Containment in Asia

After WWII ended, the containment of communism became the United States' chief strategy in much of the Far East. One of the main reasons that the U.S. became involved in the region was that China experienced a communist revolution in 1949 after many years of civil war between the Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi) and the Communists, led by Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong).

After the Nationalists were defeated, despite receiving large amounts of support from the U.S., they retreated to the island of Taiwan. The Communists received some support from the Soviet Union, but they followed their own path after the revolution. As a result, there were now two Chinas: a communist government on the mainland, and a nationalist government on Taiwan. Since the civil war was never officially resolved, this situation persists to the present day.

As with most conflicts during the Cold War era, especially those involving communist revolutions, the Soviets and the Americans allied themselves on opposing sides of the ideological divide. Communist China took an active role in opposition to the U.S. by supporting communist governments in other countries, like North Korea.

Meanwhile, many other countries in Asia sought independence after many decades of colonization by European countries and Japanese occupation during WWII. This was the case in Vietnam, a former French colony. During the war, independence movements developed within the country that were opposed to the Japanese occupation army. After the war, the French looked to re-establish their colonial government. When the communists, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, defeated the French, the Americans began to support a non-communist government in South Vietnam, in hopes of containing the spread of communism. A civil war broke out between the North and the South, where the Americans ended up committing large numbers of troops and supplies.

After struggling for years against the Viet Cong guerillas, the United States withdrew all of its troops and the war became more unpopular at home. Immediately after the withdrawal, North Vietnam defeated the South and the country became unified under a communist government in 1975. The country remains communist to the present, although relations between America and Vietnam have improved in the past few years.