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| Jacob Abrahamson Class of 2017 |
Thanks to the work of the Vietnam War Commemoration Committee, the University of Louisville has been the host of a wonderful series of lectures on an important period in American history. As we are studying Chinese and Asian politics this semester in preparation for our trip to China, I took the opportunity to attend a lecture on the planning of the Tet Offensive by University of Kentucky historian Lien-Hang Nguyen. Going into the talk, I wasn’t how much China-specific material I would come away with; however, it ended up providing me with a wealth of knowledge on Chinese involvement in the Vietnam War which supplemented our own course on China quite nicely.
One of our recent lectures, led by UofL Political Science professor Charles Ziegler, focused on modern China as a potential hegemon in the Asia-Pacific region, in direct competition with the United States, who currently fulfills that role. While the two lectures focus on vastly different contexts, Dr. Nguyen’s talk shed a little light on China’s early attempts at being a player on the world stage. According to her, the conflict over the future of Vietnam gave China one of its first opportunities to be a player on the international stage.
At the Geneva Accords, which divided up Vietnam, China exerted itself fully and sought to be the key ally to the newly independent North Vietnam. During the war, while bickering with the Soviet Union over who would be the power behind the North Vietnamese, China had 170,000 troops and anti-aircraft guns on the ground in North Vietnam to provide assistance.
When North Vietnam, led by Le Duan, chose to accept backing from Beijing, there were signs of Maoist China everywhere, from poetry to propaganda. Music, literature, and films from the Soviets were banned very strictly. Eventually, things would balance back out, although bickering would continue. When President Richard Nixon began to pursue his Triangular offensive, Beijing had more interest in backing off from its push for power and would not yet be in a position to develop into what it is today. However, I found this story of a China on the rise interesting within the context of Asian-Pacific politics today, when we see China truly assert itself in a way it has been attempting to for decades.
Jacob Abrahamson is a junior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. He studies political science and history.