The normalization that China and Vietnam announced in November 1991 was profoundly important. It was a decisive move beyond hostile stalemate. The climate of the official relationships between states and between communist parties changed from a zero-sum confrontation to one emphasizing common ground and cooperation. Practically speaking, however, normalization is a process rather than an event. Gradually the heat of hostility cools down and permits a readjustment of relations, and thus normalization starts from a cold and distant situation in which recent resentments and tensions are pushed out of official view but are not forgotten. The relationship is stable because the alternative of hostility is all too familiar. But it is a new relationship, and each side will be suspicious of the other and will hedge against the other. Bullying and paranoia continue, but under a general flag of truce.

Eventually, however, memories of hostility fade and new challenges are faced together. The economic relationship begins to grow and to displace security concerns in the calculations of both sides. The new bilateral relationship affects the structure of regional relations. The new context of normalization is accepted as a continuing reality, and pursuit of opportunities displaces hedging. Normalization evolves into normalcy.

Normalcy might be called “mature asymmetry” because it is grounded in a learning experience and it has the capacity to be long term and stable. In mature asymmetry, the deference of b to A and A's acknowledgment of b's autonomy become embedded in mutual expectations.