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For many years, Vietnam formed part of the French colony of Indochina, along with Cambodia and Laos. With Vichy French agreement,
in 1941, the Japanese occupied Vietnam during their World War II sweep through South-East Asia. The resistance to the Japanese
was led by the Indochinese Communist Party, formed by Ho Chi Minh in 1930, and its armed wing, the Viet Minh. Following the
Japanese defeat in 1945, the Communists proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. In 1946, France sent a large expeditionary
force to re-establish their control. After eight years of fierce fighting, the struggle ended in the defeat of the French
garrison at Dien Bien Phu (1954).
The Geneva Agreement of the same year provided for the temporary partition of North and South to be re-unified in 1956, following
general elections. The Western powers, well aware that the Communists would comfortably win any legitimate poll, manoeuvred
to prevent it from taking place, while a Western-backed government under Ngo Dinh Diem was installed in the south and bolstered
as far as possible. The Communists began an insurgency in the south to overthrow what they perceived as a puppet regime. The
Americans, who had taken over from the French as the lead Western power in Vietnam, responded by sending increasing numbers
of military ‘advisers’. By 1962, their numbers had reached 12,000 and the stage was set for a full-scale war between the southern
Communist guerrillas (known as the Viet Cong), the North Vietnam Army and their backers in China and the Soviet Union on one
side, and, on the other side, the Americans and the ARVN (the South Vietnamese army). In 1973, with their political will to
continue the war at an end, the Americans withdrew. Vietnam was reunified three years later, with the victory of the Communist
forces and the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Vietnamese army, the strongest in South-East Asia,
has since clashed with Chinese troops and undertaken a full-scale invasion and occupation of Cambodia to drive out the genocidal
Khmer Rouge regime.
Vietnamese troops finally withdrew from Cambodia in September 1989. Freed of this burden, Vietnam was able to concentrate
on rebuilding its own economy, having introduced a home-grown version of perestroika, known as doi moi. Nonetheless, the Vietnamese economy suffered from the withdrawal of aid and subsidised goods from the former USSR and from
Eastern Europe, as well as the continuing US-organised trade boycott instituted after the US withdrawal. In 1991, changes
among the Communist Party's top leadership indicated that the party was determined to pursue a reformist economic programme
while keeping many senior military men in key positions.
An essential precursor to this was an improvement in political relations with Vietnam’s near neighbours. A closer relationship,
culminating in full membership, was forged with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The economic dividends
were clear in as much as six of the top seven foreign investors in Vietnam were ASEAN members. As a result, outstanding territorial
disputes, including the Spratly and Paracel Islands and exploration rights in the Tu Chinh basin, have become manageable,
even where no formal settlements have been negotiated. Relations with Vietnam’s two historic enemies, China and Cambodia,
have also undergone substantial improvement. Relations with a more recent foe, the USA, eased after President Clinton disposed
of the American trade embargo on Vietnam in February 1994. Full diplomatic relations were restored the following year.
Reforms have resulted in rapid economic growth in the last decade (see Economy) but there has been no parallel development in the country’s political environment: the Communist Party has no intention
of relaxing its hold on political power for the time being. In April 2001, the party chose a new general in Nong Duc Manh,
who consequently began a crackdown on dissident and ‘unauthorised’ literature. Nong is one of the triumvirate that now govern
Vietnam, along with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and President Tran Duc Luong. The party is concerned by corruption among
senior officials as well as the growth of religious fervour among the population. At the beginning of 2004, an outbreak of
a virulent form of avian flu threatened serious political and economic problems for the whole of south-east Asia, including
Vietnam. A year later, at the beginning of 2005, sporadic cases of the influenza once again re-emerged. This is a health concern
that officials are keen to monitor closely.
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