ABSTRACT
After the conclusion of the Geneva conference on Laos in the summer of 1962 Chinese influence on the Lao Dong leadership became gradually more visible. This was not least due to Mao’s insistence that China ‘must support the armed struggles in South Vietnam and Laos without conditions’, at the Tenth Plenum of the CCP’s Central Committee in September 1962.2 The increased Chinese influence in North Vietnam affected Soviet relations with the Vietnamese, and especially how Soviet policy makers perceived relations between China and the DRV. During this period the Soviets also became very dependent on other Socialist countries to obtain information on developments in the Lao Dong leadership.
