Walking the Diplomatic Tightrope: The Democratic Republic of Vietnam’s Strategy in Winning Communist Economic Aid, 1965–1968

Drawing on Vietnamese archival documents, the paper tries to examine the complexity of the triangle relationship between the Soviet Union, China, and Vietnam during the most critical period of the American war in Vietnam. The view from Hanoi’s sources reveals insights into how the Politburo of the Vietnamese Workers’ Party viewed the situation after the direct and increasing US forces’ involvement in both North Vietnam and South Vietnam, as well as the growing Sino-Soviet dispute within the communist bloc. These documents also show that Hanoi leaders could handle the ongoing tension between the Soviet Union and China to their advantage in the anti-American war. It seems that the Hanoi government was not simply a pawn in a global ideological and power competition among big powers, but it achieved its aims and acted independently in its decision during the most intense period of the American war in Vietnam.