The self-defense counterattack war against Vietnam, also known as the Sino-Vietnamese border self-defense counterattack war, in a narrow sense, refers to the fierce fighting that broke out between China and Vietnam in the Sino-Vietnamese border area from February 17 to March 16, 1979; In a broad sense, it refers to the military conflicts on the Sino-Vietnamese border for nearly a decade from 1979 to 1989.
On the surface, the war of self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam is a war against Vietnam's invasion of Chinese territory, but there is a complex international background behind it. In short, there are the following aspects:China and the Soviet Union had bad relations, China and the United States established diplomatic relations, and Vietnam was anti-China.
Since the end of the 50s of the 20th century, the differences between the Chinese and Soviet parties have intensified, and the relations between the two countries have gradually cooled. In 1962, the Soviet Union took advantage of China's economic difficulties to create the "Ita Incident" and instigated more than 60,000 Chinese border residents to cross the border to the Soviet Union in the Ili and Tacheng areas of Xinjiang. In this way, the differences between China and the Soviet Union widened from the ideology of the two parties to the aspect of state relations.
In March 1965, China refused to participate in the consultative meeting of the Communist Party and the Workers' Party of various countries convened by the CPSU. In March 1966, he replied to the CPSU and said that he would not participate in the 23rd CPSU Congress. Since then, relations between the Chinese and Soviet parties have been severed. With the deterioration of relations between the two countries, in the mid-60s of the 20th century, the Soviet Union massively increased its troops in the border areas and sent troops to Mongolia, which directly threatened China's security.
In 1969, the Zhenbaodao Incident and the Tielekti Incident occurred successively, and China and the Soviet Union evolved from an ideological cold war to a border conflict and a hot war. In March 1969, after the Zhenbao Island incident, relations between the two countries were unprecedentedly tense. The state of Sino-Soviet hostilities lasted until the early 80s of the 20th century.
In 1971, the United Nations overwhelmingly approved the restoration of China's legitimate seat, and China's international status was unprecedentedly enhanced. On December 16, 1978, China and the United States issued the Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and the United States. China and the United States announced mutual recognition and diplomatic relations effective January 1, 1979.
After the breakdown of relations between China and the Soviet Union, in order to seek a new way out, the Chinese leaders resolutely chose to accept the goodwill of the United States, ease relations with the West, led by the United States, and restore diplomatic relations, so as to avoid the double blockade and sanctions imposed by the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.
But when China established diplomatic relations with the United States, the Soviet Union was of course the most unhappy. So the Soviet Union tried its best to usurp the little brother of Vietnam and create all kinds of troubles in the south of China. It still confirms the saying - between countries, there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests!
After the end of Vietnam's War of Resistance Against the United States in 1975, the leaders at that time, Le Duan, did not seize the opportunity to concentrate on healing the wounds of the war and restoring and developing the economy, but were carried away by the victory and completely deviated from Ho Chi Minh's line. Le Duan and his gang forcibly carried out the socialist transformation of the left in the south internally, relied on the support of the Soviet Union externally, wantonly promoted regional hegemony, and tried in vain to cobble together the "Indochinese Federation."
Between 1975 and 1984, at least 1.5 million Vietnamese nationals were deported, and their hard-earned wealth was appropriated by the Vietnamese authorities. After Vietnam ended the War of Resistance Against the United States and achieved national reunification, it regarded China as its "number one enemy," and Sino-Vietnamese relations deteriorated sharply.
With the bitterness between China and the Soviet Union, pragmatist Vietnam began to decide to develop closer diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, which was stronger than China. Guided by this erroneous line, Vietnam openly opposed China while tightening its grip on Laos until it launched an armed invasion of Cambodia.
From August 1978 to February 1979, Vietnam made more than 700 armed provocations, invaded more than 160 places in Chinese territory, and killed and wounded more than 300 Chinese nationals. The peace and stability of China's border areas and the lives and property of the people are seriously threatened. Comrade Xiaoping said about this:There is no necessary lesson for Vietnam, and I am afraid that any other approach will not be effective.
February 17, 1979In accordance with the order of the Central Military Commission, the Guangxi and Yunnan border troops of the Chinese People's Liberation Army conducted self-defense and counterattack operations against Vietnamese troops who invaded Chinese territory. On March 16, all of them were withdrawn to China and completed their combat missions. In the 1979 self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, China achieved its intended operational objectives and disrupted the strategic deployment of the Soviet Union and Vietnam.
The self-defense and counterattack operations against Vietnam were carried out in China's Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region as the two operational directions, and the overall process was divided into three stages
In the first stage, the Chinese Communist Party publicly issued a notice to the whole country that it was ready to start a self-defense and counter-attack operation, showing the world that China's attack on Vietnam was a self-defense and counter-attack operation.
In the second stage, the Chinese People's Liberation Army conquered Lang Son City, a military fortress in Vietnam.
In the third stage, the Chinese People's Liberation Army withdrew all its troops to China from March 6 to March 16, 1979, by alternating cover and retreating while clearing and suppressing.
After the withdrawal of Chinese troops, China repeatedly suggested that Vietnam and China hold border talks to resolve the dispute between the two countries through consultations. However, on the surface, the Vietnamese authorities accepted China's proposal, but secretly stepped up their arms build-up warfare, continued to infringe on key points in the border areas, and harassed the military and civilians in the Chinese border areas.
In order to create and maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, China's battles to recover the Mt. Lam and Phaka Mountains in 1981, the battles to recover Lao Son and Zheyin Mountains in 1984, and China's operations against Vietnam to pull out points, the battle of the two mountains, and the defensive operations against Vietnam have dealt a powerful blow to Vietnam's arrogance.
Through the Sino-Vietnamese border self-defense and counter-attack, the stability of China's southwestern frontier was maintained. For the Vietnamese side, the impact of the war was long-lasting, and the national strength was depleted and destroyed for a long time, and eventually had to change course. Facts have proved that the truth only exists within the range of the cannon, and if it does not leak strength, there will always be clowns who jump off the beam to annoy people!