A Vietnamese official announced on Monday that it will send an envoy to China to try to mend ties severed by a bitter encounter involving China's oil rig last May in disputed waters. However, experts said that Vietnam's reaction against China during the incident sparked doubts in its partnership goals.

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Vietnam's Politburo member Le Hong Anh, upon China's invitation, will visit its giant neighbor on Tuesday and Wednesday with two clear goals: one is to promote and nurture good relationships with its giant neighbor, and the other is to ensure that the oil rig incident will not happen again.

The move is also seen a big one, with a high-level official being an ambassador, since Chinese state councilor Yang Jiechi visited Hanoi last June.

Despite this, experts speculated that Vietnam, with its violent response against Chinese vessels in May, is reconsidering its relationship with China in favor of the United States.

They said that the Vietnamese government was torn between those in favor of nurturing relations with its ideological ally and a strategic shift of alliance with the U.S.

The former consideration cites the support U.S. has for its Asian allies involved in the territorial disputes with China, analysts said.

Vietnam, like the Philippines, believes that a huge part of the South China Sea belongs to them, which China refuses to acknowledge.

The incident last May also ignited anti-Chinese sentiments in the country.

Former Vietnamese ambassador Nguyen Trong Vinh expressed his doubts about the upcoming meeting. He believes that "China will never compromise."

For instance, the Chinese state councilor's visit last June did not yield any result.

He added that the oil rig's displacement from the disputed waters was temporary.

Economist Nguyen Quang A said that China might try to persuade Le Hong Anh to cancel its threat of taking the dispute into international court.

TagsVietnam, Oil rig, Le Hong Anh, Nguyen Trong Vinh, Vietnamese envoy