THE SINO-AMERICAN RAPPROCHEMENT AND THE IMPACT OF CHINA’S POLICY CHANGE TOWARD NORTH VIETNAM, 1968-1972

Xiao Shao¹, Yuan Wang², Li Li³ and Peng Zhu⁴*
¹ Associate Prof. Dr., Jinan University, PR China, shaoxiao@jnu.edu.cn
² Graduate Student, Jinan University, PR China, wang199422@163.com
³ Graduate Student, Jinan University, PR China, 511186613@qq.com
⁴ Associate Prof. Dr., Jinan University, PR China, 83696861@qq.com
*Corresponding author

Abstract
China had a strong impact on North Vietnamese policy-making in 1965-1968 as Beijing had actively supported Hanoi’s war against the U.S. However, the failure of Tet Offensive in 1968 forced Hanoi to agree with Washington to have peace talks at Paris. Hanoi’s new decision did not inform Beijing in advance, which made Chinese leaders very angry. Thereafter, the Sino-Vietnamese relationship became distorted. After the Sino-Soviet border conflict broke out in March 1969, Beijing considered Moscow an immediate threat, and looked for an opportunity to relax tensions with the U.S. from the second half of 1969. Beijing’s attitude experienced subtle changes, from protesting to hinting its support to negotiations and probing Hanoi’s attitude. Hanoi, nevertheless, began suspecting Beijing’s real intent, especially after September 1970 when Beijing explicitly supported the American-Vietnamese talks. In 1971-1972, Kissinger’s and Nixon’s visits to China brought about more Vietnamese concerns and worries that Beijing might have sold Hanoi in exchange for the Sino-American rapprochement. Beijing had made all kinds of efforts to prove that it did not betray Hanoi, but they failed when Chinese leaders insisted in rapprochement with the U.S. Hanoi launched the Easter Offensive Campaign on March 30, 1972 to change its unfavourable strategic position. Again, it became another military disaster. Beijing did not intervene in Hanoi’s military decision and continued to provide aid and supplies, even though it remained a rapprochement with the U.S. Eventually, the failure of the new offensive changed Hanoi’s strategy, and North Vietnam finally agreed with the U.S. to end the Vietnam War by signing a peace agreement. But the contradictions between China and North Vietnam had become irreconcilable, which foreshadowed their conflicts afterwards.

Keywords: the Sino-American Rapprochement; the Sino-Vietnamese Relations; the Vietnam War