China's punitive war, February-March 1979

H2 History - syllabus 9174, 2027

What this lesson teaches

  • I can judge why tensions arose between Southeast Asian states and how they affected the region.

    Syllabus 9174, Paper 2, Theme III, Learning Outcomes. evaluate the causes and consequences of inter-state tensions on inter-state relations and the region

Make a guess

In February 1979 China attacked Vietnam, the USSR's new ally. What do you think the USSR did?

  1. Sent its army into Vietnam to push the Chinese back.
  2. Declared war on China under the 1978 treaty.
  3. Protested, but did not fight China to defend Vietnam.
Show the answer

Protested, but did not fight China to defend Vietnam.

Soviet inaction showed that the 1978 treaty did not fully protect Vietnam, which was part of China's aim.

China attacked Vietnam to "teach it a lesson", showing the limits of Soviet support but at heavy cost.

Deng Xiaoping visited the USA in January 1979 and told Carter that China might need to teach Vietnam a lesson. On 17 February 1979, Chinese forces attacked across the border.

China massed around 170,000 troops in the first wave. The fighting was fierce, and Chinese casualties were heavy. China captured several provincial capitals and announced its withdrawal in March, completing it by mid-March.

The USSR protested but did not intervene militarily. China thus showed that the Soviet treaty did not protect Vietnam fully.

The war did not force Vietnam out of Cambodia. Afterwards, China kept up pressure on the border and armed the Khmer Rouge, aiming to "bleed" Vietnam in a long war of attrition.

Chinese attack
17 February 1979.
Withdrawal
Completed by mid-March 1979.
Deng's US visit
January 1979.

Real examples to use

Lang Son, March 1979

Chinese forces took the provincial capital, then announced their withdrawal on 5 March, claiming the 'lesson' had been taught.

Deng's 'lesson'

Deng said Vietnam must be taught a lesson. China lost heavily, and Vietnam stayed in Cambodia, so the lesson failed.

Worked example: Assessing China's aims

Did China achieve its aims in 1979?

  1. Aim: punish Vietnam and draw it away from Cambodia. Not achieved.
  2. Aim: show the limits of the Soviet alliance. Largely achieved.
  3. Aim: stand up to Soviet encirclement. Partly achieved, with US tolerance.
  4. Cost: heavy casualties exposed weaknesses in China's army.

Watch out for this

China's attack forced Vietnam to withdraw from Cambodia.

Vietnam stayed in Cambodia until 1989. China's attack failed to achieve that aim.

Check your understanding

What did the 1979 war show about the Soviet-Vietnamese treaty?

  1. The USSR sent troops to fight China on the border.
  2. The treaty was cancelled.
  3. The USSR would not fight China to defend Vietnam.
Show the answer

The USSR would not fight China to defend Vietnam.

Right. Moscow protested but did not intervene militarily.

Sources and context

Background reading for this chapter.

  • A CIA assessment of the conflict

    Paraphrase of the key judgments of an Interagency Intelligence Memorandum, "Sino-Soviet Competition in Indochina", prepared in the CIA, 14 November 1978.

  • A State Department analysis of Vietnam's motives

    Paraphrase of a briefing memorandum from the Acting Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research to Secretary of State Vance, 8 January 1979, the day after Phnom Penh fell.

  • Thailand watches the Vietnamese advance

    Paraphrase of a telegram from the US embassy in Bangkok to the State Department, 4 January 1979.

  • China prepares to attack

    Paraphrase of the minutes of a US National Security Council meeting on the Sino-Vietnamese conflict, 16 February 1979.

  • Lee Kuan Yew writes to Carter

    Paraphrase of a letter from Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to President Carter, 1 March 1979.

  • a Vietnamese diplomat explains the Soviet treaty, November 1978

    Extract from the US record of a meeting in New York, 30 November 1978, between US official Robert Oakley and the Vietnamese representative (named "Co" in the record) in talks on normalising US-Vietnamese relations, four weeks after Vietnam signed its treaty with the USSR. Secret. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, volume XXII, document 33. A US government document in the public domain.

  • Deng Xiaoping briefs President Carter, 29 January 1979

    Extract from the US memorandum of conversation of a meeting between President Carter, Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping and their senior advisers, Washington, 29 January 1979, a month after Vietnam invaded Cambodia. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, volume XIII, document 205. A US government document in the public domain.

  • Carter reports Deng's private message, 30 January 1979

    Extract from a US memorandum of conversation, Washington, 30 January 1979, in which President Carter reported to his advisers on his private talk with Deng Xiaoping. China attacked Vietnam on 17 February 1979. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, volume XIII, document 207. A US government document in the public domain.

  • the UN General Assembly on Kampuchea, November 1979

    Extract from United Nations General Assembly Resolution 34/22, "The situation in Kampuchea", adopted at the 67th plenary meeting, 14 November 1979, on a draft sponsored by the ASEAN states. A UN record.

  • a cartoon about the conflict, 1979

    An original cartoon drawn for these notes in the style of a Southeast Asian newspaper cartoon of 1979, after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and the Chinese attack on Vietnam. It is not a copy of a real cartoon.

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