After the collapse of its South Vietnamese ally , Taipei initially maintained a policy of zero contact with Vietnam , not even private trade and postal contact ; furthermore followed by the 1987 Lieyu massacre with innocent Vietnamese refugees suffered . This left it ill-placed to take advantage of the rapid deterioration in relations between Hanoi and Beijing , even during the Sino-Vietnamese War and its aftermath . For its part , Vietnam , like other socialist states , expressed displeasure with Beijing in foreign relations by siding more closely with its rival in the Communist bloc , Moscow ; for a socialist country to have contact with capitalist Taipei was unthinkable . However , in the late 1980s , as the Cold War thawed , contact between Hanoi and Taipei slowly resumed ; indeed , observers saw this as one of the key events indicating the end of the Cold War in the region
1987 Lieyu massacre
1987 Lieyu massacre
Taiwan–Vietnam relations