A tale of Vietnam: Con rồng trở lại và ruồi phượng hoàng
- Thread starter La Rouge Beret
- Start date
Yes he did, in TTL he will live longer - not massively but enough to provide the fledgling state a greater sense of legitimacy. From an Australian perspective call it the Sir David Martin effect.
Surely some of these scholars are in DRVN, or, at a minimum, in the Exile Community of the rightful Vietnamese Government in the Union of Republics?
And others would be "left" liberals or worse in the States United.
I'd suggest that your suggestion of a "massive" industrialisation is a significant departure from what we know and loathe of the early history of the DRVN. In these circumstances I would suggest that the rural programmes are similarly botched, but over a more limited geographical area as "serious pilot programmes" or a "limited general programme." The industrial and the class war policy represent a dialectic within the new class in the DRVN regarding how best shall the nomenklatura cement its leadership. Given the recent revolutionary force required, "ultra"-ist Stalinists, those "Mao"ists in the DRVN were historically more significant than here. Here they have a more limited effect. Now this may mean that the anti-"Mao"ist reaction is less thorough going. This may lead to an overextension by the Southern Comrades to the extent that the Southern Comrades are under direct control.
I would suggest that while the central apparatus of the NFL were entirely VWP minded, the local village cadre were not so party minded, and were pragmatic female rural workers. Which, if you want to emphasise this to its limit, means internal purges during the height of success prior to US intervention.
Because the RVN will not be secure enough to limit the actual revolution amongst rural proletarians while they have to support the comprador headmen and bourgeoisie at all.——The other option would be a land programme that would make even JFK at his most liberal suggest the systematic execution of nationalist villagers, and of course the head of state in the RVN. (Oh wait a minute...)
yours,
Sam R.
Essentially the North Vietnamese leadership have looked at industrialisation as a means of protecting their revolution. The Stalinist faction has the first bite at the cherry in regards to policy in TTL, however they will encounter the same issues that plagued the OTL of lack of infrastructure and an educated workforce. This has been impacted by the recent experience of the Chinese volunteers in Korea led by Marshall Peng De Huai, who will lead the Chinese volunteers in Laos later following political reshuffling within the Politburo.
The pilot programs are a good idea, so that will be worked in.
Internal pacification
Internal pacification: One
Under the guidance of the Saigon Military Mission, led by Edward Lansdale, and to forestall any opportunities for political intrigue the first Pacification mission was launched by combined units of the National Army and Police forces. Utilising the lessons learnt during the Philippine and Malayan emergencies a concerted effort was made on a Hearts and Minds campaign in conjunction with the pacification operation. The initial area chosen was the Camau peninsular and the provinces of Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh. During the operation the soldiers and policemen destroyed Communist infrastructure, but built roads and bridges so that the farmers could transport their goods to the markets unmolested.
The second phase after the destruction of the Communist infrastructure involved training key National Policemen and provincial civil servants in agriculture. The classes were conducted by lecturers from Michigan State University. The first rudimentary application of the Hearts and Minds campaign occurred with political teams accompanying the National Police to enlighten the countryside on the virtues of the government.
Once pacified the National Agricultural Credit Office provided loans at low rates to individual farms, which contributed to a rapidly expanding agricultural sector. With American help South Vietnamese administrators developed new irrigation techniques, appropriate crops for each area and even water buffalos. Most newspapers wrote articles on the Emperor's model farm, which was used to trial new agricultural techniques prior to being implemented in the province.
The second pacification campaign focused on the Mekong Delta and reached into the most isolated of villages. Again the civic action personnel repaired roads and bridges accompanied by the National Police. The success of these campaigns caused a severe drop in the civil unrest to levels beneath those recorded in 1946.
The success of these programs could be seen by the drop in Communist Party membership from 60,000 in 1954 to under 1,000 in 1956.
These programs and their reporting in the several American newspapers led to the formation of a Friends of Vietnam group in the United States composed of such luminaries as Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Senator William Knowland and Senator John F Kennedy.
Below: A National Policeman is shown on the cover of Life with suspected Viet Cong prisoners
Internal pacification: One
Under the guidance of the Saigon Military Mission, led by Edward Lansdale, and to forestall any opportunities for political intrigue the first Pacification mission was launched by combined units of the National Army and Police forces. Utilising the lessons learnt during the Philippine and Malayan emergencies a concerted effort was made on a Hearts and Minds campaign in conjunction with the pacification operation. The initial area chosen was the Camau peninsular and the provinces of Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh. During the operation the soldiers and policemen destroyed Communist infrastructure, but built roads and bridges so that the farmers could transport their goods to the markets unmolested.
The second phase after the destruction of the Communist infrastructure involved training key National Policemen and provincial civil servants in agriculture. The classes were conducted by lecturers from Michigan State University. The first rudimentary application of the Hearts and Minds campaign occurred with political teams accompanying the National Police to enlighten the countryside on the virtues of the government.
Once pacified the National Agricultural Credit Office provided loans at low rates to individual farms, which contributed to a rapidly expanding agricultural sector. With American help South Vietnamese administrators developed new irrigation techniques, appropriate crops for each area and even water buffalos. Most newspapers wrote articles on the Emperor's model farm, which was used to trial new agricultural techniques prior to being implemented in the province.
The second pacification campaign focused on the Mekong Delta and reached into the most isolated of villages. Again the civic action personnel repaired roads and bridges accompanied by the National Police. The success of these campaigns caused a severe drop in the civil unrest to levels beneath those recorded in 1946.
The success of these programs could be seen by the drop in Communist Party membership from 60,000 in 1954 to under 1,000 in 1956.
These programs and their reporting in the several American newspapers led to the formation of a Friends of Vietnam group in the United States composed of such luminaries as Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Senator William Knowland and Senator John F Kennedy.
Below: A National Policeman is shown on the cover of Life with suspected Viet Cong prisoners
Last edited:
Migrant labour? Oh. that was probably supposed to have been irrigation? or ??
The Elections
As part of the Geneva Peace conference an election was to be held in 1956 to determine if the people of Vietnam wished to be unified or remain as two separate states. In the lead up to the elections different ideas were promulgated. North Vietnam, despite the migration southwards of over a million people, was still more populous than South Vietnam. Consequently any vote, the Communist North would ensure their population agreed wholeheartedly with the decision to reunite with the South. Therefore the results of the elections in the South would be irrelevant.
Consequently another option was sought that would allow the government of South Vietnam the opportunity to boycott the elections without suffering international condemnation. It was Edward Lansdale that suggested that the government should ask for neutral observers in both North and South Vietnam. The hardnosed communists of North Vietnam would refuse and provide an excuse as to why the elections would not be held.
The communists duly refused and were subsequently denounced in the Western media as being afraid of public scrutiny from international observers, the Communist bloc retorted that the elections represented an internal matter for the Vietnamese people and that international observers were not required.
After the election issue had been resolved, the Prime Minister announced an amnesty for former Viet Minh cadres and his intention to form a government of national reconciliation. The amnesty was contingent upon renouncing all ties to Communism and swearing an oath to the Emperor and South Vietnam.
It was the speech by the Emperor at the inaugural sitting of parliament that drew widespread acclaim, and copies of his speech were disseminated throughout the country and his speech was screened prior to each movie session for the following month. An excerpt from ‘A History of the Five Tigers’ is listed below:
‘Over the last one thousand years the Vietnamese people have consistently fought to maintain independence from foreign powers, that sought to dominate our people and way of life. Although we have been occupied, our passion to be free was never extinguished.’ He paused, ’After our arduous struggle to regain independence our achievement remains moot, if over half of our countrymen remain subjugated to the whims of Moscow and Beijing. When our brothers were offered the opportunity to travel to the South they seized it with both hands, because of the chance of freedom.’ At this moment the Emperor composed himself and continued, ‘If you fought with or against the French, now is not the time for recrimination but rather reconciliation. So that together as citizens of the Kingdom of Vietnam we can take our rightful place in the world alongside the other free countries and… so that we are never occupied again.’
A savvy media campaign was commissioned by the Friends of Vietnam who utilised the advertising firm Sterling Cooper, to capitalise on the recent events within the Kingdom of Vietnam.
Below: A polling station for the inaugural parliament.
As part of the Geneva Peace conference an election was to be held in 1956 to determine if the people of Vietnam wished to be unified or remain as two separate states. In the lead up to the elections different ideas were promulgated. North Vietnam, despite the migration southwards of over a million people, was still more populous than South Vietnam. Consequently any vote, the Communist North would ensure their population agreed wholeheartedly with the decision to reunite with the South. Therefore the results of the elections in the South would be irrelevant.
Consequently another option was sought that would allow the government of South Vietnam the opportunity to boycott the elections without suffering international condemnation. It was Edward Lansdale that suggested that the government should ask for neutral observers in both North and South Vietnam. The hardnosed communists of North Vietnam would refuse and provide an excuse as to why the elections would not be held.
The communists duly refused and were subsequently denounced in the Western media as being afraid of public scrutiny from international observers, the Communist bloc retorted that the elections represented an internal matter for the Vietnamese people and that international observers were not required.
After the election issue had been resolved, the Prime Minister announced an amnesty for former Viet Minh cadres and his intention to form a government of national reconciliation. The amnesty was contingent upon renouncing all ties to Communism and swearing an oath to the Emperor and South Vietnam.
It was the speech by the Emperor at the inaugural sitting of parliament that drew widespread acclaim, and copies of his speech were disseminated throughout the country and his speech was screened prior to each movie session for the following month. An excerpt from ‘A History of the Five Tigers’ is listed below:
‘Over the last one thousand years the Vietnamese people have consistently fought to maintain independence from foreign powers, that sought to dominate our people and way of life. Although we have been occupied, our passion to be free was never extinguished.’ He paused, ’After our arduous struggle to regain independence our achievement remains moot, if over half of our countrymen remain subjugated to the whims of Moscow and Beijing. When our brothers were offered the opportunity to travel to the South they seized it with both hands, because of the chance of freedom.’ At this moment the Emperor composed himself and continued, ‘If you fought with or against the French, now is not the time for recrimination but rather reconciliation. So that together as citizens of the Kingdom of Vietnam we can take our rightful place in the world alongside the other free countries and… so that we are never occupied again.’
A savvy media campaign was commissioned by the Friends of Vietnam who utilised the advertising firm Sterling Cooper, to capitalise on the recent events within the Kingdom of Vietnam.
Below: A polling station for the inaugural parliament.
Many Communist movements could be accused of that, but Ho has been working for Vietnamese independence for a LONG time. Trying to smear him as a puppet of foreign powers is more likely to backfire than help IMO.
In OTL it was hard to smear him because South Vietnam did not have a figure of equal standing. In TTL they do.
Quite so.
However, can't the southern government or its American advisors find some other issue to hang around the VM's neck other than alleging being puppets on foreign strings?
After all, it is true OTL and in this timeline too, that some people suffered under Ho's rule. Can't that be made the key point?
Because the "foreign influence" smear rather reminds me of being told that when I point one finger at someone, three of my fingers point back at me.
The Doctor is a better leader than South Vietnam ever had OTL, he's more independent minded I gather and has more initiative to assert.
All that said, it should be quite obvious that the influence of Washington and perhaps still yet Paris is at least as strong or stronger on Saigon as Moscow's and possibly Beijing's is on Hanoi. Rather than try to play the game of "who is more Vietnamese?" the southern regime should be frankly arguing the benefits of alignment with the Western bloc and against the Communist one. And they should be very careful how they pick their arguments, being sure to emphasize advantages for the average Vietnamese they can readily deliver on, and if they emphasize the fact that the VM have used and presumably will go on using torture, terror, and threats in some cases to get compliance--they'd better have a better track record of avoiding recourse to the same methods to get what the southern government wants.
Bang on in TTL the South Vietnamese government will focus on addressing the concerns that the VM exploited, absentee landowners, lack of government support / facilities etc. There is a multi pronged attack emphasising the qualities of the government and attacking the positive legacy that existed towards the VM. But I will cover this in later posts about land and economic reform - which will focus on improving the life of the average Vietnamese. As you allude to, there will not be grandoise statements ala Sukarno, but rather smaller practical steps to raise the standard of living.
Thanks for reading.
Or -- to put it positively, South Vietnam's problem OTL was not that the Soviets and/or Chinese were assisting Hanoi. The Americans could always out-aid the Eastern bloc. We did in fact ship in quite a lot of aid, in the form of weapons, of goods, and money. If that had been enough to balance the scales, South Vietnam would never have fallen, because spending money on the Saigon regime would never have become fatally controversial in Washington. It was never the issue OTL.
What was a problem OTL was that feeding Saigon money and goods was never enough to do even the basic job of keeping South Vietnam standing up on its own, let alone any ambitions any Americans may have had of toppling Ho Chi Minh. It was always necessary to send in American (and allied, Australian and New Zealander (I think?) and South Korean) men. On that score especially, the argument against Ho based on "foreign influence!!!" not only balanced out but recoiled absurdly against Saigon, because while the Russians and Chinese were also remarkably open-handed, considering their own domestic shortcomings, with weapons and other goods too, they never got around, or were asked, to send in legions of Russian or Chinese soldiers. And more to the point, Americans fighting and dying in Vietnam would have been dangerously controversial enough if at least they were clearly winning, but when victory was in doubt and indeed few Americans could really articulate what "victory" would look like (except for the ones who thought of it in terms of the North being reduced to a smoking, lifeless and possibly radioactive ruin) then the controversy became deadly.
What South Vietnam needs is to keep the need for American help limited to money, goods, and advisors who are nothing more than advisors. To be cynical, it's even quite all right if the "advisors" are the actual power behind the government. As long as they can recruit and motivate Vietnamese to stand against the North's Communist model on their own behalf!
It was the failure to accomplish that last on a sufficient scale that doomed South Vietnam OTL, and the Doctor's job is to change that. To do it, he needs to make it clear to sufficient numbers of ordinary Vietnamese that they will do better following his vision, enough so to overcome both the harm the VM can do them in retaliation and to overshadow any positive, credible incentives the VM and National Liberation Front might hold out for them.
So the focus should be on what the Saigon government stands for, and that they are against Ho Chi Minh because he's bad, not just because he has foreign friends. In those terms, it's quite OK that Saigon has foreign friends too, because they are helping the good side--and that makes it OK that at least some Vietnamese will benefit from the foreign largesse too which makes the whole package that much more palatable.
The question is, can the Doctor do this? What would it look like?
And his falling back on the old "foreign subversive influence" card at this point is ominous because it implies that no more than Diem, he's got nothing else at this point. He'd better get something else, or he's going down the way Diem did--or conceivably, down the way the last Saigon government did, in 1975, that is, his virtues might tragically amount to no more than that he gets to run the South throughout its history instead of the OTL revolving door of "bad puppets."
Frankly for Vietnam's sake, there are two things to hope--one is that the Viet Minh won as quickly and thoroughly and early as possible so the nation and indeed subcontinent is not wracked by the terrible wars we know of OTL, and probably the VM regime is more conciliatory and less violent. The other is, a really decent SVN government. I am obviously a skeptic about the possibility of any such latter thing, but I follow this timeline to see how it might work.
And so far it's kind of marginal. Since we've preempted the other way out of the catastrophic war for Vietnam as a whole, I have to hope things pick up for the Southern government and it soon has better arguments to make.
What was a problem OTL was that feeding Saigon money and goods was never enough to do even the basic job of keeping South Vietnam standing up on its own, let alone any ambitions any Americans may have had of toppling Ho Chi Minh. It was always necessary to send in American (and allied, Australian and New Zealander (I think?) and South Korean) men. On that score especially, the argument against Ho based on "foreign influence!!!" not only balanced out but recoiled absurdly against Saigon, because while the Russians and Chinese were also remarkably open-handed, considering their own domestic shortcomings, with weapons and other goods too, they never got around, or were asked, to send in legions of Russian or Chinese soldiers. And more to the point, Americans fighting and dying in Vietnam would have been dangerously controversial enough if at least they were clearly winning, but when victory was in doubt and indeed few Americans could really articulate what "victory" would look like (except for the ones who thought of it in terms of the North being reduced to a smoking, lifeless and possibly radioactive ruin) then the controversy became deadly.
What South Vietnam needs is to keep the need for American help limited to money, goods, and advisors who are nothing more than advisors. To be cynical, it's even quite all right if the "advisors" are the actual power behind the government. As long as they can recruit and motivate Vietnamese to stand against the North's Communist model on their own behalf!
It was the failure to accomplish that last on a sufficient scale that doomed South Vietnam OTL, and the Doctor's job is to change that. To do it, he needs to make it clear to sufficient numbers of ordinary Vietnamese that they will do better following his vision, enough so to overcome both the harm the VM can do them in retaliation and to overshadow any positive, credible incentives the VM and National Liberation Front might hold out for them.
So the focus should be on what the Saigon government stands for, and that they are against Ho Chi Minh because he's bad, not just because he has foreign friends. In those terms, it's quite OK that Saigon has foreign friends too, because they are helping the good side--and that makes it OK that at least some Vietnamese will benefit from the foreign largesse too which makes the whole package that much more palatable.
The question is, can the Doctor do this? What would it look like?
And his falling back on the old "foreign subversive influence" card at this point is ominous because it implies that no more than Diem, he's got nothing else at this point. He'd better get something else, or he's going down the way Diem did--or conceivably, down the way the last Saigon government did, in 1975, that is, his virtues might tragically amount to no more than that he gets to run the South throughout its history instead of the OTL revolving door of "bad puppets."
Frankly for Vietnam's sake, there are two things to hope--one is that the Viet Minh won as quickly and thoroughly and early as possible so the nation and indeed subcontinent is not wracked by the terrible wars we know of OTL, and probably the VM regime is more conciliatory and less violent. The other is, a really decent SVN government. I am obviously a skeptic about the possibility of any such latter thing, but I follow this timeline to see how it might work.
And so far it's kind of marginal. Since we've preempted the other way out of the catastrophic war for Vietnam as a whole, I have to hope things pick up for the Southern government and it soon has better arguments to make.
A chief problem is going to be internal resistance from landlords, comprador Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese capitalists, etc. to a policy of semi-populist capitalist development.
Basically, the aim here is to produce a prosperous petits-bourgeois peasantry.
This means reversing the enclosures of the villages under landlordism and the change to class structure caused by the fish sauce taxes. By this time the majority of rural workers are proletarian.
Reversing the agricultural class structure basically means removing capital from the hands of:
a) Catholic and non-Catholic landlords and,
b) Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese comprador capitalists.
That's a bunch of coup d'etat attempts right there, and may involve physical liquidations of landlords. I'm not suggesting anything as dire as the Northern land-reform campaign; but, it is the kind of action that would make a number of hysteric US senators and congressmen declare that this is socialism.
yours,
Sam R.
Basically, the aim here is to produce a prosperous petits-bourgeois peasantry.
This means reversing the enclosures of the villages under landlordism and the change to class structure caused by the fish sauce taxes. By this time the majority of rural workers are proletarian.
Reversing the agricultural class structure basically means removing capital from the hands of:
a) Catholic and non-Catholic landlords and,
b) Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese comprador capitalists.
That's a bunch of coup d'etat attempts right there, and may involve physical liquidations of landlords. I'm not suggesting anything as dire as the Northern land-reform campaign; but, it is the kind of action that would make a number of hysteric US senators and congressmen declare that this is socialism.
yours,
Sam R.
These are the issues that I am trying to work through now, so that the land owners are provided with compensation in another form. This will be tied into the provision of low interest loans, and licenses to develop a light industrial base. However the continued provision of these loans at favourable rates is contingent upon meeting key performance indicators.
If you have further ideas on how to appease the US senators and congressmen that would be great.
I might be badly mistaken but I don't think anyone in the US Congress or Senate was in any mood to ask tough questions about any of the US's foreign aid programs. Perhaps penny-pinchers were inclined to haggle over amounts--but in the late 50s and early 60s any authoritative person suggesting these expenditures were vital in the struggle against Communism would shut them right up, at least as long as we are talking about the penny-ante sorts of sums typical of even generous foreign aid packets, which were of course dwarfed by the funding of the military and so on.
So as long as Dr. Phan is accomplishing the goals we've set for him, and bringing the aid channelled in effectively to the middle-and-lower class targets, and that aid has the effect of solidifying support for the government of South Vietnam and against the Viet Minh, he's got a blank check as far as Congress is concerned, at least in this decade. No one is going to even look too closely at what is happening there as long as the US position looks solid enough, and it looks great if there's no need for American uniformed military to move in there to take over actual operations.
If some political wave in the USA leads to a flurry of cost-cutting that threatens the more vital parts of the US aid package to Saigon, they can always do the black budget trick, seeing to it that some slush fund in Defense is loosely monitored enough so they can divert essential funds to Saigon, or go via the CIAs or other truly black budget items. Or if as you suggest in the other brainstorming thread, SVN attracts in other SEATO allies like Australia, then aid for Saigon can be smuggled via aid for Canberra or Wellington! Hand the Ozzies or Kiwis a lump of cash, with the quiet understanding that some of that cash is earmarked for their operations in Vietnam...
But by and large, only a serious budget crisis, which was never a big problem for the US government in the fifties and sixties, or alternatively the whole Vietnam situation blowing up into an embarrassing political mess, would put a cloud over the appropriate foreign policy wonks in Washington getting whatever they want for Saigon, directly and openly for the most part. What politician wanted to be responsible for shorting brave fighters against Communism? Only if serious doubt were cast either on the worthiness of the cause or the ability of our side to pull it off would the requests come under close and critical scrutiny.
Foreign Investment
After independence the Kingdom of Vietnam lacked entrepreneurs, bankers and businessmen. The decision to allow restricted foreign investment was to produce dividends for the country. As the education standards were quite low, investment was focused on consumer and industrial goods such as textiles, cement, glass and paper.
The expansion into light industries was used to subsidise land reform. Absentee landlords had two options: they were allowed a tax loss equal to the value of the land acquired over a twenty year period or they were provided a manufacturing license in textiles, cement, or glass. Those landlords that accepted were provided access to low interest loans, with the ability to have their interest capitalised or to have a repayment holiday of one year after construction had been completed. Tarrifs were used by the Government to provide further funds to the various sectors and to encourage the establishment of subsidiaries. If the companies were able to secure private funding of up to 50% for the project then the company would be provided a tax holiday for two years after construction had completed. This provision was contingent upon due diligence checks being conducted and construction indicators being met. If they were not met then the government reverted to the original plan of only the interest having a tax holiday.
These ideas were suggested by the newly created Ministry of Economy Development and Trade (MEDT). Through the support of patrons such as the Rockefeller Institue, MEDT attracted such luminaries as Peter Drucker and William Deming to consult on their industrial policy and to conduct an annual lecture at the Saigon Business School. These industrial policies were to provide inspiration for the Berkley Mafia under the Suharto government and later industrialisation in Malaysia.
The legacy of attracting foreign direct investment is seen in the modern shipbuilding facilities located at Da Nang.
After independence the Kingdom of Vietnam lacked entrepreneurs, bankers and businessmen. The decision to allow restricted foreign investment was to produce dividends for the country. As the education standards were quite low, investment was focused on consumer and industrial goods such as textiles, cement, glass and paper.
The expansion into light industries was used to subsidise land reform. Absentee landlords had two options: they were allowed a tax loss equal to the value of the land acquired over a twenty year period or they were provided a manufacturing license in textiles, cement, or glass. Those landlords that accepted were provided access to low interest loans, with the ability to have their interest capitalised or to have a repayment holiday of one year after construction had been completed. Tarrifs were used by the Government to provide further funds to the various sectors and to encourage the establishment of subsidiaries. If the companies were able to secure private funding of up to 50% for the project then the company would be provided a tax holiday for two years after construction had completed. This provision was contingent upon due diligence checks being conducted and construction indicators being met. If they were not met then the government reverted to the original plan of only the interest having a tax holiday.
These ideas were suggested by the newly created Ministry of Economy Development and Trade (MEDT). Through the support of patrons such as the Rockefeller Institue, MEDT attracted such luminaries as Peter Drucker and William Deming to consult on their industrial policy and to conduct an annual lecture at the Saigon Business School. These industrial policies were to provide inspiration for the Berkley Mafia under the Suharto government and later industrialisation in Malaysia.
The legacy of attracting foreign direct investment is seen in the modern shipbuilding facilities located at Da Nang.
Last edited:
Not if Uncle Ho's getting buddy-buddy with China. Everyone (in Vietnam) fears China, probably more than they do France.
While Moscow could be seen as a Red patron of national self-determination, every single Vietnamese politician, soldier, or villager, north or south, knows and mistrusts China.
The Vietnamese trace their own independence back to freeing themselves from China (the Trung sisters, etc.) and they recognize that Vietnam has (pre-France) been at its most powerful and most free when China has somewhere else to meddle. If RVN can make the case that Moscow is in the same camp as the Red Emperor in Beijing, that'll deliver a huge blow to Ho's popularity.
He won't be seen as a sellout, but as a dupe - tricked by the Russians to sell recently-free Vietnam back into the hands of its historic Chinese overlords.
The Sino-Vietnamese War post-reunification was was less about Stalinists attacking Maoists and more about China punishing one satellite for not playing nice with another (Cambodia) and the US has been working on military exercises with Vietnam since at least 2010 IOTL - possibly around a shared concern about military adventures from Beijing.
Last edited: