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Sino-Vietnamese War

The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by other names) was a brief conflict that occurred in early 1979 between China and Vietnam. China launched an offensive in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978, which ended the rule of the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge. The conflict lasted for about a month, with China withdrawing its troops in March 1979.

This article is about the 1979 war. For other Sino-Vietnamese military conflicts, see Sino-Vietnamese War (disambiguation).

Sino-Vietnamese War

中越战争

中越戰爭

Zhōng Yuè zhànzhēng

Zhōng Yuè zhànzhēng

对越自卫反击战

對越自衛反擊戰

Self-defensive war against Vietnam

duì yuè zìwèi fǎnjī zhàn

duì yuè zìwèi fǎnjī zhàn

tui yüeh tzu-wei fan-chi chan

deoi3 jyut6 zi6 wai6 faan2 gik1 zin3

Chiến tranh biên giới Việt-Trung

戰爭邊界越中

Vietnamese-Chinese border war

In February 1979, Chinese forces launched a surprise invasion of northern Vietnam and quickly captured several cities near the border. On 6 March of that year, China declared that its punitive mission had been accomplished. Chinese troops then withdrew from Vietnam. However, Vietnam continued to occupy Cambodia until 1989, which means that China did not achieve its goal of dissuading Vietnam from involvement in Cambodia. However, China's operation at least successfully forced Vietnam to withdraw some units, namely the 2nd Corps, from the invasion forces of Cambodia to reinforce the defense of Hanoi.[18] The conflict had a lasting impact on the relationship between China and Vietnam, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were not fully restored until 1991. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Sino-Vietnamese border was finalized. Although unable to deter Vietnam from ousting Pol Pot from Cambodia, China demonstrated that the Soviet Union, its Cold War communist adversary, was unable to protect its Vietnamese ally.[19]

Names

The Sino-Vietnamese War is known by various names in Chinese and Vietnamese. The neutral names for the war are 中越战争 (Sino-Vietnamese war) in Chinese and Chiến tranh biên giới Việt-Trung (Vietnamese-Chinese border war) in Vietnamese. The Chinese government refers to the war as the "Self-defensive war against Vietnam" (对越自卫反击战)[20] or the "Self-defensive counterattack against Vietnam" (对越自卫还击保卫边疆作战).[21][22] The Vietnamese government calls it the "War against Chinese expansionism" (Chiến tranh chống bành trướng Trung Hoa).[23]


The Sino-Vietnamese War is also known as the Third Indochina War in Western historiography.[24]

Guangxi

Ou Zhifu

Yunnan

11th Army

Western direction, commanded by Xu Shiyou, aimed to attack , Lạng Sơn and Quảng Ninh Provinces:[72]

Cao Bằng

Eastern direction, commanded by Yang Dezhi, aimed to attack , Hoang Lien Son and Lai Châu Provinces

Ha Tuyen

In popular culture

Chinese media

There are a number of Chinese songs, movies and TV programs depicting and discussing this conflict from the Chinese viewpoint. These vary from the patriotic song "Bloodstained Glory" originally written to laud the sacrifice and service of the Chinese military, to the 1986 film The Big Parade which carried veiled criticism of the war. The 1984 Xie Jin film Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain was the earliest mainland China film to depict the war, although its narrative was that the Chinese were on the defensive after Vietnamese attacked the Chinese border first with the objective of Nanning. The male protagonist of the television series Candle in the Tomb was a veteran of conflict.[110] The 2017 Chinese movie Youth covers the period of the Sino-Vietnamese conflict from the perspective of the larger cultural changes taking place in China during that period of time.

Vietnamese media

The war was mentioned in the film Đất mẹ (Motherland) directed by Hải Ninh in 1980 and Thị xã trong tầm tay (Town at the Fingertips) directed by Đặng Nhật Minh in 1982.[111] Besides in 1982, a documentary film called Hoa đưa hương nơi đất anh nằm (Flowers over Your Grave) was directed by Truong Thanh, the film told a story of a Japanese journalist who died during the war.[112] During the war, there were numerous patriotic songs produced to boost the nationalism of Vietnamese people, including "Chiến đấu vì độc lập tự do" ("Fight for Independence and Freedom") composed by Phạm Tuyên, "Lời tạm biệt lúc lên đường" ("Farewell When Leaving") by Vu Trong Hoi, "40 thế kỷ cùng ra trận" ("40 Centuries We Fought Side By Side") by Hong Dang, "Những đôi mắt mang hình viên đạn" ("The Eyes Shaped Like Bullets") by Tran Tien and "Hát về anh" (Sing for you) by The Hien. The Sino-Vietnamese War also appeared in some novels such as: Đêm tháng Hai (Night of February) written by Chu Lai in 1979 and Chân dung người hàng xóm (Portrait of My Neighbors[113]) written by Duong Thu Huong in 1979.

List of wars involving the People's Republic of China

List of wars involving Vietnam

China–Vietnam relations

Cambodia–Vietnam relations

Cambodian–Vietnamese War

Sino-Soviet border conflict

Sino-Soviet relations

Sino-Soviet split

Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991)

Air Power in the War

at the School of Law, University of Maryland

"China's War Against Vietnam, 1979: A Military Analysis"