What The Vietnam War Can Teach Us Today

History has an interesting way of revealing eventual winners and losers in the end.

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Chinese Communist leader, Mao and Vietnam’s Communist leader Ho Chi Minh

April 30th marks the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. In Vietnam, this day is celebrated as the end of a long and brutal war and the unification of the nation. In America, however, sentiments about the Vietnam War are more complex. The long-lasting effects of the war on American politics, the military, culture, and the national psyche are challenging for an immigrant like me to fully understand. Therefore, I would like to reflect on the war from a different perspective: the role of Communist China in the conflict and its implications today.

In the high school textbooks I studied, the Vietnam War was summarized in a few sentences, focusing on China’s support for their Vietnamese Communist allies against what was portrayed as American imperialism. The textbook, however, glossed over the complexities of China's involvement, leaving out its scale, timing, and significance. It was only after I immigrated to the United States that I began to grasp the depth of China's involvement in Vietnam, which started long before the Vietnam War itself.

After World War II, Vietnam emerged as a nation divided, mirroring the situation in Korea. In the north, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) embraced communism, while the south, known as the Associated State of Vietnam, was supported by France and upheld a non-communist regime. Ho Chi Minh, the driving force behind the Viet Minh in the north, established vital personal ties with key figures in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping, during their studies in Paris. Shortly after the CCP defeated the America-backed Nationalist troops and established a Communist regime in China in 1949, it recognized Ho’s DRV as the legitimate representative of the Vietnamese people.

During the First Indochina War, Ho’s Viet Minh force was fighting against the French army. Initially, Ho sought military assistance from the Soviet Union. However, Stalin's focus was primarily on Europe, and he was reluctant to become involved in a conflict in Southeast Asia. Instead, he encouraged China to take a more active role. Mao, the leader of the CCP, hardly needed any encouragement. He viewed any war near China’s borders—whether in Vietnam or Korea—as a national security concern for his regime. He believed that by supporting his fellow communists in North Korea and North Vietnam in their fight against Western imperialism, he could gain the credibility needed to succeed Stalin as the next leader of the global Communist movement.

Commencing in 1950, China initiated the supply of the Viet Minh force with equipment and material. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) dispatched a group of personnel known as the Chinese Military Adviser Group (CMAG) to North Vietnam. This group, in addition to offering military advice and training, played a pivotal role in the reorganization of the Viet Cong, modeled after the PLA. Meanwhile, the United States extended its support to the French troops, providing them with equipment and materials.