Chinese occupation of northern Vietnam, 1945–1946

The Chinese occupation of northern Vietnam (Vietnamese: Hoa quân nhập Việt, Chinese: 華軍入越) followed the Allied decision to have Chinese Nationalist forces oversee the Japanese surrender in Indochina north of the 16th parallel after the World War II, including North Vietnam.

The Viet Minh front, which led the newly proclaimed Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), was seeking to gain legitimacy and assert control over the country. The communist-led Viet Minh feared that the Chinese Kuomintang forces would eliminate the communists and their leader Ho Chi Minh (Vietnamese: diệt cộng cầm Hồ).

The Chinese forces, however, also aimed to maintain order in North Vietnam during their occupation, particularly in light of reports of violence erupting in the South during Operation Masterdom. On September 22, Chinese General Lu Han assured Ho that they would not disband the DRV government in Hanoi.

Although Chinese occupation authorities tolerated the DRV government, they nevertheless brought difficulties for the Viet Minh. Lu Han was not opposed to Vietnamese independence but insisted on forming a coalition government consisting of both communists and nationalists. The Kuomintang supported rival Vietnamese nationalist parties, challenging the authority of the DRV.

In 1946, as Chiang Kai-shek wanted to concentrate on the civil war in northern China, he needed to withdraw his troops from Indochina. Ho Chi Minh reasoned that the advantages of compromising with France would outweigh the disadvantages, even expressing hope that a communist-aligned government would soon come to power in France. As a result, Ho favored a French presence over the Chinese one. Negotiations resulted in the Sino-French Accords and the Ho–Sainteny Accords, under which French troops were to replace the Chinese in the task of disarming Japanese forces.