Qingfei Yin‘s State Building in Cold War Asia is a new exploration of how China and Vietnam developed their state institutions, governance structures and political identities during the Cold War. This original and meticulously researched work is a landmark contribution to Cold War history, Asian studies, border studies and theories of state formation that extends beyond its geographical focus, according to Luciano Magaldi Sardella.

State Building in Cold War Asia: Comrades and Competitors on the Sino-Vietnamese Border. Qingfei Yin. Cambridge University Press. 2024.

Qingfei Yin‘s State Building in Cold War Asia: Comrades and Competitors on the Sino-Vietnamese Border is an extraordinary scholarly achievement that transcends conventional analytical frameworks and offers profound insights into the complex processes of state formation in revolutionary socialist contexts. In the vast constellation of Cold War historiography, Yin’s methodological approach represents a significant departure from traditional Cold War narratives that privilege great power politics and diplomatic machinations.  

Drawing upon a diverse body of archival materials – many hitherto unexplored – from both Chinese and Vietnamese repositories, the author constructs a multi-dimensional analysis that operates simultaneously at international, national, and local levels. This triangulation allows for a remarkably nuanced portrait of state-building processes that eschews reductionist explanations and embraces complexity. 

The author engages critically with canonical theorists of state formation – including Charles Tilly, James C. Scott, and Benedict Anderson – while developing innovative conceptual tools tailored to the specific historical context under examination. The notion of “joint state building,” for instance, represents a significant theoretical contribution that captures the paradoxical dynamics of collaboration and competition that characterised Sino-Vietnamese relations during this period.

Yin considers the reconceptualisation of borderlands not as passive peripheries, but as active sites of political negotiation and cultural production. This perspective highlights recent scholarly trends in border studies whilst extending these insights into new analytical territories. The author demonstrates convincingly that the Sino-Vietnamese borderlands constituted a laboratory where abstract revolutionary ideologies encountered material realities, producing hybrid forms of governance that often diverged from centralised visions. 

Yin’s chronological framework (1949-1975) encompasses a period of profound transformation in both China and Vietnam. The book weaves together parallel narratives of domestic consolidation and international positioning, demonstrating how developments at various scales influenced one another in complex feedback loops during this period. She also demonstrates how watershed moments – such as the Sino-Soviet split and the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam – reconfigured the parameters of bilateral cooperation and competition. 

The borderlands emerge in this account as zones of cultural complexity where ethnic identities, kinship networks, and economic patterns transcended national boundaries.

The historical narrative revealed a series of overlapping phases with distinct patterns of interaction between the two revolutionary states and their borderland populations. This periodisation illustrates the evolution of state-building strategies over time, from initial revolutionary enthusiasm to more pragmatic administrative approaches, and ultimately to increasingly divergent national trajectories that would culminate in the border conflicts of the late 1970s (which lie beyond the chronological scope of this volume).

Yin pays meticulous attention to borderland communities as historical actors in their own right. Far from depicting these populations as passive subjects of state power, she reveals their strategic engagement with state-building initiatives – sometimes complying, sometimes resisting, but frequently reinterpreting central directives to align with local interests and cultural practices. 

The borderlands emerge in this account as zones of cultural complexity where ethnic identities, kinship networks, and economic patterns transcended national boundaries. Yin demonstrates how these pre-existing social formations both constrained and enabled state-building efforts, necessitating compromises and adaptations from central authorities. Interestingly, border-crossing activities – including trade, marriage, and cultural exchange – continued despite increasing regulation, creating persistent challenges for both Chinese and Vietnamese officials.

Both Chinese and Vietnamese authorities mobilised nationalist sentiments to consolidate state authority, even as they officially espoused socialist internationalism

The ideological dimensions of state-building receive thorough examination: she traces how Marxist-Leninist principles were interpreted and applied in specific borderland contexts, revealing significant variations in implementation between the two revolutionary states despite their shared ideological vocabulary.  

The author’s treatment of nationalism as an ideological force that sometimes complemented and sometimes contradicted internationalist rhetoric: both Chinese and Vietnamese authorities mobilised nationalist sentiments to consolidate state authority, even as they officially espoused socialist internationalism. This tension between competing ideological imperatives created opportunities for borderland populations to exploit contradictions in official discourse and carve out spaces of relative autonomy. 

Furthermore, the discussion of how both states established specialised administrative units for ethnic minority regions, serving ostensibly to accommodate cultural differences but ultimately to extend central control through co-optation of local elites. The evolution of these institutions over time reveals a gradual shift from revolutionary transformation towards bureaucratic standardisation, reflecting broader transitions in both Chinese and Vietnamese governance. 

The economic dimensions of state-building constitute another important analytical strand as both states sought to incorporate borderland resources into national economic planning, transforming traditional subsistence economies into more centralised and standardised productive systems. The implementation of land reforms, collectivisation campaigns, and industrial development projects served not only economic objectives but also political goals of integrating peripheral populations into national frameworks.

The Cold War was not merely imposed upon Asian societies but was actively interpreted and reconfigured through local lenses, producing distinctive patterns of alliance and conflict

Cultural dimensions of state formation receive nuanced treatment in Yin’s analysis on how both Chinese and Vietnamese authorities implemented language policies, educational initiatives, and cultural campaigns designed to forge new national identities that would supersede local and transnational affiliations. These efforts encountered varying degrees of acceptance and resistance, resulting in complex processes of cultural negotiation rather than straightforward assimilation. 

While firmly grounded in specific historical and geographical contexts, Yin’s work offers patterns of state formation that resonate beyond the Sino-Vietnamese case, contributing to theoretical discussions about how revolutionary states negotiate with pre-existing social formations and how competing sovereignty claims unfold in practice. The global significance of this regional study lies in its demonstration of how Cold War ideological conflicts manifested in local contexts far removed from the traditional centres of superpower competition. The author shows convincingly that the Cold War was not merely imposed upon Asian societies but was actively interpreted and reconfigured through local lenses, producing distinctive patterns of alliance and conflict that cannot be reduced to simple great power proxy relationships.

Essential reading, not only for specialists in Chinese and Vietnamese history but also for scholars interested in broader questions about how states establish and maintain authority in contested spaces.  

State Building in Cold War Asia represents a landmark contribution to multiple scholarly fields, including Cold War history, Asian studies, border studies, and theories of state formation by understanding that the complex processes of state formation requires attention to multiple scales of analysis and sensitivity to the interaction between grand strategic designs and localised practices. This monograph will unquestionably become essential reading, not only for specialists in Chinese and Vietnamese history but also for scholars interested in broader questions about how states establish and maintain authority in contested spaces.  

Yin’s achievement lies not merely in describing a previously understudied historical case but in providing conceptual tools and methodological approaches that will inform future research across diverse geographical and temporal contexts. In this sense, State Building in Cold War Asia represents a crucial starting point for new scholarly conversations about the complex interplay between revolutionary ideologies, state institutions and borderland societies. 

Note: This review gives the views of the author and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Image: Chen Cheng accompanied by Vietnam’s President Ngô Đình Diệm at Da Lat Military Academy, Vietnam receiving a formal military welcome on 8 March 1963 via Wikimedia Commons.

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