Pro-Chinese Laos, Mongolia, and Vietnam

What if, the communist governments in Laos, Mongolia, and Vietnam held a pro-Chinese stance, in contrast to OTL's pro-Soviet stance? There would probably be no Sino-Vietnamese War but, would China turn a blind eye to when the Vietnamese invade Cambodia?
 
A pro-Chinese Vietnam is near impossible all things considered. All the others are a distinct possibility, but Vietnam views China as just as much a threat to its independence as France.
 

Pangur

Donor
A pro-Chinese Vietnam is near impossible all things considered. All the others are a distinct possibility, but Vietnam views China as just as much a threat to its independence as France.

Very much the case, the distrust between Vietnam and China goes way back.
 
A pro-Chinese Vietnam is near impossible all things considered. All the others are a distinct possibility, but Vietnam views China as just as much a threat to its independence as France.

The most pro-Chinese of the Vietnamese Communist leaders was Truong Chinh--the name is actually a pseudonym, referring to Mao's famous "Long March." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trường_Chinh Probably the best POD for his becoming leader would be if Ho Chi Minh had died before 1956, when Truong Chinh became the scapegoat for the "excesses" of land reform.

I don't think it's inconceivable that if Ho died (let's say in a non-suspicious way--a real accident or disease) in 1955, Truong Chinh would succeed him. Who were the alternatives? I am not sure the party was yet ready for a "southerner" like Le Duan. (He was urging more emphasis on armed rebellion in the South at a time when the Politburo was still officially committed to "peaceful political action" there.) And as for Giap, he was popular--but this very popularity caused him some suspicion among his colleagues...
 
Very much the case, the distrust between Vietnam and China goes way back.

I would say that a pro-Chinese Mongolia is less plausible than a pro-Chinese Vietnam. The Mongolian People's Republic had been established under Soviet auspices, and the Soviet presence there was very strong. (At various times, Mongolian leaders even seriously discussed Mongolia's joining the USSR! https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=10705074&postcount=6) In 1963, Mongolia applied for admission to the Warsaw Pact (and was turned down). https://groups.google.com/d/msg/soc.history.what-if/SV4Ov1yoiaQ/6ba6I0HTJiMJ Moreover, the Mongolians knew how Chinese encroachment had made Inner Mongolia overwhelmingly Han, and certainly didn't want that to happen to Outer Mongolia as well.

Nevertheless, there was apparently some opposition in 1964 to the very pro-Soviet Tsedenbal (one part of it was resentment of his Russian wife, who never even bothered to learn Mongolian, but exercised significant political influence). Tsedenbal's opponent Lokhuz argued that "While the argument continues between Moscow and Beijing, Mongolia should take a neutral stand and maintain good relations with the USSR and the PRC." Lokhuz and others in his faction committed a fatal mistake when they approached the Minister of State Security and tried to convert him to their cause. The Minister refused and then reported the incident to Tsedenbal. See my post at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/soc.history.what-if/zqEUZExdzbk/Z8wcXQ-6angJ for details...
 
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