By Denis Mueller
Although communist China had backed North Vietnam in its
struggle against South Vietnam and the United States, the
Chinese and Vietnamese were traditional enemies; tensions
between the two increased when Vietnam strengthened its ties
with the Soviet Union, invaded Laos and Cambodia (Kampuchea)
in late 1978, and expelled Chinese living in Vietnam. This
undercuts the theory that says that China was directing the
Vietnam War.
On February 17, 1979, some 120,000 well-equipped Chinese
troops crossed the border into northern Vietnam in several
places and seized control of several towns; they penetrated
25 miles into Vietnamese territory, encountering stiff
resistance from the Vietnamese. This invasion forced
divisions from Vietnamese occupying forces in Cambodia
arrived to reinforce the resistance, which was unable,
however, to prevent the Chinese capture of Lang Son, a vital
center in Vietnam's northern provinces, on March 3, 1979.
About the same time, a separate Chinese force reached the
coastal town of Quang Yen, some 100 miles from Hanoi, after
several days of fierce fighting against Vietnamese units.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese counteroffensives across the border
into China's Yunnan province were repulsed. Declaring its
punitive military operation against Vietnam a success, China
began withdrawing its forces about March 6, 1979, and within
two weeks they were all back on Chinese territory.
Subsequently, there were many exchanges of fire along the
Chinese-Vietnamese border and numerous talks to reach an
accord, but no treaty or settlement was concluded.
But questions remain as to the motives.. The official
account is that the war was stared as a reaction to the
Vietnamese stopping the holocaust in Cambodia. I contend
that the war was really a diversion. What Deng Ziapong
aimed to do was to expose the deficiencies of the P.L.A.
By doing this he would keep the army occupied while he
dealt with the Maoists. Other reasons include the narrative
that China is never the aggressor and are a just leadership
who are infallible.
Today in China the war is largely forgotten, and has been
eliminated from official history, a silence has prevailed
in China and although over 20,000 Chinese died in the
conflict it is never mentioned. We, in the west, were always
confused about the war because if you look at it, the
Vietnamese were actually heroes for invading Cambodia and
although movies have been made about the killing fields of
Cambodia to acknowledge that Vietnam did the world a favor
would be to undermine the official support of the Vietnam
War. The Vietnamese fought long and hard against forces that
sought to dominate them and when we look back on our own war
with them it becomes apparent that this was truly a
pointless war. We should never forget that.
Sources: The New York Times
It would seem to me that very clearly the lesson has been forgotten!
