I keep getting conflicting news articles. One says the Vietnamese government is standing up a massive military to repel imminent Chinese invasion, alongside its allies in Japan and Korea and the Philippines. Another says the Chinese and Vietnamese governments are opening up diplomacy and trade to a degree not seen since the Han Dynasty.

A lot of it tends to hinge on who is producing the article, though. Anti-China NATO Western Democracy Liberty Whiskey Sexy Hawks ratchet up the "Chinese Imperialism Imminent!" discourse while the Pro-China Wumao Bot Shill Tankie Communists focus on the stronger economic ties and interstate travel.

Who am I supposed to believe?

I'd believe what the Vietnamese themselves are saying over the western narrative. Vietnam has no natural reason to be hostile to China, their economies are deeply integrated, and their socialist systems are inherently compatible. They don't have any territorial claims on each other and really have nothing to fight about.