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The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, 2012.

Southeast Asia

Vietnam

Photograph of a US POW during the Vietnam War.

Vietnam War

Aerial view of National Mall

North America

United States

Portrait of Mao Zedong on Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, China, 1972.

East Asia

China

Gyeongbokgung

East Asia

South Korea

Photograph of Zhou Enlai in 1972.

Zhou, Enlai

1898- 1976

South Korean Diplomacy in Asia, 1955-1957

Conversations with Zhou Enlai

Soviet soldier taking a photograph of another soldier in Red Square, Moscow, 1959

Eastern Europe

Soviet Union

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Southeast Asia

Cambodia

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Choi, Duk Shin (Choe Deok-sin)

1914- 1989

North Vietnamese Decision-Making, 1973-1975

China-Southeast Asia Relations

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77 Conversations

Portrait of DRV leader Pham Van Dong, 1972.

Phạm, Văn Đồng (Pham Van Dong)

1906- 2000

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Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN)

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Dr. Syngman Rhee, 1939

Rhee, Syngman

1875- 1965

Portrait of Mao Zedong from propaganda poster

Mao, Zedong

1893- 1976

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Documents

2003	Tran Quang Co: A Memoir The memoir of Trần Quang Cơ (1927-2015), former member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), brings to light the intense diplomacy among great powers and regional players over the continued conflicts in Indochina after the unification of Vietnam as well as the bitter disagreements within the Vietnamese leadership over the country’s political priorities during the period of 1975-1993. Cơ put together his memories and thoughts on “many sensitive developments” in Vietnamese foreign relations that he believed had been “intentionally or unintentionally” forgotten (rơi rụng) in the state-endorsed history “to ‘smooth over’ (tròn trĩnh) the historical record.” Completed in Vietnamese in 2001 (updated in 2003) and informally circulated on the internet, Merle Pribbenow’s English-translation makes this valuable historical source available to wider audiences.
December 15, 1980	Speech Given by Comrade Le Duc Tho to the Leaders of Public Security’s Departments, Bureaus, and City and Provincial Offices during the Conference to Discuss the Three Specialized Drafts and to Implement Politburo Resolution 31 [Excerpts] A speech given by Party Politburo Member Le Duc Tho during a three-day conference of the Ministry’s top Public Security officers along with the Directors of Public Security of all of the nation’s provinces and major cities, where the attendees received instructions on three new Ministry of Interior Party resolutions - one on “the struggle against Chinese spies”, one on “the struggle against American spies”, and one on “the struggle against the enemy’s ideological attacks.” At the time of the speech, Le Duc Tho was viewed as Vietnam’s second most powerful leader, second only to Party General Secretary Le Duan. Le Duc Tho commented that while recruiting Americans would be easy, requiring only “money, women, and drinking and carousing”, recruiting Chinese would require a careful process of political education of the target
December 15, 1980	Resolution on the Status and Mission of Combatting Enemy’s Ideological Sabotage Efforts During This New Period This resolution on combatting “ideological sabotage” lumps Chinese ideological propaganda, Western propaganda operations, international human rights and humanitarian relief activities, and religious radio broadcasts and religious missionary activities all together with the spreading influence of Western culture and music in Vietnam as part of a vast, insidious effort by Vietnam’s enemies designed to corrupt Vietnam’s society and to weaken its “revolutionary” spirit in order to cause the overthrow or collapse of the Vietnamese Communist Party and government. The over-the-top rhetoric used in this resolution illustrates the widespread paranoia that infected the upper ranks of Vietnam’s Party and security apparatus during this period of the Cold War. It was not until six years later, in December 1986, that the pressures of growing internal dissension (even within the Party), the country’s desperate economic situation, and reductions in Soviet military and economic to Vietnam resulted in the decision by the Communist Party’s 6th Party Congress to shift to a policy of reforms, called “Renovation” [Đổi Mới] reforms and to new Vietnamese efforts to normalize relations with China and the United States.
December 15, 1980	Resolution on Policy Guidelines and Missions for the Struggle against American Spies in the New Situation A resolution on combatting “American spies." The document calls for Public Security to re-interview all confirmed or suspected “CIA” agents being held in re-education camps and to conduct careful reviews of the enormous volume of documents captured by Communist forces when they took over South Vietnam in 1975 in order to identify and arrest any “stay-behind” agents of the Americans as well as former “CIA” agents who had still managed to evade detection and arrest.
October 1, 1977	Talk Given by the Minister [Trần Quốc Hoàn] at the 3rd Investigative Conference [Excerpts] Trần Quốc Hoàn reviews cases against foreign and domestic spies in the Vietnam Wars.
April 16, 1993	Record of Japan-United States Summit Meeting This record contains summaries of: (1) the tête-à-tête meeting between President Clinton and Prime Minister Mizazawa; (2) a small group meeting involving the President and Prime Minister, as well as several senior members of the US and Japanese cabinets; and (3) an expanded working lunch. Topics of discussion included U.S.-Japan strategic and economic relations, climate change, the Uruguay Round, policies towards Russia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Haiti, and China, and Japan's status at the United Nations. Various portions of the document were withheld, including an entire section on North Korea.
February 2, 1990	National Intelligence Daily for Friday, 2 February 1990 The CIA’s National Intelligence Daily for 2 February 1990 describes the latest developments in German unification, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Arab States, Vietnam, and the Soviet Union.
October 9, 1969	Letter, V.M. Chebrikov to the CPSU CC A report on the current situation in South Vietnam, with a discussion of current and future US plans for the region.
November 12, 1966	From the Diary of Shcherbakov I.S., 'Record of Conversation with DRV Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, 2 November 1966' I. Shcherbakov and Pham Van Dong discuss Soviet-Vietnamese relations, the last developments on the battlefield, and American "peace maneuvers."
December 5, 1965	Record of Premier Zhou Enlai's Conversation with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Nghi Zhou Enlai and Le Thanh Nghi discuss US military strategy in the Vietnam War.