The Vietnam War was a major event that shaped the course of the world in the second half of the 20th century. Although it was a regional conflict that occurred on the Indochinese Peninsula, it also affected the strategic interests of the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and the United States as well as the relations between these great powers. China, in particular, also played an important role in the Vietnam wars starting from the First Indochina War. China militarily supported North Vietnam by providing extensive logistical, training, and material aid.
Historical background In October 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was established in mainland China and in January 1950, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) was officially recognized by the PRC. This changed the situation in the First Indochina War with the Viet Minh and directly influenced the Vietnam War later on. The Chinese government, under the administration of Mao Zedong, took an active role in the First Indochina War. In April 1950, the Viet Minh formally requested military aid including equipment, advisors and training. The PRC began to send their advisors and later form the Chinese Military Advisory Group (CMAG) to assist the Viet Minh, led by General Wei Guoqing, along with Senior General Chen Geng. This is the beginning of China's assistance.
Reasons for China's involvement Geopolitical realities Throughout the 1950s and most of the 1960s, Mao considered the United States the primary threat to China's security and revolution. Indochina constituted one of the three fronts (the others being Korea and Taiwan) that Mao perceived as vulnerable to an invasion by imperialist countries. Thus, Mao's support for Ho Chi Minh started with the security concern. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the deteriorating relations between China and the Soviet Union, especially after the Sino-Soviet border conflict in March 1969, Mao further clarified that the Soviet Union was the primary threat to China's national security. Then he began to adjust his policies to America and encouraged the North Vietnamese to conclude a peace settlement.
International obligations The sense of an international responsibility to help brotherly comrades and promote anti-imperialist revolution was another crucial factor in Beijing's Indochina policy. During Mao's December 1949 visit to the Soviet Union, Stalin sought Mao's assistance in supporting the Vietnamese Communists against France in the First Indochina War. Mao accepted Stalin's view of a "worldwide communist revolution" and agreed to share "the international responsibility" and support the Vietnamese communists. After Mao's return to China, the country began sending military advisors and military aid to the Vietnamese.
"In believing that China had a special role to play in the reshaping of a future revolutionary order in the world," Mao aimed at transforming not only the old China but also the old world order. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Beijing's propaganda expressed it to be "a natural ally of the oppressed peoples of the world in their struggle for national liberation," justifying efforts to help North Vietnam.
Personality The personalities of the leaders were also a factor in rallying PRC support for North Vietnam. Of special significance were Ho Chi Minh's personal interactions with Mao, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, and other CCP leaders. Ho became familiar with them when he worked for the French Communist Party in Paris and later served as a Comintern agent in Canton assisting the labor and peasant movements there. "In deciding to assist the Viet Minh in 1950, Mao stressed the importance of reciprocating friendship."
Domestic political consideration "The intention to use international struggle to promote domestic political agendas often figured prominently in Mao's deliberations on Vietnam." In his opinion, perception of China facing serious external threats would be an effective instrument to help strengthen the dynamics of revolutionary mobilization at home, as well as his authority and controlling position in China's political life. Thus, aiding Vietnam served Mao's purpose of getting support to reshape the Chinese state and society.
The process of China's involvement During the First Indochina War The Chinese communist guerrilla leader from Yunnan joined the Viet Minh in their fight against the French in 1948.
In January 1950, the People's Republic of China was the first state to establish diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and the basis of relations changed from party-to-party to state-to-state. In the early 1950s, the Vietnamese communists confronted formidable enemies and Ho Chi Minh avidly sought advice and weapons from China. The PRC began to send their advisors and later form the Chinese Military Advisory Group (CMAG) to assist the Viet Minh forces led by Wei Guoqing and Chen Geng. CMAG and Viet Minh began training for their first campaign. In September 1950, the Border Campaigns were launched. And between April and September 1950, China sent to the Viet Minh 14,000 rifles and pistols, 1,700 machine guns and recoilless rifles, 150 mortars, 60 artillery pieces and 300 bazookas, as well as ammunition, medicine, communications materials, clothes and 2,800 tons of food.
In addition, a "political advisory group" was also sent from China to northern Vietnam in 1950, led by Luo Guibo. Luo went to Tonkin to "pass on China's experience in financial and economic work, the rectification of cadres' ideology and working style, government work and mobilization of the masses." Between 1951 and 1954, the Chinese helped the Vietnamese in training their military commanders; reorganizing their defense and financial systems. They also helped the Vietnamese to mobilize the peasants to support the war through land reform campaigns. China trained Vietnamese at an officer academy, communication, mechanic, and technology schools in Guangxi and Yunnan. Overall, there was a massive transfer of the Chinese experience of making a revolution to the Vietnamese.
China equipped and trained a Vietnamese rocket battalion and 75mm recoilless gun battalion which were deployed for the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ . It also provided war supplies and helped prepare the Việt Minh for field medical care and campaign hospital readiness.
From August 1950 to March 1954, the Chinese government provided US$43.2 billion worth of aid to Vietnam in the form of war material, medicine, and fuel.
Geneva Conference In the years following the conclusion of the 1954 Geneva Conference, China desired a peaceful international environment in order to focus on domestic reconstruction. The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) faced two fundamental tasks: to reconstruct the north and to unify the south.
Ho Chi Minh did not attend the Geneva Conference and Zhou Enlai met with Ho in Liuzhou. China urged Ho to accept a partition of Vietnam and to replace military struggle with political struggle. This approach was criticized by some Vietnamese leaders including Le Duan, who later stated that "it was precisely Zhou Enlai who divided our country into two." Mao ultimately told Pham Van Dong that the Chinese approach had been a mistake:
In July 1954, the Indochina Settlement was signed at Geneva by the Viet Minh, France, China, and the Soviet Union. The most salient aspect of the accords was the division of Vietnam at the 17th parallel, with the Communist-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north and the State of Vietnam under Bao Dai in the south.
After the Geneva Conference To rebuild the north, the CPV immediately got assistance from China after the Geneva Conference. To help the DRV "relieve famine, rebuild the transportation systems, revive agriculture, reconstruct the urban economy, and improve the armed forces," Beijing agreed to provide rice, sent a team of economic advisers and experts to North Vietnam. In December 1954, China sent more than 2000 railroad workers to the DRV to repair railway lines, roads, and bridges. During Ho Chi Minh's official visit to China in 1955, Beijing agreed to provide a grant of $200 million to be used to build various projects. After that, they also established a manpower exchange program. Between 1955 and 1957, in addition to assistance from China, the Soviet Union also played an important role in helping DRV reconstruct and develop its economy.
When the 15th Plenum of the VWP Central Committee in 1959 authorized the use of armed struggle in the south, Hanoi kept asking Beijing for military aid. Under these circumstances and in response to Hanoi's requests, China offered substantial military aid to Vietnam before 1963. According to Chinese sources, "during the 1956–63 period, China military aid to Vietnam totaled 320 million yuan. China's arms shipments to Vietnam included 270,000 guns, over 10,000 pieces of artillery, 200 million bullets of different types, 2.02 million artillery shells, 15,000 wire transmitters, 5,000 radio transmitters, over 1,000 trucks, 15 planes, 28 naval vessels, and 1.18 million sets of military uniforms." It was China's aid to North Vietnam from 1955 to 1963 that effectively gave the North the resources needed to begin the insurgency in the South.
In the early 1960s, Chinese state-owned enterprise Anshan Iron and Steel Works (Angang) supported the construction of Vietnam's first modern steel enterprise, Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Company. It sent experts to the steelworks and trained hundreds of Vietnamese workers. When American attacks later damaged the facilities, Angang worked on the restoration, including through manufacturing essential equipment.
Confronting U.S. escalation The catalyst for the Vietnam War was the controversial Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964. "To confront the increasing U.S. pressure in Indochina, Beijing stepped up its coordination with the Vietnamese and Laotian parties." People's Liberation Army units in areas bordering Vietnam increased their numbers and China began providing military assistance to North Vietnam.
In response to U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, China launched the Resist America, Aid Vietnam campaign. The campaign themes denounced U.S. imperialism and promoted Vietnamese resistance. Local communist party cadre organized mass meetings and street demonstrations, and millions of people across the country marched in support of the campaign between February 9 and February 11, 1965. The communist party expanded the campaign into cultural media such as film and photography exhibitions, singing contests, and street performances.
In April 1965, the U.S. Operation Rolling Thunder prompted the communist party to accelerate war preparations in major cities, particularly air defense and citizen militia drills. The party began emphasizing that, in addition to preparing for the risk of U.S. bombing of China, the Chinese people should be prepared to handle the worst-case scenario of having to fight on Chinese soil.