No? My point is that Vietnam and China have a centuries-long history of antagonism; to take China's support of the North during the Vietnam War as anything oth

No? My point is that Vietnam and China have a centuries-long history of antagonism; to take China's support of the North during the Vietnam War as anything other than realpolitik is to miss the greater context. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Vietnam_relations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Vietnam_relation... FWIW, I agree with you regarding the dangers of communist purges- I lived in Laos in the late 70's/early 80's. I saw plenty of first-hand examples of what happens.