Editing Malayan Emergency (section)

===Differences===
[[Image:Jungle service dress.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|Jungle service dress of the [[Somerset Light Infantry|1st Battalion Somerset Light Infantry]] used in the emergency]]

This conflict and the [[Vietnam War]] (following the First Indochina War) have often been compared.<ref name="the_malayan_emergency_2021_11_11_the_forum_bbc" /> However, the two conflicts differ in the following ways:
* The MNLA never numbered more than about 8,000 full-time insurgents, but the [[People's Army of Vietnam|People's Army of (North) Vietnam]] fielded a quarter of a million [[Regular army|regular troops]], in addition to roughly 100,000 [[Viet Cong|National Liberation Front (or Viet Cong)]] partisans.
* North Korea,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1427367.stm |title=N Korea admits Vietnam war role |work=BBC News |author=Gluck, Caroline |access-date=7 July 2001 |archive-date=3 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103183714/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1427367.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Cuba<ref>Bourne, Peter G. ''Fidel: A Biography of Fidel Castro'' (1986) p. 255; Coltman, Leycester ''The Real Fidel Castro'' (2003) p. 211</ref> and the People's Republic of China (PRC) provided military hardware, logistical support, personnel and training to North Vietnam, whereas the MNLA received no material support, weapons or training from any foreign government.
* North Vietnam's shared border with its ally China (PRC) allowed for continuous assistance and provided a safe haven for communist forces, but Malaya's only land border is with non-communist Thailand.
* Britain did not approach the Emergency as a conventional conflict and quickly implemented an effective intelligence strategy, led by the Malayan Police Special Branch, and a systematic [[Winning hearts and minds|hearts and minds]] operation, both of which proved effective against the largely ''political'' aims of the guerrilla movement.<ref>Comber (2006), ''Malaya's Secret Police 1945–60. The Role of the Special Branch in the Malayan Emergency''</ref><ref name="Clutterbuck">{{cite book|last=Clutterbuck|first=Richard|title=The long long war: The emergency in Malaya, 1948–1960|publisher=Cassell|year=1967}} Cited at length in Vietnam War essay on Insurgency and Counterinsurgency [https://web.archive.org/web/20071020064959/http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam/essays/insurgency/0006.cfm Lessons from Malaya], eHistory, Ohio State University.</ref>
* The British military recognised that in a low-intensity war, individual soldiers' skill and endurance were of far greater importance than overwhelming firepower (artillery, air support, etc.). Even though many British soldiers were conscripted [[Conscription in the United Kingdom#After 1945|National Servicemen]], the necessary skills and attitudes were taught at a Jungle Warfare School, which also developed the optimum tactics based on experience gained in the field.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/historic/hist_c3_pt1.pdf |work=British Operations in Malaya and Borneo, 1948-1966 |publisher=US Army, Combat Studies Institute |title=Analysis of British tactics in Malaya |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080911061212/http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/historic/hist_c3_pt1.pdf |archive-date=11 September 2008 |pages=1–120}}</ref>
* Vietnam was less ethnically fragmented than Malaya. During the Emergency, most MNLA members were ethnically [[Malaysian Chinese|Chinese]] and drew support from sections of the Chinese community.{{sfnp|Komer|1972|p=53}} However, most of the more numerous indigenous [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malays]], many of whom were animated by [[anti-Chinese sentiment]]s, largely remained loyal to the government and enlisted in high numbers into the security services.{{sfnp|Komer|1972|p=13}}