1967 Chinese Anti-U.S. Propaganda Broadside Map of Vietnam

This is a c. 1967 Chinese anti-American propaganda broadside created by Zhu Yu Lian. The map depicts the region from Laos and Cambodia to the South China Sea and from China to the Cà Mau Peninsula. Both North Vietnam (Orange) and South Vietnam (Red) are included. Three colors are present in South Vietnam: red, teal, and white. The red areas denote territory that to be 'liberated' by the North Vietnamese, the teal represents areas controlled by the United States, and the white regions are where guerillas were active and the territory in dispute. Major US Air Force bases are marked by airplanes inscribed in black circles, while major naval installations are noted by much the same symbol, except the airplane is exchanged for an anchor. Roads and highways are illustrated and labeled, and provinces are outlined by dotted lines.

Victories Against the United States by the Numbers

Textboxes provide statistics lionizing the military victories of the Vietnamese over American forces. One such textbox, situated near Hainan, states that between August 1964 and January 31, 1966, North Vietnamese military and civilians downed 857 American aircraft and is accompanied by an illustration of a U.S. airplane going down in flames. The second textbox in the lower left highlights 'the brilliant achievements of the people of South Vietnam in the past five years from 1961 to 1965'. In this data, it is stated that in these five years, 22,766 U.S. servicemen had been killed, 3,260 enemy (American) aircraft had been shot down, 994 ships had been sunk, 4,035 enemy (American) vehicles had been damaged, and 72,769 various weapons had been seized. A caveat is present in parentheses at the bottom in small print that states that these numbers are all 'according to incomplete statistics'. A graph below this second text box illustrates the steady, and then exponential, increase in U.S. troop strength in Vietnam between 1961 and 1967, and ends with a projection that soon 200,000 U.S. troops would be deployed in South Vietnam.

Publication History

This map was created by Zhu Yu Lian and it is unclear exactly who published it and, since it is undated, exactly when it was published.