2. Laos
It is not within the scope of this paper to trace the tortuous course of events preceding and encompassing the Laotian civil war in the winter of 1960-1961. Rather,bloc policy in Laos throughout this period will be discussed within the larger context of the Sino-Soviet dispute on international Communist strategy. Although solid evidence is hard to come by, the record does suggest a close relationship be- tween the development of these two crises in intrabloc and EastWest relations in the final months of 1960.
Following the sending of a United Nations factfinding mission in the fall of 1959, Laos entered a period of relative quiescence in which the Pathet Lao prepared for future large- scale guerrilla activities. This period was punctuated by occasional appeals by Peiping and Hanoi urging the Laotian people to "persist in their revolutionary struggle" and by increasingly frequent reminders from Peiping that no settlement of the Laotian problem was possible without its participation.
The Kong Le coup in August 1960 set the stage for the resumption of civil war in Laos. Moscow's reaction in the initial stages of this crisis was cautious in comparison with that of Peiping, merely expressing for the Laotian people as opposed to China's declaration of "resolute support.” By late October, however, the Soviet Union had shifted t o a position of "full support'' for the Souvanna regime, com- mitting its prestige and revealing a belated determination to lead the bloc offensive in Laos.
A factor of undoubted importance in this Soviet decision was the opportunity afforded by Souvanna Phouma's diplomatic recognition of Moscow in early October 1960. This opportunity, then denied Peiping (which was not recognized until April 1961), was quickly exploited by the arrival of a Soviet emissary with offers of economic aid. Another consideration, probably, was the conviction that Laos constituted a soft spot in the US-pro- tected perimeter in Southeast Asia, which promised substantial gains in return for a limited investment. The timing of the Soviet decision, however, suggests still another factor of
equal or greater importance--the need to take vigorous action
in Laos t o counter Peiping's polemical accusations throughout the preceding months that the Soviet Union had failed to sup- port adequately any war or national liberation struggle after the Moscow Conference of November 1957. This charge had been aired publicly, in oblique if unmistakable terms, just weeks before the Soviet decision to intervene in the Laotian civil war--on the occasion of the publication of the fourth volume of Mao Tse-tung's collected works, timed to coincide with the celebration of the 11th anniversary of the Chinese People's Republic on 1 October 1960.
This event, greeted with much fanfare in Chinese propa- ganda, provided a convenient medium for reiterating Peiping's militant line on the desirability and inevitability of armed struggle and violent revolution in promoting international Communism. Surrounding commentary stressed that Mao had al- ways insisted on taking a "revolutionary" line as opposed to an “opportunist” line (i.e. Khrushchev's). Furthermore, it characterized this volume as a "great Marxist-Leninist work" and asserted its "great significance for the broad people's revolutionary movements in those parts of the world. still under oppression and exploitation." It was clear that the Chinese Communists were once again advancing Mao's revolutionary theories as general guide for revolutionary movements. In the underdeveloped countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The immediate and forceful bloc response to General Phoumi's recapture of the Laotian capital in mid-December is a matter
of record. Initiated by a large-scale Soviet airlift 'delivering arms and ammunition, the Communist powers made quite clear their determination to take all measures necessary to support the gong Le-Pathet Lao forces. Although the concerted program of diplomatic, propaganda, and military action suggested clos coordination and consultation between Moscow and Peiping at the outset, there were several indications in 1961 that the Soviet Union and Communist China continued to hold divergent views on questions of timing and tactics in seeking a negotiated settlement of the Laotian crisis.
Beginning in January, Peiping and Hanoi appeared on a number of occasions to favor the continuation of armed struggle rather than to accept MOSCOW'S proposal to negotiate an international political settlement. This was evident first of all in Communist China's obvious reluctance to permit re- activation of the International Control Commission in Laos, stipulating as a prior condition that a new Geneva Conference be reconvened. Reports of North Vietnamese resistance to a ceasefire" appeared confirmed by a 4 April Soviet broadcast to Vietnam urging in defensive tones the desirability of a truce. Peiping's insistence in late April that all American military personnel and equipment be withdrawn before a "real cease-fire" could be achieved in Laos indicated a desire for continued military operations in preference to a political settlement. Finally, there was evidence of divergent approaches to negotiations, either as to tactics or to sub- stance, between the Chinese Communists and the Soviets after tile Geneva Conference on Laos convened in May.
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Animated by the desire to achieve quick gains in both South Vietnam and Laos; North Vietnam displayed a marked preference for Peiping's more militant position on world Communist strategy throughout 1960 and 1961. It remains now to examine North Vietnam's role in the overall Sino-Soviet conflict throughout this period, a role which Ho Chi Minh per- formed with notable effect at the Moscow Conference of November 1960.and which Hanoi has continued t o play up the present.