Vietnam has become an important battleground for Sino-U.S. strategic competition. However, like many other countries, Hanoi does not want to choose a side. The main objectives of its foreign policy have been maintaining peace, developing its economy, and defending the fatherland. To pursue these goals, Vietnam has pursued a grand strategy of independence, self-reliance, openness, multilateralization, and diversification of its international relations. In response to a new era of great power competition, Hanoi has adjusted its grand strategy three times: since 2003, it has lessened the role of communist ideology in determining its friends and foes; since 2006s, it has shifted from a continental to a maritime orientation; and since 2011, it has added the goal of enhancing its international status. If the United States and other democratic countries understand these developments, they can build closer ties with Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries more effectively.