This paper argues that the Sino-American dialogue in the 1970s led the United States to take different policies between Korea and Vietnam in the mid-1970s. The United States and China, who wanted not to be dragged into militarized conflicts by their a...
This paper argues that the Sino-American dialogue in the 1970s led the United States to take different policies between Korea and Vietnam in the mid-1970s. The United States and China, who wanted not to be dragged into militarized conflicts by their allies in Korea and Vietnam, agreed symmetrically to restrain the two Koreas from initiating militarized conflicts. This symmetrical understanding led the United States to provide a moderate amount of military and economic assistance to the South Korea and check the South Korean military buildup. Also, it allowed the United States to ignore a series of the North Korean moves for normalization in the late 1970s. In contrast, China refused to restrain the North Vietnam from subverting the South Vietnam in the dialogue, while asking the United States to keep the Vietnamization defensive only. The United States had to provide a large amount of military and economic assistance to placate South Vietnamese complaints. Also, it had to negotiate directly with the North Vietnam for its withdrawal, while employing militarized initiatives to pressure its counterpart stay in peace talks. Furthermore, it had to accept most of the North Vietnamese peace conditions.