I'm aware that in the 60s and 70s China brought and trained militants from groups such as the Naga in the India-Burma border area. This was done for military training meant to help these groups fight India as a sort of proxy for China. I'm not asking about that role, but rather an additional role I've heard some of these people having taken up, which is to fight on the side of the North during the war in Vietnam.
What do we know about the number of people involved and what their role in the conflict was? I have some ideas but mostly I've only ever heard about the side of the story involving conflict in India, so when it came up that there was also some fighting by these groups from the Patkai mountains in Vietnam under the direction of China, I was curious what more there is to this story.
Suggested reading is welcome as well.
† I know "tribe" is a four-letter word. I'm referring here specifically to groups that fall under the category of Scheduled Tribes according to the Indian constitution, many of which straddle the border between India and Burma. It's what they themselves use and without necessarily carrying the baggage of the terms use more generally. I'm sorry /u/commustar :(
Can you point me onto where you have seen this mentioned? I have never heard of this, and have to say I'm a bit skeptical for a few reasons, but I am very interested to know more. I initially thought you meant the Third Indochina War, and that these guys were sent to fight Vietnamese in Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia. I know that after 1975, the Chinese were training lots of Lao and upland minorities units to resist the Vietnamese occupation in Cambodia & victory of the Pathet Lao.