In Little Saigon, enmity for the Vietnamese government thrives among the older generation, many of whom arrived in the U.S. as refugees after the fall of Saigon. Some are even willing to pay higher prices if it means the Communist regime will suffer.

Xi Jinping has urged Vietnam to resist “unilateral bullying” and uphold free and open trade, as he begins a high-stakes diplomatic tour of the region’s major export-reliant economies in a bid to position his country as a stable partner in contrast to the United States.