why did China help the US in Vietnam?

Question

In the book I'm reading, SOG, about the American commandos in Vietnam, it says many of the SOG pilots were chinese. To my understanding of the war, North Vietnam wanted to be communist, and Russia, wanting to spread communism, shipped supplies to the North. China was communist as well, but they were helping out the American commandos. Why was this? Wouldn't they want to spread communism as well? thanks fro your time.

Ok I have studied Vietnam extensively. Lol I woudl not confuse it with WWII. Do you think Im dumb or something? If you read SOG you will understand. Thanks guys for all the answers, they're really helpful

Answer 1

Not sure about the pilots thing, but you have to understand how really odd the foreign situation and the USA's role in it. North Vietnam was helped by Soviet Union. China was and had been the natural enemy of Vietnam, and at the same time they were close to war with the Soviets.
China, the People Republic, would not have helped except for say, aiding down pilots that made it out of the North.

To show you how messed up our foreign policy was, after the fall of South Vietnam, and it became Vietnam, we refused to normalize relations with them. Though that was understandable, in Cambodia was eventually under The Khmer Rouge, which is remembered mainly for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people (estimates range from 850,000 to 3 million) under its regime, through execution, starvation and forced labor. Following their leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge imposed an extreme form of social engineering on Cambodian society—a radical form of agrarian communism where the whole population had to work in collective farms or forced labor projects. In terms of the number of people killed as a proportion of the population (est. 7.5 million people, as of 1975), it was one of the most lethal regimes of the 20th century. One of their mottos, in reference to the New People, was: "To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss."

After four years of rule, the Khmer Rouge regime was removed from power in 1979 as a result of an invasion by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Here were these rightly caused killing fields, and the US, because it hated Vietnam, opposed their invading and removing the Khmer Rouge, and we were joined by China, who supported the Khmer Rouge, because they were opposed by Vietnam and the Soviets.

Just because someone is called a communist, it does not mean they all believe the same thing.

Answer 2

Although both the USSR and China were communist, by that stage, i.e. post '64, a serious idealogical difference had sprung up between the two countries. North Vietnam was aligned with the USSR, and so was becoming an enemy of China, and in fact China invaded Vietnam almost immediately after the end of the American Vietnam war, the Chinese also lost!

Some of those pilots might also have been from Taiwan, i.e. Chinese Nationalists, or Chinese-Americans.

Answer 3

I'm guessing here that the Chinese you are mentioning are Nationalist China (Taiwan) troops, rather than Peoples Republic of China ( communists). Communist China did provide substantial support to North Vietnam during the war. After the war China and Vietnam became estranged and fought an inconclusive border war. But at no time did the Peoples Republic of China, support the US.

Answer 4

I think you have world war II confused with the war between North and South Vietnam. I do not believe that they helped our commandos at all.
It is a fact that Chinese regulars fought along side V.C. and North Vietnamese Troops as advisers. They fought the U. S. and South Vietnamese

Answer 5

SOG (speical operations group) did NOT use Chinese communists as pilots...they might have been ethnic Chinese, but they were Americans or from Tiawan, not Communist China.
The Communists would not and did not help the Americans.

Answer 6

when HO CHI MING fighting the French China gave him refuge in China