School of Politics University College The University of New South Wales Thach Hong Nguyen A thesis submitted to the University ofNew South Wales in the fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree ofDoctor ofPhilosophy Declaration I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNS W or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by colleagues, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, during my candidature is fully acknowledged. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance for others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged. Thach Hong Nguyen June 2000 111 Acknowledgement I wish to thank the University ofNew South Wales for offering me a three-year post­ graduate scholarship to complete this research. I am also highly indebted to Professor Carlyle Thayer and Professor James Cotton, successive Heads of the School of Politics at Australian Defence Force Academy, for their help in arranging to share the payment of my tuition fees, and the expenses of my field trips to Beijing and America. As my supervisor, Professor Thayer also gave me valuable advice during the research. Professor Cotton shared with me his insightful comments, though he did not directly supervise my research. I am grateful to Associate Professor Hugh Smith, Senior Lecturer David Kelly, my thesis co-supervisors, and Dr. Greg Austin, my thesis panellist. Dr. Greg Austin gave me 'preliminary lessons' in writing a high quality academic paper. My special thanks to Professor David Marr, whose knowledge of Vietnamese history, war-time experience in military intelligence, and his way of being 'amateur of logic' while reading my drafts were not only a 'challenge' to my research, but also a help to me, making my points much sharper. I am also grateful for his patience in carefully reading all my drafts twice over. I wish to thank all the participants at the two seminars I gave during the research, in January 1999, at the School of Politics, ADF A, and in April 1999 at the Third Triennial Conference organised by the Texas Tech University's Vietnam Centre, for their comments. I benefited as well the service from the following libraries: the Menzies and Chiefly and Hopes libraries in the ANU, and ADF A library (Canberra), Beijing Library, the libraries of Beijing, Qinghua, and Renmin universities, and the reading room of the Chinese Institute of American Studies (Beijing), the Library of Social Sciences, the Army Library, the Library of the Institute of Military History, the Library of the Institute of International Relations (Hanoi), the Vietnam Archive (Lubbock, Texas), the US National Archives at Maryland University, and the National Security Archive at George Washington University (Washington DC) and the Indochina Centre (Berkeley, California). IV My thanks also go to Ms. Shirley Ramsay for all sorts of administrative assistance she offered me during my three-year stay in the School of Politics; to Ms. Fiona Cotton and Pamela Hewitt for their editing assistance. I am indebted toLe Cong Phung, Assistant to the Foreign Minister, and Nguyen Ba Cu, Deputy Head of the China Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for allowing me to read the department's files. Mr. Cu also shared his valuable time in helping me to read Chinese sources, as my Chinese was not fluent enough to read them in a limited time. My thanks also to the Vietnamese Embassy in Beijing, and especially to Counsellor-Minister Ho Xuan Son, for his help during my stay in Beijing. The late Premier Pham Van Dong was not only the highest-ranking official, who twice granted me an interview, but he won my heart with his charm and his devotion to the fatherland. He shared with me the importance of the research, and he encouraged me in the endeavour. To me, it became much more than a simple Ph.D. dissertation. I wish to thank all my other interviewees for sharing with me their knowledge and assessments of the events this research covers. Among them were the late Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach, former Deputy Foreign Minister Tran Quang Co, Former Head of the Central Committee for External Relations Nguyen Thanh Le, Former Assistant to the Foreign Minister Luu Van Loi, former Ambassadors Ha Van Lau, Mai Van Bo, Ngo Dien, Dang Nghiem Hoanh, and China's former Ambassador to Vietnam Zhang Qing. I am greatly indebted to my parents, Nguyen Van Duong and Pham Thi Thanh V ang, my sister Nguyen Thanh Ha, and my parents-in-law Nguyen Bi and Nguyen Thi Lap who in their own way helped me and encouraged me to complete my research. Finally and most importantly, without the love, understanding and sacrifice of my beloved Xuan, this work could not have been undertaken. Nguyen Hong Thach June 2000. Table of Contents Declaration ............................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgement ............................................................................................... , .. iv Table of Contents ..................................................•................................................ vi Table ofFigures ...................................................................................................... ix Abstract ................................................................................................................... x Glossary .................................................................................................................. xi Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Sino-American Estrangement and Separate Recognition of Vietnam, 1950 ................... 10 Sino-American estrangement ............................................................................... 10 Chinese recognition of the DRV ............................................................................ 12 American recognition of the State ofVietnam ..................................................... 16 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 2 Sino-American Confrontation and partition of Vietnam, 1950-1954 ............................. 21 Sino-American Confrontation .............................................................................. 22 American intervention in Vietnam ....................................................................... 25 Increasing Chinese aid to the DRV ....................................................................... 38 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 48 Chapter 3 The Quasi War between China and America, and the Vietnam War, 1954-1968 ............. 51 The Sino-American Quasi War ............................................................................ 53 US bellicosity towards China .................................................................................................................. 54 PRC restraint towards the United States ................................................................................................ 60 The US war against the DRV ................................................................................ 63 Vl China's avoidance of a confrontation with the US over Vietnam ........................ 80 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 93 Chapter 4 Sino-American Rapprochement and Peace for Vietnam, 1969-1973 ............................ 98 Sino-American rapprochement .......................................................................... 100 The constant US search for rapprochement ......................................................................................... 100 The circuitous Chinese route towards rapprochement ........................................................................ 104 The US presses for 'peace with honour' ............................................................. 109 China presses for 'peace at any price' ................................................................ 118 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 130 Chapter 5 Sino-American Hesitancy to Normalise and Reunification of Vietnam, 1973-1977 ..... 13 3 Sino-American hesitancy over normalisation .................................................... 135 American reluctance to normalise Sino-American relations .............................................................. 135 Hardening ofChinese attitude towards Sino-American normalisation .............................................. I40 US disengagement from Vietnam ....................................................................... 144 Chinese cold attitude towards Vietnam's reunification ..................................... 160 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 172 Chapter 6 Sino-American Limited Strategic Co­ operation and Isolation of Vietnam, 1978-1988 ............................................... 176 Sino-American Limited Strategic Co-operation