Sino-Vietnamese War

The Sino-Vietnamese War was a war fought in 1979 between the neighboring countries of the People's Republic of China and Vietnam.

Causes of War

Sino-Soviet Split

While Communist China and North Vietnam had been close during the initial stages of the Vietnam War, after the conflict and the Sino-Soviet Split Vietnam aligned with the Soviet Union. During the conflict in Indochina, initially both the Chinese and the Soviet Union were supplying Vietnam. With the death of Stalin, the situation changed. Mao Zedong despised Nikita Khrushchev, Stalin's sucessor, and criticised the Soviet Union's interpretation of Communism. As a result of the conflict, Chinese foreign policy began a shift away from the Soviet Union and towards the United States. North Vietnam began allying with the Soviet Union, which continued to supply North Vietnam's fight against South Vietnam and the United States.

North Vietnam's eventual goal became not just the defeat and conquest of South Vietnam, but rather the creation of a pan-Indochinese nation. China was very concerned about having to fight a two front war against both the Vietnamese and the Soviets. As a result, the Chinese met with Henry Kissinger and later Richard Nixon, moving the nation into the American camp. For more information, see Sino-Soviet Split.

Cambodia

An important Chinese ally was Cambodia, under the control of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. China supported Cambodia partly for ideological reasons (the Khmer Rouge's philosophy was a variant of Maoism) and partly to keep Vietnam "boxed in" between China in the north and Cambodia in the west. Although the Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge had once co-operated, the relationship deteriorated when Pol Pot's faction came to power. The Cambodian regime began massacring ethnic Vietnamese inside Cambodia (see History of Cambodia), and by 1978, the Cambodian government was supporting guerilla activities in western Vietnam.

In late 1978 the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia, ending the Khmer Rouge regime. On January 7 Vietnamese-backed Cambodian forces seized Phnom Penh. In response the Chinese decided to launch an punitive assault on Vietnam.

The war

On February 17, around 120,000 troops of the Chinese People's Liberation Army crossed into northern Vietnam. The cited reason for the invasion was the supposed mistreatment of Vietnam's ethnic Chinese minority and the Vietnamese occupation of the Spratly Islands (claimed by China). The Chinese managed to advance around thirty kilometres into Vietnam, with fighting mainly occuring in the provinces of Cao Bang, Lao Cai, and Lang Son. On March 6 the Chinese declared the punitive mission over, and began withdrawing their forces.

There is debate as to whether the Chinese withdrew entirely of their own volition or whether they were forced to withdraw by Vietnamese defenders — both sides of the conflict described themselves as the victors. The number of casualties is disputed, but one source estimates that the Chinese suffered 60,000 casualties and 20,000 deaths. The same source says that the Vietnamese lost an equal number of troops and about 10,000 civilians.

There is also debate about who "won" the war in the political sense. The answer most likely depends on what one believes each side's objectives to have been. If China's aim was to force a Vietnamese withdrawal from Cambodia, it failed — while a certain number of troops were pulled out of Cambodia to fight the Chinese, Cambodia remained under Vietnamese military occupation for some time. Similarly, the border disputes between China and Vietnam were not settled. If, however, China's goals were entirely punitive, the war may have been more successful. There are also claims that China was seeking to test the resolve of the Soviet Union, which had pledged to defend Vietnam — if so, this alliance may have been proven hollow, as the Soviet Union provided no direct assistance to Vietnam in the conflict. (It may, however, be argued that no assistance was needed.)

Aftermath

The legacy of the war is lasting, especially in Vietnam. Today Vietnam maintains one of the world's largest armies, which some attribute almost entirely to fear of China. Occasional skirmishes continued over the border during the 1980s, with over a thousand people being killed in them. Relations between the two neighbours were only improved in the early 1990s.

The war also caused a forced migration of Vietnam's ethnic Chinese, who were discriminated against. They fled as "boat people" and were resettled in several Chinatowns and in other Asian communities in Australia, Europe, and North America.

External links

• XinHui: The Political History of Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979, and the Chinese Concept of Active Defense (http://www.china-defense.com/history/sino-vn_1/sino-vn_1-1.html)
• G.D.Bakshi: The Sino-Vietnam War-1979: Case Studies in Limited Wars (http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE3-3/bakshi.html)
• Bruce Elleman: Sino-Soviet Relations and the February 1979 Sino-Vietnamese Conflict (http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/vietnamcenter/events/1996_Symposium/96papers/elleviet.htm)

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