From "Indo Points" To "Indo-China"

Vietnam’s expansion activities in Indochina Peninsula had begun since itsindependence from China in the mid10th century,and established ascendancy statusin the region gradually.From Early Le Dynasty period,the Vietnamese started theaggression against Champa southward,and invaded Laos(Ai Lao)westward.Especiallyduring the Nam Tien(南进) movement in the16th and17th century(Nguyen Lordperiod),the Champa was eliminated and Cambodia was invaded.Cambodia becamethe next target of Vietnamese invasion after Champa,and the Cochinchina(Nam Ky)was captured.At the time of mid19th century,with the annexation of Cambodia andthe control of Tran Ninh(Laos) marked the first Vietnamese hegemony situation inIndochina.In the mid and late-19century,the French colonists came toIndochina,made Vietnam as its colony,took advantage of Vietnam’s hegemonyresult,annexed Cambodia and Laos as well.The French Indochinese Union was madeup.But Vietnam still had the superiority position,French used the Vietnamese to assitin controlling Cambodia and Laos, made the two countries to support theVietnam,established the serious imbalance abnormal pattern in three Indochinesecountries.In the year of1930,the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP)was founded,theVietnamese became the leading force of communist revolution in Indochina.Duringthe revolution period,the ICP met Vietnam’s interest as the starting point,the benefit ofLaos and Cambodia as the subordinated position.On the initial stage of revolution,theICP produced the policy and practice of unifying the three Indochinese countries asone sovereign state.The idea about”Union of Indochinese Democratic Republics”wasproposed by ICP Vietnamese leaders.During the First Indochina War,the ICP used the territory of Cambodia and Laosto struggle against France extensively,fostered the pro-Vietnam armed force and sentVietnam’s own armed force into the two countries to coordinate combat withrevolution forces.The Indochinese unified battlefield was formed and Cambodia andLaos became the solid rear of Vietnam. As the favourable situation in battlefield,Vietnam leaders wants to create a New Indochinese Union after thewithdraw of French Army at the Geneva conference in1954,but failed miserably.TheGeneva Accords lead the revolution between the two countries to a different path:theLao communists reserved the base by adjoining the Worker’s Party of Vietnam;theKhmer communists lost the base,but became an indepent force toward WPV.During the Vietnam War(Second Indochina War),the WPV fully infiltrated andcontrolled in Laos, tried to gain the leading power of Cambodian revolution,with thename of “internationalist duty”.In1970,When the Indochinese unified battlefieldagainst USA formed again,the idea of new “Indochinese Union”was mentioned aswell.The “Sepecial Relationship”theory was proposed in1972,replaced the oldconcept”Indochinese Union”.After communist forces in three countries won therevolution together in1975,reunified Vietnam started to seek hegemony in theindochinese peninsula,abondened China and fell back on Soviet Union.With theassitence of USSR,Vietnam captured the LPDR comprehensively,started theVietnam-Cambodian War(Third Indochina War),established and foster the HengSamrin regime(the People’s Republic of Kampuchea,PRK),the second hegemonysituation in Indochinese Peninsula was formed.According signing the two “Amity and Cooperation”treaties(between LPDR andVietnam;between PRK and Vietnam),the CPV(Communist Party of Vietnam)tookadvange of the “Special Relationship”as a link,formed the “Association ofIndochinese Nations”as the matter in fact between the period of1979and1991.This“Association”had its own policies, conferences and committes,became an associatedinternational organization.PRC,USA,ASEAN contries set themselves against theVietnam hegemony,Vietnam stalled the Cambodian War themselves, was beset withtroubles internally and externally,its national capabilities can’t maintain its hegemonysituation more and more.With the collapse of East Europe communist states andSoviet Union,Vietnam conducted a comprehensive strategic contraction,withdrawn alltroops from Cambodia and Laos,abandoned the “Indochinese Union”plan and thehegemony position in Indochina.The “Indochinese Union”and “Indochina SpecialRelationship”collapsed in1991. This article use the idea of new “Indochinese Union”as links,focuse on thecontrol of Vietnam toward Lao and Cambodia,comb the stages of CPV(ICP,WPV)andVietnam communist regime expansion and hegemony activities step by step incomtemporary time,try to draw the outline of Vietnam’s basic policy ofIndochina,illustrate that the target of Vietnam’s seeking hegemony status in Indochinacontrolling and dominating Laos and Cambodia is unchangeable,despite of the sloganhaving different forms in different periods.After the end of Cold war,Vietnam is stllplaying a leading role in Indochina,is more likely to continue to seeking thehegemony status when the time is right.The article may help the audience betterunderstanding Vietnam and its relationship with Laos and Cambodia nowadays.