At the end of 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing. ** At the meeting, the policy of centering on economic construction was put forward and the development policy of reform and opening up was formulated.
At this time, China urgently needs a peaceful and stable external environment. However, Sino-Soviet relations have deteriorated, China and the United States have not yet established diplomatic relations, and China's development environment remains grim. At this critical juncture, Vietnam, which had received great help from our country, was ungrateful, ignoring warnings and repeatedly provoking border disputes.
A war of self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam is imminent. The Soviet Union spared no effort to support Vietnam, signed a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance with Vietnam, and the two countries established an alliance. While Vietnam repeatedly provoked our country, the Soviet Union deployed a million troops on the Sino-Soviet and Sino-Mongolian borders in an attempt to force our country not to take drastic actions.
In the face of strong military pressure from the Soviet Union, the country's leader *** demonstrated his diplomatic wisdom and political game ability. Through his judgment of the international situation, he skillfully avoided the invasion of a million Soviet troops, and finally our country successfully launched a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam and won the victory.
On the eve of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, what specific work was done to deal with the threat of the Soviet Union? Why didn't the Soviet army act? What kind of game was played between China, the United States and the Soviet Union on the eve of this battle?
All this stems from the formation of the "strategic triangle" between China, the United States and the Soviet Union, let us understand the outstanding performance of the United States in this battle.
In the early days of the founding of New China, the capitalist countries led by the United States adopted a tough attitude of blockade and embargo against China. In order to seek a peaceful and stable environment for development, ** proposed a "one-sided" foreign policy, established alliances with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, and received economic and military assistance from the Soviet Union.
During this period, China and the Soviet Union had close relations, the two sides signed the "Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance", the Soviet Union also sent a large number of experts to China to support our construction, and even many Chinese people could sing the Soviet song "Katyusha".
However, the attitude of the United States toward China has become increasingly hostile, especially after the outbreak of the Korean War, China and the United States engaged in fierce military contests on the Korean battlefield, which has caused the US Navy's Seventh Fleet to frequently haunt the Taiwan Strait, seriously threatening China's territorial security.
After Khrushchev came to power, Sino-Soviet relations gradually became tense. In April 1958, he proposed to Chairman *** to establish a military long-wave radio station in our country to deal with the threat from the United States.
However, this request seriously undermines the sovereignty of our country, and the President has unequivocally rejected it. However, Khrushchev was disgruntled and not only rejected our reasonable request, but also took the initiative to withdraw experts and technology to assist our country, which hindered the development of our country.
During this period, the United States and the Soviet Union competed fiercely for hegemony. The United States supported Chiang Kai-shek's "first mainland" in Taiwan, and the Kuomintang army repeatedly attacked fishermen on the southeast coast of China, causing huge losses to the local people.
** The chairman knew that Chiang Kai-shek had American support behind him, and although he wanted to punish Chiang Kai-shek, American involvement had to be taken into account. It was at this time that Khrushchev visited China.
** The chairman seized this opportunity and ordered the relevant troops to shell Kinmen, and the shelling continued for more than a month.
** The foresight is in stark contrast to the misconceptions of the United States. The United States, believing that our actions were tacitly approved by the Soviet Union, did not act further. However, Khrushchev was outraged by this and increased sanctions against our country.
Sino-Soviet relations broke down. In a difficult international environment, China successfully avoided the simultaneous attack of the United States and the Soviet Union on China, and developed a nuclear weapon in the difficult situation, thus improving its international status.
In the early 70s of the 20th century, China joined the United Nations, forming a "strategic triangle" relationship between China, the United States and the Soviet Union. The actions of either side will attract the attention of the other two and have a significant impact on the global political landscape.
After Nixon's visit to China, relations between China and the United States eased, but the Soviet Union increased pressure on our country to prevent our country from forming an anti-Soviet alliance with the United States and carrying out a global expansion of force, focusing on support for Vietnam, which was in trouble.
During Nixon's visit to China, Sino-US relations eased somewhat, but China still firmly supported Vietnam and provided Vietnam with $20 billion worth of strategic materials and military experts to help Vietnam win the war.
However, when Vietnam was reunified in 1975, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Le Duan, had inflated ambitions and sought to impose hegemony on the Indochina Peninsula, seeing China as the biggest threat.
At the meeting of the Viet Cong**, Le Duan made it clear that the main enemy of Vietnam was US imperialism, but the immediate threat came from China and Cambodia. In order to contain Sino-US relations, the Soviet Union decided to vigorously aid Vietnam and tried to flank the north and the south, forcing our country to consider the threat from the north when making decisions.
Before the outbreak of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, the Soviet Union claimed to have amassed a million troops on the borders of China, the Soviet Union and Mongolia.
When political struggles cannot be resolved, war is a means of removing obstacles. "Ignoring our country's repeated warnings, Vietnam continues to provoke and violate our territory, and we have to prepare in advance for a self-defense counterattack.
While preparing for war, we also need to stabilize the surrounding situation to ensure the smooth progress of the war. After all, peace and development are the mainstream of the world, and the justice of the self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam needs to be recognized by the world.
Therefore, we need to prepare in advance to show the world that this war is justified, and at the same time ensure that other factors do not affect the progress of the war.
At that time, China's northeastern neighbor North Korea undoubtedly always stood on our side at the pledge meeting for the self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam, after all, the Chinese People's Volunteers helped them win the "joint **" The relationship between the two countries is very close at this time, and there is no need to worry too much.
Naturally, South Korea did not dare to act rashly under the containment of North Korea. In East Asia, after North Korea and South Korea, the most influential country is Japan. In 1978, Vietnam's arrogance became more and more arrogant, and in order to cope with the surrounding situation, the country's leaders decided to visit Japan first.
After World War II, Japan was in a slump, but with the support of the United States, the economy soon developed by leaps and bounds by using the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea to give strategic materials to the US military.
By the 70s of the 20th century, Japan's economy was the second largest in the world, and it had an important impact on East Asia. With the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka to China, China and Japan officially established diplomatic relations.
However, due to the restrictions of various reasons at that time, China and Japan did not carry out extensive exchanges after the establishment of diplomatic relations, and the relationship between the two countries was still relatively cold due to the influence of historical issues.
Therefore, before the start of the self-defense counterattack war against Vietnam, it is necessary to establish friendly relations with Japan.
On October 22, 1978, he visited Japan, and the main purpose of this trip was not only to promote friendly relations and cooperation between China and Japan, but also to learn from Japan's economic development experience and technology, and to introduce foreign capital to promote China's economic development.
In addition, China's position on the Vietnam issue was also subtly expressed. **'s modesty and courtesy left a deep impression on all walks of life in Japan, and he emphasized that this trip was to learn from Japan and seek friendship, and the Japanese at that time welcomed his arrival very much.
After his talks with Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, he once again emphasized: "Promoting exchanges in the political, economic, cultural, technological and other fields will have a positive impact on peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region."
The friendly relations and cooperation between China and Japan conform to the common aspirations of the two peoples and will be passed on from generation to generation. ”
Takeo FukudaJapan** is deeply aware of the tremendous benefits that will be brought by maintaining friendly relations with our country, and for this reason, the Japanese Prime Minister expressed his willingness to continue to move forward hand in hand with our country and will not hinder us on the Vietnam issue.
After the potential threat from the east was resolved, ** returned to China non-stop and immediately instructed the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan to strengthen ties with Pakistan** and jointly deal with the potential threat from India.
At the same time, on the Sino-Soviet border and the Sino-Mongolian border in the north of our country, the Minister of Defense Marshal *** personally deployed sufficient forces to cope with the strong military pressure from the Soviet Union.
And on the Sino-Vietnamese border in the south of our country, there is no large-scale assembly arranged for the time being, so as to maintain our advantageous position in the international arena. At that time, Vietnam received the first military assistance left by the US military when it retreated and the Soviet Union, and proclaimed itself the "third military power in the world", actively promoting regional hegemony, and the intention of invading other countries was very obvious, and Vietnam's neighbor Cambodia bore the brunt.
In order to prevent other countries in Southeast Asia from going astray under the influence of Vietnam, the 74-year-old *** had just returned from Japan, so he quickly traveled south in November, visiting Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, which are influential in Southeast Asia.
In the conversations with the heads of state of various countries, they all strongly condemned the expansionist behavior of the big bully (Soviet Union) and the small bully (Vietnam), warned the Southeast Asian countries to be wary of Vietnam becoming the "Cuba of the East", and warned Vietnam not to invade Cambodia.
On November 12, he arrived in Singapore and held friendly talks with Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew at the government. Singapore was chosen not only because it has a certain influence and voice in Southeast Asian countries, but also because of its relatively high economic level.
**The purpose of this trip is not only to stabilize the situation in the region, but also to learn from Singapore's development experience, which will also provide a reference for the reform and opening up policy that will be introduced in the near future.
On the issue of Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia, ** made it clear that our country adheres to the position of peaceful settlement, but if Vietnam insists on going its own way, we do not rule out the use of force to settle the dispute.
In response to Lee Kuan Yew's question that our country might be afraid of Soviet intervention, ** firmly stated that our country's handling method would not be affected by the Soviet Union, and that even if Vietnam requested assistance from the Soviet Union, our country would have the confidence and ability to solve the problem, and would not be easily intimidated by the Soviet Union.
**'s rhetoric sends a strong signal to Lee Kuan Yew and Southeast Asian countries that China advocates peace but is capable of protecting itself.
After visiting the three Southeast Asian countries, most Southeast Asian countries have maintained a neutral attitude, and only Cambodia, a country that is suffering from Vietnamese aggression, has given strong support to our country.
Countries like Laos, which oppose our country, are not able to pose a great threat to us due to their geographical location and the limitations of their actual capabilities. In this way, except for Vietnam and the Soviet Union, which were a direct threat to our country, other neighboring countries were all under the diplomatic mediation of the United States, either maintaining neutrality or supporting our country's actions, and successfully avoided the unfavorable situation of our country being attacked by enemies in many places.
And of all the external forces, the attitude of the United States is the key. Although the ice was broken in 1972, there was still no significant improvement in the relationship between the two countries in the following years due to certain factors.
However, after Brezhnev became the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union vigorously developed its military power and carried out global expansion. In the process of the struggle for hegemony of the United States, it is gradually on the disadvantageous side.
In this situation of "the Soviet Union attacking the United States and defending the United States," the United States also began to urgently need to achieve further détente with China in order to jointly resist the expansion of the Soviet Union.
** Both Brezhnev and Brezhnev believed that the time had come for a relaxation of Sino-US relations, and on January 1, 1979, the two countries formally established diplomatic relations. The news nerves the Soviet Union and Vietnam, with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev pressuring the United States and Vietnam seeking a détente with the United States.
In order to strengthen communication with the United States, he paid a state visit to the United States on January 29, 1979 at the invitation of Carter. Prior to this, ** did two things at home: one was that our country **strongly** and warned Vietnam about its aggression and let the world know through Xinhua News Agency; Second, the military action to be taken by our country in the future is a forced self-defense measure when we can no longer tolerate it.
** Actively enlist support at the United Nations to demand that Vietnam stop its aggression against Cambodia and its provocations against China. After completing these preparations, he visited the United States and held official talks with Carter**, the main purpose of which was to strengthen economic cooperation with the United States.
In discussing Vietnam, he made it clear that Vietnam's expansionist behavior was supported by the Soviet Union and could lead to even greater problems if the United States did not act.
When Carter asked about China's attitude, he firmly said that China hopes for peaceful development, but in order to maintain regional peace and stability, China needs to teach Vietnam a lesson.
After several formal talks, the US side reached consensus on a number of issues. On February 1, the two countries issued the China-US Joint Press Communique, which stressed: "The two sides firmly oppose any attempt by any country or group of countries to achieve hegemony or dominate other countries, and work together to safeguard international peace, security, and national independence." ”
Despite the strict secrecy of this meeting, both the Soviet Union and Vietnam, and even the United States in the United States, were full of curiosity about the visit. At a press conference, a reporter asked about the attitude of China and the United States on the Vietnam issue, and humorously replied: "Children are disobedient and will be spanked." ”
At the same time, an active military mobilization has also begun in China, and a large number of PLA main forces have gathered on the Sino-Vietnamese border, ready to counterattack Vietnam at any time, which was planned in advance.
Brezhnev misjudged the military operation of our country, believing that it was supported by the United States. As everyone knows, the United States only said that it would appropriately assist China on diplomatic occasions and did not make clear its own position.
** Relying on the dual strategy of diplomacy and military means, the Soviet Union had to throw a mouse trap and could not act rashly even if it deployed millions of troops on the Sino-Soviet and Sino-Mongolian borders.
The People's Liberation Army's self-defense counterattack against Vietnam also began soon after. However, hard power is needed behind all strategies, otherwise there may be variables.
The soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have experienced the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and the War of Self-Defense and Counterattack against India, and they have lived up to the expectations of the motherland and the people, and in just over half a month, they have successfully inflicted heavy losses on the Vietnamese troops in northern Vietnam and destroyed the military installations they had built for a long time.
In the end, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) successfully withdrew to China after completing the set tasks on March 16, and won the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
**'s diplomatic and military strategy allowed the PLA fighters in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam to accept Vietnam's defeat before the Soviet Union had time to react. Since then, the Sino-Soviet border has remained stable under the influence of relations between China, the United States and the Soviet Union, and there have been no large-scale military conflicts.
We express our heartfelt respect to ***!