When Chinese leader Xi Jinping meets his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Phu Trong on Tuesday, on a state visit to Vietnam, expect a fountain of flowery compliments exalting the historic friendship between these two communist-run neighbours.
Mr Trong visited Beijing a year ago and was given China's top medal for foreign dignitaries, with Mr Xi describing their relationship as one between "comrades and brothers", the two countries "connected by mountains and rivers, as close as lips and teeth". Vietnam is expected to announce it will join Mr Xi's "Community of Common Destiny", a Sino-centric, largely symbolic conception which is widely viewed as a challenge to the prevailing, US-led global order.