Oh no! Wait, China will still be *checks notes* the U.S.'s number three trading partner and the U.S. will still be *checks notes* China's number one trading partner. Because Vietnam is still only in 10th place for the U.S.

Agreed.

Imagine being such a bitch you don't do anything beneficial because it will make your enemies... mad.

Lol.

Not sure if I can be helpful but lately there are several manufacturing sectors trying to reduce their footprint in China and move to Vietnam or India, for a mix of reasons (rising labor cost in China, geopolitical tension implying potential supply chain disruption). The US promoting their relations with Vietnam means there will be trade deals (free trade maybe?) which will incentivize manufacturers to move their production there, potentially away from China.

Nobody seems to have pointed out the obvious historical angle where China and Vietnam have been long-time enemies.

The issue goes back to the Cold War era and the Sino-Soviet split and it's kinda hard to synthesize in a few short paragraphs, you can read more on the wiki article about it, but these sections could be a good summary:

Vietnam was an ideological battleground during the 1960s Sino-Soviet split. After the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident, Chinese Premier Deng Xiaoping secretly promised the North Vietnamese 1 billion yuan in military and economic aid if they refused all Soviet aid.

During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese and the Chinese had agreed to defer tackling their territorial issues until South Vietnam was defeated. Those issues included the lack of delineation of Vietnam's territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin and the question of sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

And also:

In the wake of the Vietnam War, the Cambodian–Vietnamese War caused tensions with China, which had allied itself with Democratic Kampuchea. That and Vietnam's close ties to the Soviet Union made China consider Vietnam to be a threat to its regional sphere of influence. Tensions were heightened in the 1970s by the Vietnamese government's oppression of the Hoa minority (Vietnamese of Chinese ethnicity) and the invasion of Khmer Rouge-held Cambodia. At the same time, Vietnam expressed its disapproval with China strengthening ties with the United States since the Nixon-Mao Summit of 1972.

Think about it like if China made a big trade agreement with Mexico or something. It's not necessarily bad but it's a geopolitical competitor taking a country that is extremely close physically and sphere-of-influence-wise and currying favor, seemingly trying to pry the country away.

China is also saber rattling with Vietnam. Taiwan is China's current priority, but Vietnam see themselves as on the list .