U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Laos Monday for a three-day visit to the Southeast Asian country. His visit shows how far Laos has stepped out of the shadows of its larger, influential neighbors, China and Vietnam. Since the days of French colonial rule in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has influenced Laos, both culturally and politically. The Communist Party came to power in Laos during the Vietnam War. By the time of the 1975 communist revolution, most party officials had spent time in Vietnam. Many of them even spoke the Vietnamese language. Nguyen Ngoc Truong is a former Vietnamese diplomat. He now directs a foreign policy research center. He says Vietnam’s government now considers Laos a very important neighbor. Yet some observers would say China’s government has more influence than Vietnam.