Hanoi's Balancing Act: The Vietnamese Communists and the Sino-Soviet Split, 1960–1965

Abstract The split between the Soviet Union and China had a great impact on other Communist countries, including the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV, or North Vietnam), under the leadership of the Vietnamese Workers’ Party (VWP). As the rift between the PRC and the Soviet Union intensified, the VWP tried hard to balance between the two Communist powers so that it could focus on the war against the United States and the conquest of the South. Interactions between the DRV, China, and the Soviet Union highlighted the frequently complex nature of relations within the Communist world during the Cold War.