Hoang Van Hoan

Hoàng Văn Hoan was a Vietnamese politician and diplomat. An early member of the Indochinese Communist Party, he became an ally of Ho Chi Minh during the struggle against French colonial rule. Following independence, he became an important politician in Hồ's communist-controlled Democratic Republic of Vietnam and served as a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 1960 to 1976. He was a leading figure of the Party's pro-China wing, and his political fortunes deteriorated in tandem with Sino-Vietnamese relations. Following the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War, he controversially defected to China and spent the rest of his life in exile.