Infobox military conflict the sinovietnamese war or third indochina war was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between china and vietnam. Despite the passage of time, the sinovietnamese war of 1979 has gone under analyzed by historians. This essay recalls the 1979 sinovietnam war at the time it was fought. As a chinese i would try to answer this question as unbiased as i can. After very heavy fighting, the chinese opened the gates to vietnams capital hanoi within a month and then withdrew, leaving the vietnamese countryside in ruins. Indochina war fought between china and vietnam from february 17 through march 17. The answer is no, another answer might be that it was a vietnamese tacticalshortterm victory and a chinese long term victory. Almost 40 years after a short yet devastating war launched by china in 1979, there has been not any official commemoration of the war in vietnam. Both sides claimed victory, and vietnam continued to pressure chinas allies in.
But instead of arguing who actually won the war, i would rather talk about the implications and background of this war on chinas side. First of all, you have to examine why the invasion happened in the first place, it was because of sinosoviet rivalry china identified that the largest threat to itself was the soviet union and the fact that after the vietnam war in which the ussr, prc and vietnam. As vietnamese troops remained in cambodia until 1989, one can say that china. China sought to punish vietnam, yet both sides claimed victory in the short but bloody war. Zhongyue zhanzheng, also known as the third indochina war, was a brief border war fought between the peoples republic of china and the socialist republic of vietnam in early 1979. China launched the offensive largely in response to vietnams invasion and subsequent occupation of cambodia, a war which ended the genocidal reign of chinesebacked pol pots khmer rouge. Although for many years china and the regime in hanoi had been allies, as close as lips and teeth, this marriage of convenience slowly began to fall apart beginning in the 1970s when china was unable to match the. One chinese military researcher points out that considering chinas limited air combat capacity in the 1960s, it is doubtful if beijing would offer the vietnamese any. The sinovietnamese war of 1979 and the evolution of the sino. Both china and vietnam claimed victory in the last of the indochina wars. When the sinovietnamese war ended on march 16, 1979, it was hardly a definite resolution of the conflict.
As many times in the history of the chinese invasions of vietnam, they still failed to go deeper into the land of the vietnamese like the dai viet kingdomqing empire war in 1789. According to one report, the pla suffered 60,000 causalities. Taking stock of the ussoviet confrontation during the last several years, one. The sinovietnamese conflicts of 19791991 were a series of border and naval clashes between the peoples republic of china and the socialist republic of vietnam following the sinovietnamese war in 1979.
Pdf on may 7, 2016, alfred howard miller and others published an investigation into. The 50,000 opposing vietnamese were highly organized and had considerable combat experience gained in wars in cambodia and against the. Which means that his source 100% agrees that my source. These clashes lasted from the end of the sinovietnamese war until the normalization of ties in 1991. Pdf an investigation into the causes of the third indochina war. Both sides claimed victory, and vietnam continued to pressure chinas. Operational art in the sino vietnamese war, by maj jason h. The road to war on february 17, 1979, hundreds of thousands of chinese troops crossed vietnams northern border to invade the country, waging a bloody strike along the 600kilometer border that. The sinovietnamese war in 1979 was the fourth and last of these campaigns. So, vietnam could claim its victory before its enemychina in 1979.
When the chinese peoples liberation army pla withdrew from vietnam in march 1979. The sinovietnam war and chinas long route to winning the. For instance, one interpretation suggests that the march 1969 sinosoviet border conflict was first provoked by lin piao with an ambition to. The disagreement over small scctions of the every section of a border that previously had been. English documentary chinese vietnam war 1979 youtube. China launched an offensive in response to vietnams. Perhaps the best two books on the sinovietbamese war of 1979 are chen 1983, a military analysis of the sinovietnamese war and chen 1987. Pdf on may 7, 2016, alfred howard miller and others published an investigation. After forming in 1949, the peoples republic of china fought four land campaigns to reassert its regional power. The vietnamese could protect their land and sovereignty. On february 17, 1979, troops from the peoples republic of china attacked the socialist republic of vietnam in what became known as the sinovietnamese war.
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