The Cold War in Asia began when the West began providing support for Chiang Kai-Shek's GMD forces in the Chinese Civil War. This was part of the US containment policy in the US, as the US believed Communism would spread through Asia and into America. After a Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War (1949), the US increased funding for containment in Asia. This was done by providing economic support to a defensive line of islands, containing Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines etc. The US also became involved in several wars, mainly the Vietnam War and the Korean War, in an effort to stop the spread of Communism.