Vietnam and China, 1938-1954

453 Pages·1969·23.177 MB·English

by  King C Chen

VIETNAM AND CHINA
1938-1954

VIETNAM AND
CHINA, 1938-1954
By King C. Chen
((((((((((((((((((((((((<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Princeton University Press, Prin,ceton, N. J. 1969
Copyright © 1969 by Princeton University Press
ALL llIGHTS RESERVED
SBN: 691-03078-2
L.C. Card: 78-83684
This book has been composed in Linotype Caledonia
Printed in the United States of America
by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
To the memory of my parents

Contents
Maps and Tables viii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1. The Background 3
2. Ho Chi Minh in China, 1938-1945 33
3. The Birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
and the Chinese Occupation, 1945-1946 99
4. Chinese Influence: Decrease and Increase,
1946-1949 155
5. A Chinese Revolutionary Model for Vietnam,
1950-1954 212
6. The Geneva Settlement, 1954 279
7. Epilogue: Peking, Hanoi, and a New Peace for
Vietnam 331
Appendices 353
Bibliography 406
Index 429
vii
List of Maps and Tables
MAPS
Ho Chi Minh's Prison Journey in China, 1942-1944 59
Pac-Bo and Tan-Trao (Ho Chi Minh's Revolutionary
Bases), 1941-1945 103
Chinese Nationalist Troops Retreat to Vietnam,
December 1949 207
Supply Lines of Chinese Military Aid, 1950-1954 277
Indochina, April 1954 298
TABLES
1. Party Affiliation of the 11 Elected Members of
the Dong Minh Hoi, March 1944 69
2. Party Affiliation of the Eight Elected Members of
the Yunnan Branch of the Dong Minh Hoi,
July 1944 75
3. Informal Contacts Outside the Conference,
July 10-20, 1954 317
4. Comparison of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Soviet
Broadcasts on the Geneva Conference,
July 10-22, 1954 326
5. North Vietnam's Delegation Exchanges with
China and Russia, 1964-1968 345
FIGURE
Trend of the Delegation Exchanges, 1964-1968 345
vm
Acknowledgments
I STARTED this study in 1959-long before the Vietnam
situation developed to the present stage. After the early
draft of the manuscript was completed in 1962 I was busy
with teaching and research projects for some time while
waiting for additional Chinese materials from Taiwan. In
the fall of 1966 I obtained the materials; then I resumed this
work by doing further extensive research and rewriting the
entire manuscript.
In the course of my study I have benefitted greatly from
many scholars and friends. To Professors Vernon V. Aspa
turian and A. Doak Barnett, I express my sincere apprecia
tion for their criticisms and suggestions, which have proved
very valuable. To Professor C. Martin Wilbur I extend my
gratitude for his direct and indirect help. Informal conversa
tions with Philippe Devillers, Dai Shen-yu, and Yin-maw
Kau provided many insights into various problems of the
subject. I am grateful to 0. Edmund Clubb, Arthur Stein,
Myron Cohen, and Lea E. Williams for their reading and
commenting on parts or all of the manuscript. The late
Bernard B. Fall read an early draft of the manuscript. I
asked him in December 1966 to write a foreword for this
book. His wife, Dorothy Fall, sent me a note saying that my
request had been relayed to him in Vietnam and that it
would take "several weeks" to hear from him. Shortly there
after came the tragic news of his death. His passing was a
great loss to the study of Vietnam.
I am indebted to Chiang Yung-ching (Taiwan) who was
kind enough to allow me to use his entire unpublished col
lection of documents on Vietnam ( and his earlier mono
graph, Ho Chi Minh and China, 1941-44), which contains a
rich amount of never-published and very valuable materials
from Taiwan; to General Chang Fa-k'uei (Hong Kong) for
his interviews and correspondence; to Cardinal Paul Yupin
(Taiwan) for his interview; to Generals Shao Pai-ch'ang
lX