The People’s Republic of China and its Role in Making the Cold War Asia

HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
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The cold war was a significant period in world history where countries took part in the conflict either directly or indirectly. It is one of the largest military conflicts between states in the last century. The Vietnam and Korean war are proxy wars between communist Russia and the capitalist USA. The People's Republic of China's participation entails acting on behalf of its communist allies in the Asian region. However, the nature of their involvement was different in the two wars. China was passively involved and more reserved about the Vietnam war, while it participated actively in the Korean territory. China took a reactive role in making the Cold War Asia depending on the nature of its interests.[Khong, Yuen Foong. "The US, China, and the Cold War analogy." China International Strategy Review 1, no. 2 (2019): 223-237.]
Both Vietnam and Korean wars led to tensions formed by post-colonial solutions as countries recovered from the colonial period. For instance, Korea was colonized by the Japanese during the early twentieth century. Vietnam was a colony of the French. After the second world war, Japan surrendered, splitting Korea into two, the North and South. The north became a pro-communist government while the south adopted a pro-Western government. North Korea started the Korean War in 1950 to unite the entire county. They first attacked American airbases located in the south, marking the start of a long war.[Ibid, 224.]
The Vietnam war was started by the Vietnamese who wanted to gain independence from the French. The region underwent division into a community north and socialist south. The confrontation in the Vietnam and Korean wars was not just national conflicts between the two territories. They also escalated into international clashes whereby various countries such as China, Soviet Union, and the United States interfered. China's role in the conflicts was significant in both wars since the Chinese government provided economic and military support to the communist governments in North Vietnam and North Korea. China's involvement was to ensure that U.S. imperialism did not spread to its borders.[Ibid, 227.] [Khong, Yuen Foong. "The US, China, and the Cold War analogy." China International Strategy Review 1, no. 2 (2019): 223-237.]
Several primary sources supporting China's actions during the Cold War include military commands, speeches, and other statements made by Zho Enlai and Mao Zedong regarding Vietnam and the Korean war. A critical source about China is research by the historian called Allen Whiting, who documented why China participated in the Korean war. Whiting suggests that China's motive depends on xenophobic beliefs, expansion of the communist ideology, expansionist ambitions, and concerns about its national security. Sergei Goncharov and John Lewis, in Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War, point out that China was encouraged by their sense of responsibility to protect communist interests in Asia. However, they suggest that Stalin influenced this sense of responsibility to transfer the significant burden of support for the Korean war to China.[Ibid, 230.] [Sergei Goncharov and John Wilson Lewis, Unc...