Continuing from the previous article, "Miao Outside the Miao" No. 7: Lao Miao People, Involved in Cooperation with the French Colonists, Bringing Misfortunes".
It is not easy to write from the beginning of this chapter, because it involves the Vietnam War and the secret war in Laos. No matter what position you take to describe it, how you evaluate the relevant events will attract criticism from certain types of readers. There are many declassified materials on this history, not that there is no information to write, but that many historical details are not suitable for discussion on public platforms. I can only describe it with thick lines.
When it comes to declassifying data, it is not that these materials are all shocking events. The so-called decrypted data are generally internal documents of the relevant countries that were opened to the public a few years ago in accordance with the Archives Management Law, and if they are documents involving important state secrets of the countries concerned, they are still not open for consultation. Based on the declassified documents, researchers can more fully analyze the background of major international historical events in that year, the decision-making process of relevant countries and the real historical events. If not used for historical analysis, most of the data is boring.
This chapter is not interesting, please be patient. Coincidentally, when you see the methods of the United States launching secret wars exposed in this chapter and later chapters, you can think of the United States' practice in regional wars today: early and all-round infiltration and layout, unscrupulous means to launch a propaganda war to slander the enemy, actively seek and support regional agents, deeply interfere in elections or subvert the legitimate democratically elected government, and train a large number of mercenaries to charge and take millet for their own fire.
The fate of the mercenaries of the Miao people who emigrated to Laos during the turbulent Cold War years was nothing more than a drifting yellow leaf that was manipulated by others.
Why does Laos always attract colonialist flies? Because the targets of flies are all China.
The main purpose of the French invasion of Southeast Asia was to use Southeast Asia as a springboard to invade China's southern Xinjiang. French colonists began to covet Laos as they invaded Vietnam and Cambodia in the mid-nineteenth century.
The French first sent Catholics and merchants, as well as agents disguised as explorers, into Laos to learn about the socio-economic conditions of Laos and to cultivate pro-French feelings of the Lao people. From 1888 to 1889, the French general Ba Vi led an expedition to laos on the most extensive "expedition", drawing a complete map of Laos for the first time.
At the end of the nineteenth century, after the French occupied Cambodia and Vietnam, siam, who ruled Laos, proposed that Laos be a Vietnamese vassal state and asked for the cession of the east bank of the Mekong River, but Siam refused. The French then began a fierce attack on Laos in the spring of 1893, invading Laos in three ways: the first French attacked from Cambodia, the second directed at Kmarat, and the third directly attacked Gammong. In August 1893, King Chulalongkorn of Siam had to agree to cede Laos and part of siam on the east bank of the Mekong River to France. Since then, most of the land of the Kingdom of Luang Prabang has been occupied by france, and the rest was fully occupied by France until 1904.
Timeline of the French occupation of Laos
Why is France so obsessed with the possession of Laos? This is because of the important geographical location of Laos. France has always regarded the Mekong River as the main channel into China's Yunnan and the exploitation of China's mineral resources.
France's influence on Laos is profound. After the independence of Laos, the Lao language was adopted as the Chinese of Laos, but the French language continues to be used in official documents and letters of the Lao state.
Germany invaded France in May 1940 and soon occupied Paris, which surrendered on June 22. In July, led by Pétain, France formed the Vichy puppet government. At this time, Japan, which was invading China in an all-round way, also started the idea of Southeast Asia.
In June 1940, Japan signed an agreement with the government of Siam's Phibun Songkran in Siam, giving it the privilege of sending troops to Indochina through the road. Later, Japan forced the French authorities in Indochina to obtain the right to land freely in the Indochina region.
During World War II, Japan's "Map of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Circle" marked the resources that Japan wanted to plunder
Japan coveted Indochina in order to plunder rice, rubber, coal, and other mineral resources to support the war of aggression against China. At this time, Siam wanted to take advantage of France's decline to regain the West Bank of the Mekong region ceded to France in 1893, that is, most of the territory of Laos and Cambodia, and thus quarreled with France.
In January 1941, Japan took the initiative to act as a "mediator" in the Franco-Siamese dispute, urging the two countries to negotiate peace. Grant, then the US minister to Siam, predicted that in order to advance southward, Japan would temporarily sacrifice the interests of Laos and Cambodia as bait to enable Siam to help Japan achieve its aggressive goals, and then Siam would gradually fall into Japan's trap and be subject to Japan because it was difficult to extricate itself. And so it is.
On 23 July, the Vichy government formally acceded to Japan's demands on the question of French Indochina, which indirectly occupied Laos through Siamese manipulation. Subsequently, many Japanese "expeditions" began to enter Laos and carried out extensive activities in the area. At the same time, a large number of Japanese soldiers posing as Japanese "civilians" poured into Laos, effectively completing the Japanese occupation of Laos.
On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its surrender, theoretically ending its occupation of Southeast Asia, but the Southeast Asian countries did not immediately gain independence.
During the Allied takeover of the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia, nationalist patriots in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos launched independence movements and declared national independence. Vietnam's anti-fascist national united front, the Vietnam Independence League ("Viet Minh"), won the august revolution under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh and declared an independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi on September 2.
France, bent on restoring colonial rule in Indochina, could not tolerate the emergence of independent states in its traditional sphere of influence and began to resume colonial rule in the region. France first entered southern Vietnam with British troops as a victorious power, and after the British withdrew, the French army continued to garrison the area. Later, in exchange for control of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, the French forced chinese troops to withdraw from Vietnam, while the French entered northern Vietnam under the legal name of succeeding the Chinese garrison.
When Japan surrendered, France proposed that Laos remained a French colony under the occupation agreements signed earlier. Prince Petchora, the political leader of Laos and the "father of Lao independence", refused to accept French rule. He declared the independence of Laos on 1 September 1945.
Prince Pekjela sent lobbiing to the provinces of Ta Chok, Savannakhet, Sharawan and Champasak to request the participation of the provinces in the Lao Federation, which was unanimously approved. This act caused him to come into conflict with the royal palace of Luang Prabang. Because the Royal Palace of Luang Prabang had promised the French to annul the previous declaration of independence and restore the status of a protectorate.
A 100 kip banknote issued by the Kingdom of Laos in 1957, with the character of King Sisawang von, was printed by France
The King of Luang Prabang sent a telegram to Prince Pejera announcing his dismissal as Deputy King and Prime Minister of Laos. The new National Assembly voted on 20 October to depose the king. Persuaded by the leaders of the new Lao government, King Sisawang Von was forced to cooperate with the new government and re-ascended the throne in April 1946 to establish a constitutional monarchy.
The French government could not tolerate Lao independence, so it marched north and launched an all-out attack on Laos. The newly formed Laos Defense Force, the Free Laos (i.e., Lao Ishara), was simply unable to withstand the French attack. On April 24, 1946, the French army occupied Vientiane, on May 13, it occupied Luang Prabang, and on September 23, it occupied Ban Hoa Tan. At the same time, the French army began to clear the Basha area to the Laotian Isara stronghold of Beili.
Members of the independent government of Laos (commonly known as Lao Ishara) were forced to leave Laos and go into exile in Thailand, including Prince Petchala, Prince Sophia Fuma, and Prince Sofanuvon. During this time, Prince Sufanu von summoned the Lao resistance movement, later known as "Bat Lao", and allied with the VietnamEse League led by Ho Chi Minh in northern Vietnam.
At this time, Thailand had concluded a "friendly" treaty with France, which was restrained by France and did not allow Lao Ishara to carry out military deployment on Thai territory. Therefore, with the help of the Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh, Sufanu von fled back to Laos and launched the Bat Liao Movement in the northern border areas of Laos, actively cooperating with the Viet Minh's anti-French struggle while striving for Lao independence.
In December 1946, french troops broke the previous agreement with the Viet Minh and bombed Hanoi, HaiPhong and other places, Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Minh to fight back, and at the same time declared the whole country into a state of war against the French, and the First Indochina War (1946-1954) was in full swing.
With the smooth development of the anti-French struggle between Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, France, fearing defeat, hoped to hold "peace talks" in order to extricate itself from Indochina. The United States intended to succeed France in continuing control of Indochina, but was unable to open a new battlefield in Asia because it was deeply involved in the Korean War. Thus, during this period, the United States prevented Indochina from falling into communist hands only by providing military and economic assistance to the French and South Vietnamese governments.
After the end of the Korean War, the United States began to actively intervene in the Indo-Todochina War out of the strategic need to curb the development of communist forces in Asia, especially the new Chinese forces. Under Dulles' command, the United States put pressure on France to escalate the war and assured the United States that it would increase military assistance to this end. But when France demanded direct U.S. intervention, the Eisenhower regime did not want to make the United States assume new war obligations.
The French forces surrendered at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The United States turned to the United Kingdom for joint action, but Churchill ignored the American appeal. The French, isolated and helpless, retreated to the Dien Bien Phu Valley in 1953. In May 1954, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu ended in a crushing Defeat for the French, forcing the French to surrender and evacuate Vietnam, marking the final collapse of French power in Indochina.
But the French legacy in the region provided an opportunity and excuse for U.S. intervention, which eventually plunged the United States into the quagmire of war in Indochina.
Second, the United States drove out the French colonial powers, gradually intervened in indigence affairs in Indochina, and made long-term preparations for direct troops.
As an emerging imperialist country, the United States has long been involved in Southeast Asia. In Laos, for example, the United States was the first to send missionaries into the country. American missionaries preached freely among Laos, and many conflicts of interest occurred in different beliefs from the local people.
On February 9, 1884, U.S. Minister John Haldman in Bangkok pressed the King of Siam to establish a dedicated American missionary garrison in northern Laos where Americans could move freely and without restriction. In September of the same year, the Siamese government instructed the ruling prince of Laos to meet the demands of the United States as much as possible, and agreed to provide the land and houses needed for the United States to establish a legation. However, due to the relatively strict rule and management of the colonies after the French occupation of Laos, the United States did nothing in the region for the time being.
After World War II, Japan's occupying powers in Southeast Asia began a national independence movement, France wanted to take the opportunity to restore its colonial rule, and Thailand wanted to take advantage of the chaos to regain its traditional sphere of influence in the region. In the process of France and Thailand competing for Laos, the United States first adopted a wait-and-see policy, but after the military conflict between France and Thailand, the United States realized that it could use this situation to fight for its own best interests, and the United States began to actively reconcile from it.
Both France and Thailand wanted to win the support of the United States, but neither the United States gave a clear answer. On May 1, 1946, acting Secretary of State Acheson of the United States pointed out in a telegram to The Chief Of State in Thailand Jost on how to respond to Thailand's demands on the United States that the United States would support Thailand to some extent, but hoped that Thailand would follow the Singapore model and sign an agreement with France on the settlement of the territorial dispute, and that the United States would informally ask France to resolve the issue from a sympathetic point of view; at the same time, the Thais could not be made to think that the United States fully agreed with and supported their demands.
On June 3, the French Embassy in the United States called the U.S. State Department saying thailand had broken its promises and intended to occupy Cambodia and Laos, and called on the United States to intervene in order to guarantee French colonial interests in the region. But the next day, U.S. Secretary of State Bernards pointed out in a telegram to Jost that the United States' attitude toward the contradiction between France and Siam is not to explicitly support either side, but to respect the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
After a long game, the United States finally chose to support the French colonists. On November 17, 1946, France and Thailand signed the Treaty of Settlement and the Protocol, stipulating: "The territory of Indochina, which is primarily covered by the Agreement, shall be transferred to the French authorities,...... Thai armed forces will withdraw from these territories. "Many areas, including Laos, were reoccupied by French colonists.
However, in the first Indochina War in Indochina to oppose French colonial rule, the United States believed that the existence of Laos, Vietnamese and Cambodia as independent countries was more conducive to the influence and control of the United States in Southeast Asia, and it was most in the interests of the United States, so the attitude of the United States gradually changed.
On September 27, 1948, the U.S. Department of State issued a policy statement on Indochina: "France has invested a large number of troops in the Indochina region since 1947, but it has not achieved the corresponding results,...... After Japan's surrender, France's policy toward Vietnam was generally a failure, with only progress in normalizing relations with Cambodia and Laos. ”
In January 1950, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Perkins said, "The United States recognizes these three legitimate governments as necessary and consistent with U.S. foreign policy: an incentive for the colonists of Southeast Asia under non-Communist leadership; the establishment of a stable non-Communist government around China; a support for friendly nations in the north Atlantic Treaty Organization; and an opposition to the Communist Party's policy of ultimately controlling Asia under the guise of indigenous nationalism." ”
Former U.S. Secretary of State Acheson
On March 9, U.S. Secretary of State Acheson wrote in a memorandum to the president that "the regime in Indochina faces a serious threat from the communist anti-government forces led by Ho Chi Minh, so immediate military assistance is required in this region." At the same time, corresponding economic support will be given.
In this war, the United States chose to persuade France to agree to the diplomatic strategy of the three Indo-Indo-Chinese countries to obtain autonomy within the French Federation, and never stopped its political influence, economic support and military assistance to Laos and other Indochina regions. The policy of the United States at that time was to contain the local communist forces without letting the United States fall into them.
However, with the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union in the global struggle for hegemony and the formation of the Cold War pattern, the United States clarified its containment policy toward the Soviet Union. The United States recognizes Southeast Asia as a potentially important market for its exports. Therefore, the United States believes that this region is of great importance to the Philippines and, indeed, to the national security of the United States, and the United States wants to see an orderly, non-revolutionary Southeast Asia that is open to Western interests.
At first, the United States was mainly busy occupying and transforming Japan, while supporting Chiang Kai-shek's establishment of a pro-American regime in China, and had no time to take care of Southeast Asia. However, with the founding of New China, China's full participation in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and its victory, the United States recognized the strength of the Asian Communist Party, feared that the small Southeast Asian countries in the future would become the Red Camp countries of the Soviet Union and China, and the United States would "endure a great political rout, and the rest of the world would have repercussions, especially in the Middle East and Australia, which was exposed at that time." ”
The United States believes that "whatever the approach, the political system imposed on Southeast Asia by the Soviet Union and its Chinese communist allies will be a serious threat to the entire free world." The United States believes that this possibility should not be passively accepted, but should be resisted by joint action. While such an approach may carry serious dangers, if we do not dare to act resolutely and decisively today, the dangers we face in the coming years will be much greater than those of today. Based on this understanding, the United States intends to directly control Southeast Asia.
The last plenary meeting of the Geneva Conference in 1954
On July 21, 1954, China, the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, France, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia jointly signed the Geneva Agreement, stipulating that all countries should respect the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the three countries and not interfere in their internal affairs; after the armistice, the above-mentioned three countries should be "established a joint committee composed of warring parties and an international monitoring committee composed of neutral countries to be responsible for implementing and supervising the implementation of the provisions of the armistice agreement." As a result, the International Monitoring Commission (ICC) of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia was eventually established, but under the influence and intervention of the United States, the committee did not play its due function and role. Because the United States believes that the relationship between the members of the International Monitoring Commission is mutually balanced, it is difficult for the United States to manipulate. The United States often bypassed the International Monitoring Commission to take action in Indochina, and eventually the Geneva Agreement was completely undermined and the International Monitoring Commission was forced to suspend its work.
The United States used various means to prevent the Communist regime from winning victories in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. U.S. policymakers argue that now that French power has withdrawn from the region, it must be replaced by someone to continue to aid it. Thus, "the United States defined the policy of Indochina after the Geneva ceasefire agreement, that is, to strive to ensure the territorial integrity and independence of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, so that they formed a solid barrier against further Communist invasion of Southeast Asia." To this end, the United States has taken a series of economic and military assistance measures to the Indochina region, while intending to completely exclude French power.
On August 12, 1954, the U.S. Joint Operations Corps made it clear in its recommendation to the government that they were unanimously in favor of the containment policy and wanted to replace France. On August 17, the President of the United States approved the request for all assistance not to be provided directly to the Indochina countries through France. In this way, the United States bypassed France and began to exert influence on the Indochina region.
At the end of August, the French National Assembly rejected the European Defense Community plan, an event that made the United States even more disgusted with French influence in Southeast Asia and accelerated the pace of exclusion of France. At the end of September, the United States told a French delegation visiting Washington that the United States planned to equip and train Vietnamese troops without a French role, and also asked France to withdraw all troops by March 1956.
With the withdrawal of French forces from Indochina, U.S. intervention in Indochina came from behind the scenes, first with limited intervention, then deep involvement, and finally direct troops to the war, so that the Vietnam War and the secret war in Laos broke out.
Third, the United States actively interfered in the internal affairs of Laos, resulting in unrest in the Lao regime in the 1960s.
In accordance with the Geneva Armistice Agreement, Laos held a national election in 1955 to elect a prime minister and party to hold state power. The United States feared that Bat Liao would win the election and that the Lao Communist Party would eventually take power and would constantly interfere in the Lao election through various means and measures.
Dulles, american Cold War diplomat and father of the CIA
In mid-to-late January 1955, U.S. Minister to Laos Jost Sent Seven Telegrams to the U.S. Department of State analyzing the desire of some people in Laos to peacefully resolve the conflicts between the Royal Government of Laos and communist forces under the Geneva Accords, such as Sananikhon; and others were very much in line with the United States' idea that Lao domestic politics was not bound by the Geneva Accords and that Bat Laos could not be allowed to participate in the central government, such as Kadai. At the same time, the United States was also worried about the military strength of Bat Liao, which had to be incorporated into the army of the Kingdom of Laos. The U.S. government should step further into Lao affairs and provide support to the Royal Government of Laos. Yoster's views on the situation in Laos reflected the thinking of most of the upper-level decision-makers in the United States at that time, and U.S. Secretary of State Dulles very much agreed, laying the groundwork for further U.S. intervention in Laos in the future.
President Eisenhower agreed with Dulles's views on Laos, and while providing American support to Laos, he also actively sought help from Britain and France and other countries, hoping to use Britain and France, especially British power, to provide support and assistance to the Communist-influenced areas of Laos. In a letter from President Eisenhower to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on March 29, he pointed out that Lao government officials feared that Vietnamese and Chinese communist forces would further infiltrate Laos and occupy more territory in Laos, and that in this case, the Treaty of Manila should be tried to help Laos together, otherwise the communist forces would become stronger and stronger, and eventually, they would lose all of Lao territory like North Vietnam.
The United States began military infiltration of Laos. In order to assess laotian military equipment needs, the United States established the Project Evaluation Office (PEO) in late 1955 to be responsible for assistance projects to Laos, emphasizing the need for the involvement of U.S. military personnel. However, if military personnel are directly sent to Laos, it will blatantly violate the Geneva Agreement, and the United States will be condemned by international public opinion. Therefore, it is necessary to select non-military personnel with military backgrounds to be stationed in Laos. As a result, the office workers sent to Laos in the early years were veterans, dressed like civilians, but under the direct leadership of the PEO. Despite the cover, the PEO was effectively the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), which took over the training of the Lao army in France and was a standard militarized organization. The United States has achieved its goal of meddling in Laos' domestic affairs by providing military assistance to Laos.
At the same time, the documents submitted by the National Security Council of the United States all refer to the cultural and psychological strategy of the United States towards Indochina, represented by the UNITED States Information Agency program. The United States used various media to slander the Communist Party, publicize the Communist Party's violation of the Geneva Armistice Agreement, show people the tragic life of the North Vietnamese people under Communist rule, praise the merits of the South Vietnamese government in resettling refugees, and highlight the moral and material assistance provided by the United States... The governments of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia have made many efforts to inspire a stronger movement. The Lao military used U.S. advice and assistance to set up mobile military information teams to carry U.S. Information Agency supplies to places they could not reach. The Lao Government and the U.S. Information Service jointly produce newsloafes and documentaries to promote the Lao people's support for the Royal Government of Laos in order to curb the development of the Lao Communist Party.
In order to intervene in the Laotian general election in December 1955 and ensure the victory of non-communist forces in the election, by the end of October, the United States had completed the assembly of 2,000 armed forces and transported the equipment needed by the Lao government to designated locations. The United States dispatched two Thai helicopters to assist in the operation, and the pilots used and the corresponding maintenance were taken care of by the United States. The United States coordinated the Laotian and Thai governments, brokered their military cooperation, formed a Thai-Lao coalition, and conducted small-scale training of lao army technicians in Thailand.
Through various efforts, the United States directly intervened in and influenced the Lao election. The United States first forced the Lao Communist Party to renounce participation in the elections, and then elected a pro-American prime minister, Kadai. However, in early 1956, Kadai was unable to form a cabinet independently and had to resign. Eventually, Prince Sofayah Fuma, with the support of Prince Sisawang, formed a new government on 21 March, with Sofana as Prime Minister and Kadai as Deputy Prime Minister.
But Sofana was not actively anti-communist, and even wanted to meet with the Chinese president, trying to persuade his brother Prince Phechela, the leader of the Lao Freedom Movement and the leader of the exiled government, to return to China and join the new Lao government, using his influence over Pathalo to call on the armed forces to end the confrontation with the government, which allowed Bat Liao to operate in the existing sphere of influence, namely in the provinces of Sang Nu and Phongsari.
In early August 1956, Sofana reached an agreement with the Delegation of Batliao led by Suphanuvong, including a ceasefire in the disputed area, the implementation of a neutral foreign policy, and the political rights of Bat liao, known as the Vientiane Agreement. Sophia's actions caused great panic in the U.S. government, and Dulles called the Lao embassy on August 7 to express his deep disappointment with the Lao government and fear that it was beyond the control of the United States.
To gain the support of the Chinese government, Prime Minister Sofana is preparing for a two-week visit to Beijing and Hanoi. After overcoming U.S. obstructions, Solfana paid a week-long foreign affairs visit to Beijing from August 20 to 26. China has made it clear that it will provide assistance to Laos without any political conditions. The two sides issued a joint statement on August 25, saying that Laos does not accept the so-called protection of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization because its protection clause for Laos was formulated without the participation of the Lao state. The US plan to prevent the Laos-China meeting did not succeed.
On April 6, 1956, U.S. Ambassador to Laos Yoster sent an analysis of Laos' prospects for the next five years to the U.S. Department of State, proposing that there were two alternative ways to future U.S. policy toward Laos, either to protect or subvert the Lao monarchy. Jost believes that french power has gradually withdrawn, and Laos is bound to continue to rely on the United States.
In a memorandum dated February 7, 1956 to Secretary of Defense Wilson, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Arthur Redford, he proposed to increase the allocation of military aid to Laos in fiscal year 1956 to increase the number of lao military bases from 23,650 to 25,000. This includes the formation of a 721-strong air force within three years. On April 18, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, Oskine, in a top-secret letter to Assistant Secretary of Defense for National Security, Gray, urgently urged that U.S. weapons and equipment assistance to Laos should be available as soon as possible, a necessary guarantee for the CIA to carry out operations in Laos without further delay, and that this task should be carried out by the U.S. Agency for International Cooperation (ICA). A list of small arms requiring the Ministry of Defence is also listed: 3,500 carbines of 30 calibers with 3.5 million rounds of ammunition; 1,500 submachine guns of 45 calibers, with 1.5 million rounds of ammunition. To prevent the International Commission of Control (ICC) from discovering, the small shipment of firearms and ammunition was secretly transported to Laos on May 30.
On November 22, 1956, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Hoover telephoned the Lao Embassy to inform Laos of the U.S. State Department's resolution: If Sofa insists on going his own way, he must let bartegrain members enter the cabinet, and the United States will stop supporting and assisting Laos. In order to make overtures to the United States and strive to continue to receive us military aid funds, from January 13 to 15, 1958, Lao Prime Minister Sophat and his party came to Washington to pay a friendly visit to the United States. In the meantime, when sofana met with US Deputy Defense Secretary Donald and Assistant Secretary of Defense Mansfield, he proposed the current military project that Laos hopes for US assistance, but the United States is not satisfied.
According to statistics, in 1955, the United States provided about 40 million US dollars of economic assistance to Laos, of which 10 million US dollars were used for living assistance and 30 million US dollars were used for the construction of military facilities. To defend Bat Liao, the United States helped the Lao government establish the Lao Kingdom Self-Defense Force and Police Force, and covered the budget cost of the additional 3,000 police officers.
To help Lao anti-communist forces win votes, the U.S. government sent members of the U.S. Overseas Mission (USOM) and the U.S. Department of Information Services (USIS) to help with the campaign, and developed programs such as the "Film Screening Team" and the "Mobile Propaganda Group." In order to avoid openly violating the relevant provisions of the Geneva Treaty, the United States has also actively mobilized its "close partner" Thailand in Asia, using Thai and facilities to train the Lao army, using the Thai army to suppress lao emergencies, and letting Thai officials guide Lao officials.
From June 1956, there were disagreements between Sophana and Kadai over issues such as amending the Lao Constitution, and by November, the King of Laos had publicly rebuked Sophat. The United States took the opportunity to constantly put pressure on Sophat. Following U.S. intervention, the Sofarna government lost the Lao National Assembly elections on May 29, 1957, and was forced to resign the following day.
After a 72-day cabinet crisis, Sophia Fuma won the August 9 election to regroup the cabinet.In November, the Sofana government signed a political agreement with Padlao to transfer the administration of Sam Nu and Funchari provinces to the Royal Government of Laos, establishing Lao government institutions including Sophanuphon and other Members of Butteliao, and jointly building an army. This result exceeded the expectations of the United States, which had to pay more attention to the domestic situation in Laos.
Lao Ambassador Parsons gave the State Department a detailed analysis of the balance of power in Laos and concluded that the six forces that could confront Bat Lao – the Royal Police, the Swat Police, the Political and Social Services, the Lao National Army, the Citizen Action Team, and the Intelligence Service – had been trained and had accumulated some experience. The United States must oppose the parties that support the union, and the United States must oppose Sofana and instead support Kadai and Pei Sananikhon against Batliao.
However, in the May 1958 Laotian by-election, Pratuak and other left-wing delegates won 13 of the 21 additional seats, plus the previous eight seats in the National Assembly, and the left-wing representatives held 21 of the 59 seats in the entire Lao National Assembly, controlling about one-third of the seats.
President Eisenhower commented on this at the meeting of the National Security Council, "This by-election in Laos has achieved a bad result", "Although we have done everything in our power to coordinate conservative forces, the Communist Consciousness has still won...", "We have to worry about the upcoming universal election in 1959." "If every country achieves communism through legitimate people's elections, as laos do, it will be a very serious problem."
The indirect U.S. intervention in Laos was more unsuccessful, so it prepared for a more radical form of intervention.
At the suggestion and help of the United States, anti-communist youth groups, including Right-wing Laos military officers, organized the Committee for the Defence of the National Interest (CDNI), rallied anti-communist forces across the country to force the National Assembly to overthrow the Saufarna coalition government in July, to squeeze the PAF party out of the Lao government, and to form the Pey Sanaanikhon government.
On 14 February 1959, the Government of Sanaanikhom issued a statement openly declaring that Laos would no longer be bound by the Geneva Accords. After that, dozens of battalions of armed forces were mobilized, surrounded the Bat Liao combat troops, which had become part of the national army, ordered their disarmament, put Prince Sufanuvon and the leading cadres of the Patriotic Front Party under house arrest, and persecuted the vast number of patriots. The Lao people once again threw themselves into armed self-defense and waged guerrilla warfare in various regions.
On March 5, 1959, the U.S. State Department sent a telegram to the Lao Embassy to promptly express U.S. support to Xana nikhon and handle related issues.
One of the leaders of the Laos Committee for the Defence of national interests, the right-wing Fumi Nosawan, took advantage of the civil unrest to lead soldiers to occupy the Lao government and forceDhanani to step down.
In May 1960, the United States made up its mind to support the Fumi Group, but stressed that such support could not be made public so as not to be accused of interfering in lao internal affairs, and demanded that the Lao embassy should not leave any evidence of U.S. commitments and assurances to Fumi.
In the early morning of August 9, 1960, Captain Gunler, commander of the 2nd Parachute Battalion in Laos, took advantage of the departure of the Fumi leadership group in Vientiane, staged a coup d'état and immediately occupied the government, arguing that "Laos should strictly abide by the policy of complete neutrality,...... In particular, it is necessary to maintain relations with the Communists so that Laos will not become a battlefield for the two camps to import war materials to support the Laos in fighting the Laos." Gundle invited Sophia to form a new lao government.
The Fumi clique, with the support of the United States, also set up a southern anti-coup organization, coupled with the Bat Liao forces in the north, Laos is already in the midst of a divided civil strife.
Fourth, in the midst of political turmoil in Laos, Wang Bao began to have his own Miao armed forces.
During World War II, the Hmong in Laos were also divided, with some cooperating with the French and some cooperating with the Japanese.
The main area of the Bat Liao struggle
But after World War II, the Hmong people mainly stood against the French colonizers. Because the areas led by The Pathat Laos (Lao Patriotic Front) are mainly in Sang Nu, Phongsari and Khwai provinces, these areas are important Hmong settlements. Many of the Hmong compatriots oppressed by the colonialists were mobilized to join the Bat liao movement. He made an important contribution to the seizure of state power by Bartliao.
It can be said that under the turbulent situation in Laos, the forces of all sides have disappeared one after another, and the regime has been constantly changing. The fate of the Miao people has also drifted with the turmoil of the times.
In the early 1950s, four Miao villagers migrated to the north of Luang Prabang to escape the war, and they called the new settlement "Muspuras". In addition to growing food crops, they also grow opium and raise livestock.
As the Hmong migrated to Muspuras, the French established a mixed army in Muspures with a predominantly ethnic minority. The unit, commanded by a colonel, was commanded by 10 French officers and built an airstrip here, where helicopters could take off and land frequently, and it took only a few minutes to get here from Luang Prabang. The French general trained in Laos was called Wang Bao, and later the work here was replaced by General Wang Bao, and the pilots here were provided by the United States.
When it comes to the history of the migration of the Hmong people to the United States, the general information will talk about Wang Bao. Older sources say that he led some Hmong people to migrate to the United States, but the historical language behind it is unclear. Tell a story of a person who has to be put on a coffin. How to say it? Wang Bao worked closely with the CIA for most of his life, so his later history was inconvenient to talk about. I can only say that this man made contributions to Laos during the anti-Japanese struggle in World War II, but his behavior is not commendable because he later resolutely went against the socialist state regime in Laos and became a benchmark set by the United States to split China and endangered China's national security.
I think it is not appropriate to write too much about Wang Bao, and I also wrote with the flow until Wang Bao and other Miao people immigrated to the United States. We must remember that the emigrants are foreigners, we cannot treat them as domestic people, and when we interact with them, we cannot deviate from the relevant foreign-related laws and regulations of the country to carry out out-of-line exchanges, otherwise it will always be us who will be hurt.
Wang Bao was born on December 8, 1929, to a Miao peasant family in KawaKwan Province, northeastern Laos. During World War II, when Japan invaded Indochina, he joined the French Indochina Army to resist Japanese aggression. During the guerrilla war against Japan, Wang Bao was a non-commissioned officer who fought bravely and had command skills.
After World War II, French colonists made a comeback. Wang Bao led two combat operations against north Vietnamese troops infiltrating northern Laos. Wang Bao's outstanding performance was recognized by a French commander, who escorted him to regular officer training, and he was sent to the Vientian Military Academy to study. The French commander also gave Wang Bao many weapons and ammunition before returning home. Wang Bao's Miao guerrillas gradually expanded their size and strength.
After graduating from the Yongzhen Military Academy, Wang Bao took part in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu with the rank of second lieutenant, in which he led 300 Hmong soldiers to rescue 76 soldiers. After the failed withdrawal of french troops from Indochina, Wang Bao entered the newly independent Lao Kingdom Army, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in December 1960 and became the only Hmong general in the Lao national army in 1964 with the rank of major general, and he continued to maintain a special force of 15,000 Miao in northern Laos, declaring his allegiance to the Kingdom of Laos.
Known for his death-defying, lustful, and shrewd businessman mind, Wang Bao married 6 wives and engaged in the opium trade.
On January 6, 2011, Wang Bao died of illness in the United States.
To be continued.