China has always been a peace-loving country, and because of the tragic history of aggression suffered in modern times, we have profoundly realized the preciousness and hard-won nature of peace. We will never take the initiative to launch a war of aggression, still less will we invade other countries in any name. However, China's love of peace does not mean that we will passively accept abuse.
When faced with a crisis, we will also take tough measures for self-defense, such as the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in the 50s of the last century and the Sino-Indian border self-defense counterattack in the 60s. However, such a clear stance on the part of China does not seem to have made some countries realize the facts.
At the end of the 70s of the last century, Vietnam, which had received strong support from China, was ungrateful and frequently invaded the Sino-Vietnamese border. Faced with the situation of serious damage to the security of the Sino-Vietnamese border, China decided to take action again and launched a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam in 1979 to defend its territorial integrity.
1. China's assistance to Vietnam in the Sino-Vietnamese self-defense and counterattack war against aggression refers to the war from February 17 to March 16, 1979 in a narrow sense, but in a broad sense, it includes the continuous conflict that has occurred for nearly a decade. In 1945, after decades of struggle, Vietnam finally broke free from French colonial rule, gained national independence and declared statehood.
However, France, having lost its colony, was unwilling to admit defeat and relaunched a war of aggression, which caused Vietnam to suffer from war in the following decades.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, although we ourselves were facing the trauma of the war, when the Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh asked us for help, we did not hesitate to lend a hand and sent Tran Geng to lead the army to help Vietnam resist the French invasion, and finally won the victory. However, after the repulsion of the French, the catastrophe facing Vietnam did not end.
In 1961, after the Geneva Accords established the 17th parallel as the military demarcation line, the United States intervened in Vietnam under the banner of "containing communist expansion." During the Vietnam War, the United States was strongly warned by China not to cross the 17th parallel.
Although China is very concerned about Vietnam's security, out of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, it did not directly send troops as it did to resist US aggression and aid Korea, but provided Vietnam with a large amount of resources and support, providing Vietnam with sufficient resistance forces.
Thanks to the combined assistance of China and the Soviet Union and the stubborn will of the Vietnamese people, the United States was unable to defeat Vietnam even though it used a large amount of military equipment and force. In 1973, after more than a decade of war attrition, the United States had to be under both international and domestic pressure to decide to stop its aggression against Vietnam, and the war ended in defeat for the United States.
Vietnam finally achieved national reunification after independence in 1945, but Sino-Vietnamese relations were in danger of rupture. Vietnam turned its back on friendly gestures toward China. Since Ho Chi Minh's death, Vietnam's leadership has changed hands to Le Duan, and the situation has been very different. After the end of the Vietnam War, Vietnam immediately turned its face and denied people and began to bite back against China.
In the 60s of the last century, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated sharply, and for Vietnam after the war, it was more appropriate to rely on the "big brother" Soviet Union than to rely on China, which had already turned its face. Vietnam's attempt to expand its territory by invading China has aroused strong resentment in China.
Despite China's reluctance to act rashly, Vietnam mistakenly believed that China did not have enough strength to confront them and the Soviet Union behind Vietnam, so they became more and more emboldened and the scale of the conflict escalated. In 1979, after the issuance of the order by China, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) immediately launched a self-defense counterattack in response to Vietnam's encroachment on our territory.
Vietnam is full of self-confidence, and has defeated the United States and other world powers, thinking that China's power is far inferior to the United States and cannot compete with it, coupled with the support of the Soviet Union, it is even more unscrupulous.
However, the Chinese quickly shattered their illusions, and in just one month they quickly advanced to the vicinity of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and after achieving a deterrent effect, they withdrew their troops and returned home, without occupying an inch of Vietnam.
Despite this, Vietnam was not content to be defeated, and for more than a decade it provoked many times and engaged in border clashes with China, all of which were unsuccessful, and it was not until 1989 that it gradually stopped. Internationally, although many anti-China countries believe that China has not won a victory, in the eyes of some American scholars, China has not only achieved a victory, but also has great significance.
The war consolidated China's *** and taught Vietnam a profound lesson, and also made the Soviet Union, which supported Vietnam, realize that even if Sino-Soviet relations were tense, China was not afraid of the Soviet military threat.
In addition, this self-defense counterattack war is the largest war in the 20 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, demonstrating a qualitative leap in China's strength, strengthening China's deterrence in the international arena and neighboring countries, and effectively safeguarding national defense security.
Most importantly, China's victory crushed Vietnam's ambition to annex the entire Indochina Peninsula, allowing a number of small states on the Indochina Peninsula to counterbalance each other and greatly reducing China's pressure on the southwestern border.
China's victory in the self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam has not only strengthened the country's cohesion and self-confidence, but also achieved an unprecedented increase in the country's soft power, injecting new impetus into China's domestic unity and stability.
From the perspective of the United States, when China and the United States established diplomatic relations in early 1979, the United States, as the losing party in the Vietnam War, suffered a major setback for the Soviet Union with its victory in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. This is undoubtedly a huge benefit for the United States, which is at a disadvantage in the Cold War, and it also makes the United States treat China more sincerely after establishing diplomatic relations with China.
Although the assessment of the United States may be tinged with some arrogance, it is undeniable that this victory has brought great benefits to China. It not only enhanced China's international status, but also won China a peaceful time for three or four decades.
This enables China to develop in a relatively peaceful and stable environment during the critical period of integrating with the world and ushering in rapid development, which is of far-reaching significance to China's current comprehensive strength and international status.