The United States recognized the Associated State of Vietnam in early 1950. but the action was counterbalanced a few days later with the recognition of the DRV by the new People's Republic of China. In March, Ho signed an agreement with Beijing that called for limited assistance to Hanoi. Shortly thereafter, Moscow also formally recognized the DRV, and the Viet Minh became more openly affiliated with the Communist camp. Mao Zedong's model of revolution was openly praised in the Vietnamese press , and the ICP, which on paper, had been temporarily dissolved in 1945 to obsecure the Viet Minh's Communist roots, surfaced under a new name in 1951 that removed all doubt of its communist nature. More than 200 hundred delegates, representing some 5,00,000 party members , gathered at the Second National Party Congress of the ICP, held in Feb 1951 in Tuyen Quang province. Renaming the ICP as the Vietnam's Worker's Party (VWP,Dang Lao Dong viet nam), the delegates elected Ho as party Chairman and truong Chinh as general secretary.With Beijing's promise of limited assistance to Hanoi, the communist The Communist military strategy concetrated on the liberation of Tonkin and concined Cochinchina to a lower priority. The top military priority, as set by Giap, was to free the northern border areas in order to protect the movement of supplies and personnel from China. By Autumn of 1950, the Viet Minh had again liberated the Viet bac in decisive battles that forced the French to evacuate the entire border region, leaving hehind a large quantity of ammunition . From their liberated zone in the northern border area, the Viet Minh were free to make raids into the Red River Delta. The French military in Vietnem found it increasingly difficult to convince Paris and the French electorates to give them the man power and material needed to defeat the Viet Minh. For the next two years, the Viet Minh, well aware of the growing disillusionment of the French people with IndoChina, concentrated its efforts on wearing down the French military by attacking its weakests outpostsand by maximizing the physical distance between engagements to disperse the French forces. Being able to choose the time and place for such engagements gave the guerrillas a decided advantage. Meanwhile, political activity was increased until by late 1952, more than half the villages of the Red River Deltawere under Viet Minh control.
