As the world marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, Taiwan’s role in the conflict remains less discussed. Taipei provided economic support and covert military assistance to its South Vietnamese ally during the conflict. Former President Nguyen Van Thieu fled to Taipei after stepping down and thousands of Vietnamese refugees passed through Taiwan’s outlying Penghu Islands. Those are just a few of the instances where Taiwan and the war crossed paths.
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00:00April 30th, 1975. A final standoff in Saigon, just before communist North Vietnamese forces
00:12claim victory. It's been 50 years since the last U.S. helicopters took off from its embassy in
00:17Saigon, leaving behind many and marking an end to two decades of U.S. military involvement in
00:23Vietnam. More than 3 million Vietnamese were killed, and nearly 60,000 U.S. soldiers died in
00:34the conflict, part of the U.S.'s global war against communism that left no country in the region
00:39unaffected, including Taiwan. The war pitted the Soviet and China-backed North against the U.S.-backed
00:47South. For Taiwan's leader Chiang Kai-shek, South Vietnam was a natural ally, both fighting for
00:53survival against communist foes. Leaders from the two countries often visited each other and
00:58maintained strong economic ties. One significant aspect is that the two countries were large trading
01:05partners to each other, and this is very significant for Taiwan in their early stage of industrialization.
01:15At the peak of the Vietnam War, Taiwan's export to Vietnam, South Vietnam War, around 15%.
01:21While Taiwan never openly participated in the fighting, they provided military assistance
01:27and training to South Vietnam. Sometimes there was more direct help. In 1964, 17 commandos from
01:34Taiwan were reportedly captured during covert operations in North Vietnam. Taiwan was also
01:39critical for the U.S. military, as an official location for troops on leave and as a transit location
01:45to and from Vietnam. Thousands of U.S. troops were stationed in Taiwan throughout the war,
01:50officially serving as trainers and advisors.
01:53The battle against communism must be joined in Southeast Asia with strength and determination
01:59to achieve success there. Or the United States inevitably must surrender the Pacific and take
02:06up our defenses on our own shores. Asian communism is comprised and contained by the maintenance of free
02:14nations on the subcontinent. Without this inhibitory influence, the island outposts, Philippines, Japan,
02:21Taiwan, have no security, and the vast Pacific becomes a Red Sea.
02:31U.S. forces would remain in Taiwan until their full withdrawal in 1979.
02:36Taiwan sometimes paid a price for its involvement. In 1967, Taiwan's embassy in Saigon was destroyed
02:51by a car bomb. The attack left at least 22 people injured.
02:54As the war turned against the U.S. and South Vietnam, its president, Nguyen Van Thieu, continued to make
03:06visits to Taiwan in 1969 and 1973. But eventually, he could fight no more. In April 1975, Thieu resigned as
03:16president and fled the country. And his first destination was Taipei. These photos dated just two days after the
03:24fall of Saigon show the now-former president, Thieu, meeting with Taiwan's interim president,
03:29Yen Jiaghan, future president, Jiang Jingguo, and paying respects to Jiang's father, Jiang Kai-shek,
03:35who had died just weeks earlier. Thieu would spend the rest of his life in exile in the U.K. and U.S.
03:47The war's end led to a refugee crisis. Often referred to as boat people,
03:52most refugees fled to neighboring countries such as Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia as they waited
03:58to move on.
03:59Of course, I want to get to Australia or U.S. or Canadian, you know, where I think I can make my
04:08life better. You know, I have reached my life for freedom.
04:13Some refugees landed on Taiwan's territory. More than 2,000 passed through a refugee camp set up in its
04:20outlying Penghu Islands. A small number stayed, forming the roots of the Vietnamese community in Taiwan.
04:26So at that time, there were around 200 people
04:32who cannot get
04:36the permission to move to any countries at all. Nobody want them. So in the end,
04:42the Taiwanese government allowed them to stay in Taiwan.
04:50If you go to some Vietnamese restaurants here in Taipei, especially in the Mu Cha area, you are likely
04:56to end up in meeting with some former refugees who used to live in Penghua Island.
05:03Taiwan normalized relations with communist Vietnam in 1992, three years before the U.S. did the same.
05:11Fifty years later, Ho Chi Minh City stands where Saigon once fell. Its nearby battlefields,
05:17now tourist attractions. Vietnam, the U.S., and Taiwan all continue to have strong economic and cultural
05:24ties. But the legacy of the war, and Taiwan's role in it, remains woven into history.
05:30Kline Wong and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus