The
Sino–Vietnamese War, also known as the
Third Indochina War, was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
(PRC) and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The PRC launched the offensive in response to Vietnam's
invasion and occupationThe Cambodian–Vietnamese War was a series of conflicts between the two countries, culminating in the Vietnamese invasion and subsequent occupation of Cambodia and the removal of the Khmer Rouge regime from power...
of
CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
, which ended the reign of the PRC-backed
Khmer RougeThe Khmer Rouge was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, the totalitarian ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan....
, and Vietnamese raids in Chinese territory near the border. After a brief incursion into Northern Vietnam, PRC troops withdrew about a month later. Both sides claimed victory in the last of the
Indochina WarsThe Indochina Wars were a series of wars fought in Southeast Asia from 1947 until 1979, between nationalist Vietnamese against French, American, and Chinese forces. The term "Indochina" originally referred to French Indochina, which included the current states of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia...
of the twentieth century; practically speaking, though, since Vietnamese troops remained in Cambodia until 1989 it can be said that the PRC failed to achieve their goal of dissuading Vietnam from involvement in Cambodia.
First Indochina War
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
first became a French
colonyIn politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their...
when
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
invaded in 1858. By the 1880s, the French had expanded their
sphere of influenceIn the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is an area or region over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
in Southeast Asia to include all of Vietnam, and by 1893 both
LaosLaos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and
CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
had become French colonies as well. Rebellions against the French colonial power were common up to
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. The European war heightened revolutionary sentiment in Southeast Asia, and the independence-minded population rallied around revolutionaries such as
Ho Chi MinhHồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary and statesman who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam .Hồ led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing...
and others, including royalists.
Prior to their attack on
Pearl HarborPearl Harbor is a harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, the
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese occupied French
IndochinaIndochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly east of India, south of China.The word has French origins, Indochine, and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory to bordering countries.Historically, the countries of...
, allying themselves with the
Viet MinhThe Việt Minh was a national liberation movement founded in South China on May 19, 1941 . The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from France and later to oppose the Japanese occupation.-World War II:During World War II, Japan occupied French Indochina...
against any possible French return. During the war, the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
aided Indochina in overthrowing the Japanese occupation government. The Japanese surrender in 1945 created a power vacuum in Indochina, as the various political factions scrambled for control.
The events leading to the
First Indochina WarThe First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union’s French Far East Expeditionary...
are subject to historical contention. When the Viet Minh hastily sought to establish the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the remaining French at first welcomed the new regime, but then staged a coup to regain the colony. The Chinese nationalists supported French restoration, but Viet Minh efforts towards independence were backed by Chinese communists, the Japanese, and the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. The
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
at first supported French hegemony, but later supported Ho Chi Minh. The Soviets nonetheless remained quiet compared to China, who, like the United States, had disapproved of using Japanese forces against the French.
The war itself involved numerous events that had major impacts throughout Indochina. Two major conferences were held to bring about a resolution. Finally, on July 20, 1954, the
Geneva Conference (1954)The Geneva Conference was a conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam...
resulted in a political settlement to reunite the country, signed with support from China, Russia, and Western European powers. While the Soviet Union played a constructive role in the agreement, it again was not as involved as China. The U.S. disapproved of the agreement, but swiftly moved to fill the political vacuum left behind when the Vietnamese gained their independence.
Sino–Soviet split
The Chinese Communist Party and the Viet Minh had a long history. During the initial stages of the
First Indochina WarThe First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union’s French Far East Expeditionary...
with
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, the recently founded communist
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
and the
Viet MinhThe Việt Minh was a national liberation movement founded in South China on May 19, 1941 . The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from France and later to oppose the Japanese occupation.-World War II:During World War II, Japan occupied French Indochina...
had close ties. In early 1950, China became the first country in the world to recognise the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and the 'Chinese Military Advisory Group' under
Wei GuoqingWei Guoqing was a Chinese government official, military officer and political commissar. He served on the Chinese Communist Party Politburo and as Director of the People’s Liberation Army’s General Political Department...
played an important role in the Viet Minh victory over the French.
After the death of
StalinJoseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953...
, relations between the Soviet Union and China began to deteriorate.
Mao ZedongMao Zedong was a Chinese revolutionary, political theorist and Communist leader. He led the People's Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976...
believed the new Soviet leader
Nikita KhrushchevNikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
had made a serious error in his Secret Speech denouncing Stalin, and criticized the Soviet Union's interpretation of
Marxism-LeninismMarxism-Leninism is a communist ideological stream that emerged as the mainstream tendency among the Communist parties in the 1920s as it was adopted as the ideological foundation of the Communist International during Stalin's era....
, in particular Khrushchev's support for peaceful co-existence and its interpretation. This led to increasingly hostile relations, and eventually the
Sino-Soviet splitThe Sino–Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...
. Until Khrushchev was deposed in late 1964, North Vietnam supported China in the dispute, mainly as a result of China's support for its re-unification policy, whereas the Soviet Union remained indifferent. From early 1965 onwards, Vietnamese communists drifted towards the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
, as now both the Soviet Union and China supplied arms to North Vietnam during their war against
South VietnamSouth Vietnam refers to a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the State of Vietnam and later as the “Republic of Vietnam” . Its capital was Saigon...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Second Indochina War
The Soviets welcomed the Vietnamese drift toward the USSR, seeing Vietnam as a way to demonstrate that they were the "real power" behind communism in the Far East.
To the PRC, the Soviet-Vietnamese relationship was a disturbing development. It seemed to them that the Soviets were trying to encircle China.
The PRC started talks with the USA in the early 1970s, culminating in high level meetings with
Henry KissingerHenry Alfred Kissinger , is a German-born American political scientist, diplomat, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the Nixon Administration....
and later
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and is the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States ....
. These meetings contributed to a re-orientation of Chinese foreign policy towards the United States. Meanwhile, the PRC also supported the
Khmer RougeThe Khmer Rouge was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, the totalitarian ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan....
in
CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
. The PRC supported
Pol PotSaloth Sar or Minh Hai, , widely known as Pol Pot, , was the leader of the Cambodian communist movement known as the Khmer Rouge and was Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976–1979....
from fear that a unified Vietnam, in alliance with the Soviet Union, would dominate
IndochinaIndochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly east of India, south of China.The word has French origins, Indochine, and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory to bordering countries.Historically, the countries of...
.
Cambodia
Although the Vietnamese Communists and the Khmer Rouge had previously cooperated, the relationship deteriorated when Khmer Rouge leader
Pol PotSaloth Sar or Minh Hai, , widely known as Pol Pot, , was the leader of the Cambodian communist movement known as the Khmer Rouge and was Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976–1979....
came to power and established
Democratic KampucheaThe Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge political party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea....
. The Cambodian regime demanded that certain tracts of land be "returned" to Cambodia, lands that had been "lost" centuries earlier. Unsurprisingly, the Vietnamese refused the demands. According to Vietnam, Pol Pot responded by massacring ethnic Vietnamese inside Cambodia (see
History of CambodiaArchaeological evidence indicates that parts of the region now called Cambodia were inhabited from around 1000-2000 BCE by a Neolithic culture that may have migrated from South Eastern China to the Indochinese Peninsula. By the first century CE, the inhabitants had developed relatively stable,...
), and, by 1978, allegedly supporting a Vietnamese
guerrillaGuerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
army making incursions into western Vietnam. However, it should be noted that Pol Pot massacred people of all races, including ethnic Chinese, ethnic Vietnamese and Cambodians.
Realizing that Cambodia was being supported by the PRC, Vietnam approached the Soviets about possible actions. The Soviets saw this as a major opportunity. The Vietnamese army, fresh from combat with the US's ground forces, would easily be able to defeat the Cambodian forces. This would not only remove the only major PRC-aligned political force in the area but also demonstrate the benefits of being aligned with the USSR. The Vietnamese were equally excited about the potential outcome.
LaosLaos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
was already a strong ally; if Cambodia could be "turned," Vietnam would emerge as a major regional power, political master of Indochina.
The Vietnamese feared reprisals from the PRC. Over a period of several months in 1978, the Soviets made it clear that they were supporting the Vietnamese against Cambodian incursions. They felt this political show of force would keep the Chinese out of any sort of direct confrontation, allowing the Vietnamese and Cambodians to fight out what was to some extent a Sino-Soviet war by proxy.
In late 1978, the Vietnamese military
invaded CambodiaThe Cambodian–Vietnamese War was a series of conflicts between the two countries, culminating in the Vietnamese invasion and subsequent occupation of Cambodia and the removal of the Khmer Rouge regime from power...
. As expected, their experienced and well-equipped troops had little difficulty defeating the Khmer Rouge forces. On January 7, 1979 Vietnamese-backed Cambodian forces seized
Phnom PenhPhnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. It is also the capital of the Phnom Penh municipality...
, thus ending the Khmer Rouge regime.
PRC vs. Vietnam: Third Indochina War
While the first war emerged from the complex situation following WWII and the second exploded from the unresolved aftermath of political relations with the first, the Third Indochina War again followed the unsolved problems of the earlier wars. The fact remains that: "Peace did not come to Indochina with either American 1973 withdrawal or Hanoi's 1975 victory" as disputes erupted over Cambodia and relations with China.
The PRC, now under
Deng XiaopingDeng Xiaoping was a prominent Chinese politician, statesman, theorist, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng became a reformer who led China towards market economics...
, was starting the
Chinese economic reformThe Chinese economic reform refers to the program of economic reforms called "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" in the People's Republic of China that were started in December 1978 by pragmatists within the Communist Party of China led by Deng Xiaoping and are ongoing as of the early 21st...
and opening trade with NATO nations, in turn, growing increasingly defiant against USSR. On November 3 1978 USSR and Vietnam signed a twenty-five year mutual defense treaty, which made Vietnam the "linchpin" in the USSR's "drive to contain China." .
On January 1, 1979, Deng Xiaoping visited USA for the first time and spoke to American president
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
: "It's time to smack the bottom of unruly little children" (original Chinese words: 小朋友不聴話,該打打屁股了). On February 15, the first day that China could have officially announced the termination of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, Deng Xiaoping declared that China planned to conduct a limited attack on Vietnam. The reason cited for the counter strike was the supposed mistreatment of Vietnam's
ethnic ChineseHoa refers to a minority in Vietnam consisting of persons considered to be ethnic Chinese . They are often referred to as either Chinese Vietnamese, Sino-Vietnamese, or ethnic Chinese in/from Vietnam by the Vietnamese populace, Overseas Vietnamese, and other ethnic Chinese...
minority and the Vietnamese occupation of the
Spratly IslandsThe Spratly Islands are a group of more than 650 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea between the Philippines, China, Malaysia and Vietnam. They comprise less than five square kilometers of land area, spread over more than 400,000 square kilometers of sea...
(claimed by the PRC). To prevent Soviet intervention on Vietnam's behalf, Deng warned Moscow the next day that China was prepared for a full-scale war against the USSR; in preparation for this conflict, China put all of their troops along the Sino-Soviet border on an emergency war alert, set up a new military command in Xinjiang, and even evacuated an estimated 300,000 civilians from the Sino-Soviet border. In addition, the bulk of China's active forces (as many as one-and-a-half million troops) were stationed along China's borders with the USSR..
In response to China's attack, the USSR sent several naval vessels and initiated a Soviet arms airlift to Vietnam. However the USSR felt that there was simply no way that they could directly support Vietnam against the PRC; the distances were too great to be an effective ally, and any sort of reinforcements would have to cross territory controlled by the PRC or U.S. allies. The only realistic option would be to indirectly re-start the simmering border war with China in the north. Vietnam was important to Soviet policy but not enough for the Soviets to go to war over. When Moscow did not intervene, Beijing publicly proclaimed that the USSR had broken its numerous promises to assist Vietnam. The USSR's failure to support Vietnam emboldened China to announce on April 3, 1979 that it intended to terminate the 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance.
Chinese forces
Two days after the declaration of war, on February 17, a PRC force of about 200,000 supported by 200
Type 59The Chinese Type 59 Main Battle Tank is a Chinese produced version of the ubiquitous Soviet T-54A tank. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963...
,
Type 62The Norinco Type 62 is a Chinese light tank developed in the early 1960s and is based on the Chinese Type 59 with a reduced main gun caliber, lighter armour and a smaller suite of electronics and other equipment to help reduce weight. The Type 62 is still used by the Chinese People's Liberation...
, and
Type 63The Norinco Type 63 is a Chinese amphibious light tank. First fielded in 1963, it is in many ways similar to the earlier Soviet PT-76. However, contrary to the popular belief, it does have some essential differences from the PT-76 in the vehicle's waterjet propulsion system, etc...
tanks from the PRC
People's Liberation ArmyThe People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on 1 August 1927—celebrated annually as "PLA Day"—as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
(PLA) entered northern Vietnam. The Chinese force consisted of units from the
KunmingKunming is a prefecture-level city and capital of Yunnan province, in southwestern China. Because of its year-round temperate climate, Kunming is often called the "Spring City" or "City of Eternal Spring" ....
Military Region (later abolished),
ChengduChengdu , located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a sub-provincial city. Chengdu is also one of the most important economic centers, transportation and communication hubs in Southwestern China...
Military Region,
Wuhan' is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in central China. It lies at the east of Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han River...
Military Region (later abolished) and
Guangzhou Military RegionThe Guangzhou Military Region is a military administrative region located in the south of the People's Republic of China. In May 1949, the Central China Military Region was formed. In March 1955, it was divided into two, the Guangzhou MR and Wuhan MR...
, but commanded by the headquarters of
KunmingKunming is a prefecture-level city and capital of Yunnan province, in southwestern China. Because of its year-round temperate climate, Kunming is often called the "Spring City" or "City of Eternal Spring" ....
Military Region on the western front and
Guangzhou Military RegionThe Guangzhou Military Region is a military administrative region located in the south of the People's Republic of China. In May 1949, the Central China Military Region was formed. In March 1955, it was divided into two, the Guangzhou MR and Wuhan MR...
in the eastern front. Some troops engaged in this war, especially engineering units, railway corps, logistical units and antiaircraft units, had been assigned to assist
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
in its struggle against the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
just a few years earlier during the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
. Contrary to the belief that over 600,000 Chinese troops entered Vietnam, the actual number was only 200,000. However, 600,000 Chinese troops were mobilized, of which 200,000 were deployed away from their original bases. Around 400 tanks (specifically
Type 59The Chinese Type 59 Main Battle Tank is a Chinese produced version of the ubiquitous Soviet T-54A tank. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963...
s) were also deployed. The Chinese troop deployments were observed by US spy satellites, and the KH-9
Big Bird photographic reconnaissance satellite played an important role. In his state visit to the US in 1979, the Chinese paramount leader
Deng XiaopingDeng Xiaoping was a prominent Chinese politician, statesman, theorist, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng became a reformer who led China towards market economics...
was presented with this information and asked to confirm the numbers. He replied that the information was completely accurate. After this public confirmation in the U.S., the domestic Chinese media were finally allowed to report on these deployments.
Chinese order of battle
- Guangxi
This article is about a region of China. For the sociological concept, see Guānxi.Guangxi is a Zhuang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China....
Direction (East Front) commanded by the Front Headquarter of Guangzhou Military RegionThe Guangzhou Military Region is a military administrative region located in the south of the People's Republic of China. In May 1949, the Central China Military Region was formed. In March 1955, it was divided into two, the Guangzhou MR and Wuhan MR...
in NanningNanning is the capital of Guangxi autonomous region in southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush tropical foliage.-History:...
. Commander-Xu ShiyouXu Shiyou was a general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Born in Hubei, Xu grew up studying martial arts at the Shaolin Temple for eight years and he later became a soldier in Wu Peifu's warlord army...
, Political CommissarThe political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Xiang Zhonghua, Chief of StaffA chief of staff, also known as a principal staff officer, is the coordinator of the supporting staff and primary aide to an important individual, such as an Office of the Prime Minister-Civilian:*Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister...
-Zhou Deli
- North Group: Commander-Ou Zhifu (Deputy Commander of Guangzhou Military Region)
- 41st Corps Commander-Zhang Xudeng, Political Commissar
The political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Liu Zhanrong
- 121st Infantry Division Commander-Zheng Wenshui
- 122nd Infantry Division Commander-Li Xinliang
- 123rd Infantry Division Commander-Li Peijiang
- South Group: Commander-Wu Zhong (Deputy Commander of Guangzhou Military Region)
- 42nd Corps
The 42nd Army is a group army - a roughly corps-sized military formation - of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, active since the late 1940s.-History:...
Commander-Wei Huajie, Political CommissarThe political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Xun Li
- 124th Infantry Division
The 124th Division was a division deployed by the People's Republic of China.-History:The 124th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men...
Commander-Gu Hui
- 125th Infantry Division
The 125th Division was a division deployed by the People's Republic of China.-History:The 125th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men...
- 126th Infantry Division
The 124th Division was a division deployed by the People's Republic of China.-History:The 126th Division was a military formation deployed by the People's Republic of China as part of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War.It had a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men...
- East Group: Commander-Jiang Xieyuan (Deputy Commander of Guangzhou Military Region)
- 55th Corps Commander-Zhu Yuehua, Temporary Political Commissar
The political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Guo Changzeng
- 163rd Infantry Division Commander-Bian Guixiang, Political Commissar
The political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Wu Enqing, Chief of Staff-Xing Shizhong
- 164th Infantry Division Commander-Xiao Xuchu (also Deputy Commander of 55th Corps)
- 165th Infantry Division
- 1st Artillery Division
- Reserve Group (came from Wuhan Military Region except 50th Corps from Chengdu Military Region
The Chengdu Military Region is a military administrative command located in the southwest of the People's Republic of China, covering Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and the Xizang/Tibet Autonomous Region...
), Deputy Commander-Han Huaizhi (Commander of 54th Corps)
- 43rd Corp Commander-Zhu Chuanyu, Temporary Political Commissar
The political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Zhao Shengchang
- 127th Infantry Division Commander-Zhang Wannian
Zhang Wannian is a general of the People's Republic of China.-Biography:General Zhang Wannian was born in Huangxian county , Shandong Province of China in August 1928....
(also as the Deputy Commander of 43rd Corps)
- 128th Infantry Division
- 129th Infantry Division
- 54th Corsp Commander-Han Huaizhi (pluralism), Political Commissar
The political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Zhu Zhiwei
- 160th Infantry Division (commanded by 41st Corp in this war) Commander-Zhang Zhixin
Zhang Zhixin was a dissident during the Cultural Revolution who became famous for criticizing the idolization of Mao Zedong and the ultra-left...
, Political Commissar-Li Zhaogui
- 161st Infantry Division
- 162nd Infantry Division Commander-Li Jiulong
- 50th Corps Temporary Commander-Liu Guangtong, Political Commissar
The political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Gao Xingyao
- 148th Infantry Division
-History:The 148th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men. It was a component of the 50th Army, consisting of the 442nd, 443rd, and 444th Regiments....
- 150th Infantry Division
-History:The 150th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men. It was a component of the 50th Army, consisting of the 448th, 449th, and 450th Regiments....
- 20th Corps
The 20th Army was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War.-Organization:...
(only dispatched the 58th Division into the war)
- 58th Infantry Division
-Korean War:The 58th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War. They were a component of the 20th Army, consisting of the 172nd, 173rd, and 174th Regiments.The 58th Division attacked the U.S. Marines holding Hagaru-ri during the Battle of Chosin...
(commanded by the 50th Corps during the war)
- Guangxi Military Region (as a provincial military region) Commander-Zhao Xinran Chief of Staff
A chief of staff, also known as a principal staff officer, is the coordinator of the supporting staff and primary aide to an important individual, such as an Office of the Prime Minister-Civilian:*Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister...
-Yin Xi
- 1st Regiment of Frontier Defense in Youyiguan Pass
- 2nd Regiment of Frontier Defense in Baise
Baise is a prefecture-level city in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.-Geography and climate:...
District
- 3rd Regiment of Frontier Defense in Fangcheng
Fangcheng may refer to:*Fangcheng County, county in Henan, China*Fangcheng District, district in Fangchenggang, Guangxi, China...
County
- The Independent Infantry Division of Guangxi Military Region
- Air Force of Guangzhou Military Region (armed patrol in the sky of Guangxi
This article is about a region of China. For the sociological concept, see Guānxi.Guangxi is a Zhuang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China....
, did not see combat)
- 7th Air Force Corp
- 13th Air Force Division (aerotransport unit came from Hubei
' is a central province of the People's Republic of China. Its abbreviation is 鄂 , an ancient name associated with the eastern part of the province since the Qin Dynasty. The name Hubei means "north of the lake", referring to Hubei's position north of Lake Dongting...
province)
- 70th Antiaircraft Artillery Division
- The 217 Fleet of South Sea Fleet
The People's Republic of China's South Sea Fleet was first established in late 1949. The flagship of the SSF is the AOR/AK Nanchang ....
- 8th Navy Aviation Division
- The Independent Tank Regiment of Guangzhou Military Region
- 83rd Bateau Boat Regiment
- 84th Bateau Boat Regiment
- Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately 394,000 square kilometers . The capital of the province is Kunming...
Direction (the West Front) commanded by the Front Headquarter of Kunming Military Region in KaiyuanKaiyuan may refer to:Places* Kaiyuan, Liaoning , a county-level city in Tieling Municipality, Liaoning* Kaiyuan City , a county-level city in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan* Kaiyuan District , a former district in Xiamen Municipality, Fujian...
. Commander-Yang DezhiYang Dezhi was a senior military officer in the North China Field Army, a veteran of the Korean War and commander in China during the Sino–Vietnamese War or Third Indochina War, a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the China and the Vietnam...
, Political CommissarThe political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Liu Zhijian, Chief of StaffA chief of staff, also known as a principal staff officer, is the coordinator of the supporting staff and primary aide to an important individual, such as an Office of the Prime Minister-Civilian:*Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister...
-Sun Ganqing
- 11th Corp(consisted of two divisions) Commander-Chen Jiagui, Political Commissar
The political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Zhang QiZhang Qi is a male Chinese shot putter.He won the bronze medal at the 2005 Asian Championships and finished fifth at the 2006 Asian Games. He also competed at the 2006 World Indoor Championships without reaching the final....
- 31st Infantry Division
- 32nd Infantry Division
- 13th Corps(camed from Chengdu Military Region
The Chengdu Military Region is a military administrative command located in the southwest of the People's Republic of China, covering Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and the Xizang/Tibet Autonomous Region...
) Commander-Yan Shouqing, Political CommissarThe political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Qiao Xueting
- 37th Infantry Division
- 38th Infantry Division
- 39th Infantry Division
- 14th Corp Commander-Zhang Jinghua, Political Commissar
The political commissar , is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
-Fan Xinyou
- 40th Infantry Division
- 41st Infantry Division
- 42nd Infantry Division
- 149th Infantry Division
-History:The 149th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men...
(from Chengdu Military RegionThe Chengdu Military Region is a military administrative command located in the southwest of the People's Republic of China, covering Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and the Xizang/Tibet Autonomous Region...
, belonged to 50th Corps, assigned to Yunnan Direction during the war)
- Yunnan Military Region (as a provincial military region)
- 11th Regiment of Frontier Defense in Maguan County
- 12th Regiment of Frontier Defense in Malipo County
- 13th Regiment of Frontier Defense in
- 14th Regiment of Frontier Defense in
- The Independent Infantry Division of Yunnan Military Region commanded by 11th Corps in the war
- 65th Antiaircraft Artillery Division
- 4th Artillery Division
- Independent Tank Regiment of Kunming Military Region
- 86th Bateau Boat Regiment
- 23rd Logistic Branch consisted of five army service stations, six hospitals, eleven medical establishments)
- 17th Automobile Regiment commanded by 13th Corps during the war
- 22nd Automobile Regiment
- 5th Air Force Corps
- 44th Air Force Division (fighter unit)
- Independent unit of 27th Air Force Division
- 15th Air Force Antiaircraft Artillery Division
Vietnamese Forces
Many of Vietnam's elite troops were in Cambodia keeping a tight grip on its newly occupied territory. The Vietnamese government claimed they left only a force of about 70,000 including several army regular divisions and divisions of the Public Security Army (the Vietnamese equivalent of border guards) in its northern area. However, the Chinese claimed to have encountered twice this number. This concept of using local militias to fight the enemy has been a staple of Vietnamese defense strategy since antiquity. During the war, Vietnamese forces also used American Military equipment abandoned during the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
.
Course of the war
The Chinese penetrated into Northern Vietnam and immediately encountered resistance. The Vietnamese claimed that resistance was offered by a mixture of local militia and army divisions totalling 70,000 troops, while the Chinese claimed to have encountered a much larger force. The Chinese were able to advance about twenty five kilometers into Vietnam. Most of the fighting occurred in the provinces of
Cao Bang-Geography:Cao Bằng Province is centered on the town of Cao Bằng itself. It is located in the far north of the country. It borders the provinces of Hà Giang, Tuyên Quang, Bắc Kạn, and Lạng Sơn, as well as the province of Guangxi in the People’s Republic of China....
, Lao Cai, and
Lang SonLạng Sơn is a province in far northern Vietnam, bordering Guangxi and Yunnan provinces in China. Its capital is also called Lạng Sơn.Friendship Gate, the historical land link between China and Vietnam, links Lạng Sơn and Guangxi, China....
. On March 6, the Chinese took the city of
Lang Son Lạng Sơn , a city in far northern Vietnam, is the capital of Lang Son Province. It is accessible by road and rail from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Road 1A.-History:...
. Claiming that the gate to Hanoi was open and that their punitive mission had been achieved, the Chinese withdrew.
Chinese casualties
To this day, both sides of the conflict describe themselves as the victor. The number of casualties is disputed, with some Western sources putting PLA losses at more than 25,000 killed throughout the war.
According to Chinese sources however,like Chinese democracy activist Wei Jingsheng . In 1980, Wei told western media that Chinese troops had suffered 9000 deaths and more than 10,000 wounded.
The PLA never formally announced its casualty figures, but leaks have indicated that PLA had only 6,954 deaths and 14,800 wounded , 238 Prisoners of War throughout the war.
Vietnamese casualties
There are no independently verifiable details of Vietnamese casualties, same as their counterpart Chinese government, Vietnamese government has never announced any information on its actual casualty, except for Nhan Dan newspaper,the Central Organ of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the voice of the Party, claimed that Vietnam suffered more than 100,000 civilian deaths over Chinese invasion, and earlier on 17 May,1979, Nhan Dan newspaper also released statistics on heavy loss of its industrial and agricultural properties.
Vietnamese armed personnel:
Regular forces : 4,200 killed in total, Wounded: more than 10,000. 2210 Prisoners of War.
Province Militia and divisions of the Public Security Army: unknown, the total causality estimated: 70,000
Chinese debacle
The Chinese military was using equipment and tactics from the era of the
Long MarchThe Long March was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. There was not one Long March, but several, as various Communist armies in the south escaped to the...
,
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the
Korean WarThe Korean War is a war that started between North Korea and South Korea on 25 June 1950 and paused with an armistice signed 27 July, 1953...
. Under Deng's order, China did not use their naval power and air force to suppress enemy fire, neutralize strong points, and support their ground forces. Therefore, the Chinese ground forces were forced into absorbing the impact of the Vietnamese forces' fire. . The PLA lacked adequate communications, transport, and logistics. Further, they were burdened with an elaborate and archaic command structure which proved inefficient in the FEBA (Forward Edge of Battle Area). Runners were employed to relay orders because there were few radios — those that they did have were not secure. The
Cultural RevolutionThe Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a period of widespread social and political upheaval in the People’s Republic of China between 1966 and 1976, resulting in nation-wide chaos and economic disarray.It was launched by Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Communist Party of China, on May 16,...
had significantly weakened Chinese industry, and military hardware produced suffered from poor quality, and thus did not perform well. China's goal was to force the Vietnamese to pull out their 150,000 troops from Cambodia, where their Khmer Rouge allies were being extremely pressured upon.
Aftermath
The legacy of the war is lasting. China lost thousands of troops killed and 3,446 million yuan in overhead, which effectively delayed completion of their 1979-80 economic plan. The Chinese implemented an effective "
scorched-earth policyA scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
" while retreating back to China. They caused extensive damage to the Vietnamese countryside and infrastructure, through the destruction of Vietnamese villages, roads, and railroads. However, this war did not alter Vietnamese policy in Cambodia; the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia was still ousted and replaced by a puppet government. The Chinese were forcibly reminded of their troops' lack of training and tactical coordination.
Border skirmishes continued throughout the 1980s, including a significant skirmish in April 1984; this saw the first use of the
Type 81 Assault RifleThe Type 81 assault rifle was the principal automatic rifle used by the Chinese People's Liberation Army from the mid-1980s until 1995. It incorporates elements of the Dragunov Sniper Rifle, SKS, and AK series rifles...
by the Chinese, and a naval battle over the
Spratly IslandsThe Spratly Islands are a group of more than 650 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea between the Philippines, China, Malaysia and Vietnam. They comprise less than five square kilometers of land area, spread over more than 400,000 square kilometers of sea...
in 1988. In 1999, after many years of negotiations, China and Vietnam signed a border pact, though the line of demarcation remained secret. There was a very slight adjustment of the land border at this time, resulting in land being given back to China. Vietnam's official news service reported the actual implementation of the new border around August 2001. Again in January 2009 the border demarcation with markers was officially completed. Signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Dung on the Vietnamese side and his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, on the Chinese side. Both the
ParacelThe Paracel Islands consist of over 30 islets, sandbanks or reefs, occupy about 15,000 km
2 of the ocean surface, and located in the South China Sea, also known as East Vietnam Sea or East Sea. Turtles live on the islands, and seabirds have left nests and guano deposits, but there are no...
(Hoàng Sa: Vietnamese) (Xīshā: Chinese) and
SpratlyThe Spratly Islands are a group of more than 650 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea between the Philippines, China, Malaysia and Vietnam. They comprise less than five square kilometers of land area, spread over more than 400,000 square kilometers of sea...
(Trường Sa: Vietnamese) (Nangsha: Chinese) islands remain a point of contention.
The Vietnamese government continuously requested an official apology from the Chinese government for its invasion of Vietnam, but the Chinese government refused to apologize. After the normalization of relations between the two countries in 1990, Vietnam officially dropped its demand for an apology.
Relations after the war
A catalyst to improved relations between the two communist countries was the
1989 Tiananmen Square crackdownThe Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, referred to in most of the Western world as the Tiananmen Square massacre and in the People's Republic of China as the June Fourth Incident , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the PRC beginning on 14 April...
, at which point Vietnam showed strong support for the Chinese measures, though ironically many Chinese officers who had served in the Sino-Vietnamese War were active in suppressing the protest movement. Borders remained militarized, however.
The December 2007 announcement of a plan to build a Hanoi-Kunming highway was a landmark in Sino-Vietnamese relations. The road will traverse the border that once served as a battleground. It should contribute to demilitarizing the border region, as well as facilitating trade and industrial cooperation between the nations.
Reflections from international and Chinese media
On March 1, 2005 Howard W. French wrote in
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
: Some historians stated that
the war was started by Mr. Deng(China's then paramount leaderParamount Leader , in modern Chinese political science, unofficially refers to the political leader of the People's Republic of China who holds absolute influences over culture, media, or controls the three branches of the Chinese political system Paramount Leader to keep the army preoccupied while he consolidated power, eliminating leftist rivals from the Maoist era and Chinese soldiers were used as
cannon fodder in a cynical political game.
We were sacrificed for politics, and it's not just me who feels this way - lots of comrades do, and we communicate our thoughts via the Internet, One of the veterans was quoted as such.
The attitude of the country is not to mention this old, sad history because things are pretty stable with Vietnam now. But it is also because the reasons given for the war back then just wouldn't stand now.
The Chinese official name for the war was 对越自卫反击战 (duì yuè zìwèi fǎnjī zhàn), roughly translated as 'self-defense counterattack against Vietnam'.
Chinese Media
Contrary to the views expressed in some major international press, there are quite a few Chinese songs, movies and TV programs depicting and discussing this conflict with Vietnam in 1979. Some of them are quite insightful, albeit from the Chinese viewpoint. These vary from the patriotic song "
Bloodstained GloryBlood-stained Glory is a Chinese folk song written in 1987. Originally used to commemorate those who died during Sino-Vietnamese War, the song instead became popular for its commemoration of those who died during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.-Chinese:也許我告別 將不再回來，你是否理解？你是否明白？
也許我倒下...
" originally written to laud the sacrifice and service of the Chinese military, to the 1986 film
The Big ParadeThe Big Parade is a 1986 Chinese film directed by Chen Kaige. The story of a tough drill sergeant and his raw recruits, The Big Parade stars Wang Xueqi, Sun Chun, and was photographed by Zhang Yimou....
which carried as far as possible, in the China of the time, veiled criticism of the war.
See also
- Sino-Soviet border conflict
The Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969 refers to a series of armed border clashes between the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China at the height of the Sino-Soviet split. The most serious of these border clashes occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island on Ussuri River, also...
- Battle of the Paracel Islands
- Johnson South Reef Skirmish
The Johnson South Reef Skirmish of 1988 was a naval battle that took place between Chinese and Vietnamese forces over Johnson South Reef in the Spratly Islands on March 14, 1988...
External links
Additional sources