classes nationwide. French still has learners and institutions supporting it, but interest in other foreign languages, including Japanese and Korean, adds to the competition.

French President Emmanuel Macron was reportedly delighted when university students addressed him in fluent French during his recent visit to Hanoi. Such fluency is becoming less common. The French embassy continues cultural programs and language classes, although French carries more symbolic prestige than practical value for many Vietnamese people today.

Why Chinese Feels More Relevant to Some Young People

Hoang Thu Ha, a 25-year-old content creator, described her language preference in terms of familiarity and geography. Explaining why she would choose Chinese over French as another foreign language, she said:

If I must choose, I would prefer Chinese over French as the second foreign language to study because it feels more familiar. And China is our neighbor.

Ha's view connects a personal educational decision to Vietnam's position beside a major economic power. China is increasingly important to Vietnamese business, and trade between the two countries has grown rapidly. Language skills can therefore feel closely connected to the world young people expect to work in.

Chinese influence also reaches into popular culture. For some younger Vietnamese, that makes Chinese culture feel more familiar and relevant than French traditions, even while French influences remain embedded in their cities and food.

The shift extends beyond language classes. Vietnam is navigating regional security concerns, competition between major powers and the need to keep supply chains reliable. A supply chain is the network through which materials and products move between businesses and countries. Vietnam's choices about trade and investment are tied to how securely those networks can operate.

China's growing presence therefore brings both opportunities and reasons for caution. Its economic importance makes engagement necessary, while disputes and political pressure encourage Vietnam to maintain other strong relationships.

Independence Celebrations Carry a Difficult Memory

Dien Bien Phu remains central to Vietnam's account of national resilience. The 1954 victory ended French colonialism and forms a crucial part of the history remembered during the independence anniversary. The celebration of freedom sits alongside continuing debate about how to describe what colonial rule left behind.

Many Vietnamese value the architectural, culinary and educational contributions associated with the French period while also recognizing the suffering and exploitation that accompanied them. Forced labor, land dispossession, repression and cultural erasure remain painful parts of that history.

French built infrastructure helped connect the Vietnamese economy and laid groundwork for a unified nation. National Route 1 and the railway running from north to south linked places across the country. Their continued importance gives those projects a place in national life beyond their colonial origins.

Long Bien Bridge, built in Hanoi between 1899 and 1902, is celebrated as a symbol of resilience and connection. France has provided funding for restoration projects, showing how an object inherited from colonial rule can also become a focus of present cooperation.

Calls for apology and reparations persist, while inequality introduced during the colonial period continues to shape Vietnamese society. Reparations mean efforts to make amends for past harm. The debate brings together questions of responsibility, public memory and how the benefits of development were distributed.

France Seeks a Modern Partnership

France has worked to redefine its relationship with Vietnam in the decades since independence. Diplomatic ties have warmed, with major trade deals and cooperation in energy, infrastructure and technology. France is Vietnam's largest European bilateral donor, providing assistance directly between the two countries in health, education and sustainable development.

More than 2,000 French companies export to Vietnam. French businesses see the country as a strategic market within ASEAN, the regional grouping of Southeast Asian countries. Recent agreements cover fields ranging from nuclear energy to satellite development.

Macron's recent tour of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, combined diplomatic ambition with the historical ties visible in Hanoi. The visit formed part of France's broader strategy across the Indian and Pacific oceans, including efforts to counterbalance China's growing influence.

France has presented itself as a partner offering cooperation "without strings attached," while seeking larger economic ties and providing alternatives to Chinese infrastructure financing. For Vietnam, having more potential partners means a wider choice of funding, technology and commercial relationships.

French cultural institutions also continue to promote the language and French values. Their work preserves a connection that extends beyond business, even as students increasingly turn toward English, Chinese and other languages.

France's ambitions face limits rooted in both its colonial past and present international competition. The prestige of French endures in some settings, but it is no longer the default language of aspiration. Commercial agreements and cultural familiarity now have to compete with the immediate attraction of other economic relationships.

Vietnam Keeps Several Major Powers Close

Vietnam's approach is often described as "bamboo diplomacy": flexibility in its dealings with other countries while maintaining its own position. It has upgraded ties with the United States, Japan and France as it manages the influence of China.

Beijing's assertiveness in the South China Sea, including contested waters, and economic coercion help explain Vietnam's effort to spread its partnerships. Diversifying foreign investment and strengthening relationships with several countries gives Hanoi more options when tensions arise.

China remains a major partner at the same time. Its geographic closeness and economic weight make the relationship central to Vietnamese trade and business. Vietnam's engagement is therefore both pragmatic and cautious, combining cooperation with efforts to reduce dependence on any single power.

France occupies a different place in that strategy. Its historical presence, financial assistance and business ties give it a continuing role, while the United States, Japan and other partners broaden Vietnam's international choices. Cultural influence and diplomatic importance move at different speeds: French can lose ground in classrooms while France remains an active economic partner.

Vietnam's rapid economic growth, youthful population and strategic location make these choices consequential across Southeast Asia. A society looking outward is reassessing older influences and adopting newer ones according to local needs and aspirations.

Restored villas, Vietnamese baguettes, French language programs and growing Chinese study all belong to that same process. The French legacy is being reinterpreted rather than simply left untouched, while China's expanding presence adds another layer to Vietnam's relationships with the outside world.

The Essentials

• Vietnam marks 80 years since Ho Chi Minh declared independence in Ba Dinh Square on September 2, 1945.
• French influence remains visible in architecture, food, infrastructure and the Latin based Vietnamese writing system.
• In 2025, 400 students chose French for graduation exams, compared with 4,400 choosing Chinese and more than 358,000 choosing English.
• About 63,000 people are registered in French language classes nationwide.
• France remains an important donor and commercial partner, with more than 2,000 French companies exporting to Vietnam.
• China's growing trade, cultural presence and geographic proximity are shaping language choices and economic relationships.
• Colonial exploitation, calls for apology and reparations, and the preservation of French era buildings remain part of the debate over national memory.
• Vietnam is broadening partnerships with countries including France, the United States and Japan while maintaining a necessary but cautious relationship with China.