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Abstract
This article depicts China's involvement in Laos during the Vietnam War, paying particular attention to an analysis of the Beijing-Hanoi rivalry over control of the Lao communists. It seems inconceivable that the Chinese knew so little about the conditions in Laos that rendered unsuccessful an attempt by them to export their model of revolution to Laos. The distrust and suspicion between the Chinese and the Vietnamese over Laos may have been a reflection of an undercurrent of tension between Beijing and Hanoi during the war. After many years of committing China's resources to Hanoi's war effort, the Chinese had created for themselves a new enemy, as the two countries later engaged in a decade-long conflict.
SHE conflict in Laos in the 1960s and early 1970s, termed the "secret war" by Americans, was an important component of Washington's containment strategy in Southeast Asia in response to communist violations of the Geneva Agreements of 1954 and 1962. The U.S.'s involvement has been recorded by a variety of journalists, scholars, and participants. Although there has been a general assumption that China played a vital role in supporting the communist-led national liberation movement in Laos, few comprehensive analyses of Beijing's participation in the conflict have heretofore been made.1 For the past few years, revelations contained in Chinese source materials have enabled scholars to shed new light on the Chinese role in the Vietnam War. As the continuation of an earlier study of China's connections with the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1969, this article examines China's secret support of the Lao communists' war against the United States and the U.S.-backed Royal Lao government, an event largely obscured by the shadow of Vietnam. It will depict and define the motives, mechanisms, dimensions, and aftereffects of China's involvement in the Lao conflict, paying particular attention to an analysis of the Beijing-Hanoi rivalry over control of the Lao communists.2 Chinese records are still difficult to obtain, making this study somewhat inconclusive. However, there is enough newly available information to stimulate valuable discussions about the Vietnam War and the role of the Chinese in that war.
China's Early Involvement in Laos, 1954-62
Despite the fact that Laos borders China, the new leaders of China did not have any contact with...