Hoa played a leading role in Vietnam's private business sector before the Fall of Saigon in 1975. They were a well-established middle class ethnic group and made up a high percentage of Vietnam's upper class. Hoa people were dominant in the Vietnamese economy, controlling an estimated 70% to 80% South Vietnamese economy during Vietnamese instability before the fall of Saigon in 1975. Many Hoa people had their businesses and property confiscated by the Vietnamese Communist Party after 1975 and fled the country, as well as South Vietnamese who faced persecution by the Communist Government, which was then intensified during the Sino-Vietnamese War. However, from the Vietnamese Communist government point of view, the Chinese unloyal to Vietnam were regarded with deep suspicion, and had potentially teamed up with the French occupiers in seizing control of Vietnam's resources and labour, much like how Japan did leading to the Vietnamese famine of 1945, resulting in 2 million deaths of the Vietnamese populace. Communist intervention was then deemed necessary by wide swathes of the Vietnamese population and the Soviet Union, and is considered to be an ingrained symbol of the Vietnamese identity by some. From 1988 to 1996, with the Vietnamese government's shift to economic liberalization, the Hoa regained their financial abilities. Many became enthusiasts of Hán-Nôm literature . Their economic clout however pales in comparison to the old days of South Vietnam, where Vietnam has mostly diversified its economy, allowing Korean, Western, Japanese etc. businesses to operate within Vietnam.