Online Public Relations Thoughts

When a preacher thunders a sermon to his flock, it is called preaching to the converted.  The listeners have accepted the beliefs about which the reverend is speaking.  What the minister needs to do is speak to those not in church in the hope of changing some of them.  What Vice President Kamala Harris said to the Vietnamese government on her visit to Hanoi is an example of diplomatic preaching to the converted.  Harris condemned China's bullying tactics and takeover of the South China sea.  Harris certainly knows of the historic tension between the two countries and of Hanoi's vocal opposition to China's building outposts on reefs in that part of the ocean.  Harris might have been better aiming her remarks directly at China itself.  There was an unspoken theme to her speech.  She is allying the US with Vietnam in the growing competition with China.  North Vietnam was an enemy of the US 50 years ago, but times have changed.  The country is now seeking help to protect itself, and a former enemy is just as good as a longstanding friend.