When asked about the Vietnam issue, Comrade Xiaoping did not give a direct answer, but spoke highly of Carter, saying that he was a far-sighted idealist who enjoyed high prestige among the American people.
Figure 1 ** Handshake with Carter, a scene in international diplomacy that highlights China's attitude toward Vietnam. After interpretation, it became clear that China did not regard Vietnam as an adversary of the same level, but only wanted to teach them a lesson.
As a result, the neighboring countries settled down, with the exception of the Soviet Union. Because the Soviet Union stationed millions of troops on the Chinese border, it was eyeing it. Behind all this, it is related to China's relations with the Soviet Union.
After the end of World War II, China, as a socialist country, experienced years of chaos and turmoil.
The Soviet Union's approach is contrary to China's development needs, resulting in the gradual cooling of cooperation between the two sides, and the country cannot close the door if it wants better development.
Therefore, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, China has tried to establish friendly relations with more countries and promote economic development.
If economic development is neglected for a long time, then the socialist camp system will be at risk of collapsing. The economic foundation determines the superstructure, and the development of any country needs the economy as a support.
Our leaders are well aware of this and are actively seeking rapprochement with Western countries and seeking global integration. However, the contradictions between China and the Soviet Union were not limited to differences in the direction of national development, but also existed in many industrial, military, and political fields.
In terms of industry, the USSR wanted to increase the country's power by developing heavy industry, but this required sacrificing the development of light industry and agriculture, so it ordered other Union countries to accomplish these tasks and provide support for them.
On the military front, the Soviet Union's ambition to seek global hegemony became increasingly apparent, and other countries that wanted to develop their militaries had to obtain the consent of the Soviet Union and be loyal to it. On the political front, the Soviet Union repeatedly used other countries to serve its own interests, allowing them to charge into battle for themselves and act as pawns.
** once said that he did not think that all the ideas of China at that time were correct, and ** with the Soviet Union was mainly due to "the substantive problem of inequality and the sense of humiliation of the Chinese." ”
The Sino-Soviet border issue has always been a sore point in the minds of both sides, but it was not of great concern until the friendly exchanges between the two sides. However, with the rupture of Sino-Soviet relations, the Sino-Soviet border issue became the fuse of the armed conflict between the two sides, and the conflict continued to escalate.
In 1969, the Soviet Union amassed a million troops on the northern border of China, after which Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated sharply, and they were no longer the friendly relations they once were.
Original text: Figure 5 But after this battle, although the two sides faced off on the border after 1969, the intensity of the conflict also decreased, and the possibility of hot war was greatly reduced, but the deteriorating Sino-Soviet relations have never been eased.
After entering the 80s, the internal problems of the Soviet Union became more and more serious, and we have always been able to distinguish between the good and the bad, and we miss the Soviet Union, which entrusts the spiritual strength of the proletariat all over the world, and the Soviet Union, which helped us to carry out socialist construction, but due to the change in Sino-Soviet relations, it has also provided an opportunity for the normalization of Sino-US relations.
As a matter of fact, since the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Sino-US relations have eased to a certain extent, and Western countries have seen China's growing national strength and are also interested in reconciling with China.
With the development of industry and science and technology, Western countries are facing an important problem:
During his visit to the United States, Comrade Xiaoping in Figure 6 put forward his own views on the Vietnam issue. He believed that it was thanks to the support of the Soviet Union that Vietnam had the audacity to be arrogant.
He hoped that the United States would be able to do its own thing from its own point of view. At this time, China, which coincided with a large population and had a large surplus labor force, could meet the needs of Western countries.
In addition, China gradually gained an important position in the international community after the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Against this backdrop, China and the United States formally established diplomatic relations in January 1979.
The Soviet ambassador was disturbed by the Sino-American joint announcement, and Vance explained that this was only an opinion of the current international situation and did not lead to joint actions against the Soviet Union. Coincidentally, on 27 January, the day before Comrade Xiaoping's visit to the United States, the international community reported on the large-scale assembly and mobilization of the squadron on the Sino-Vietnamese border, which triggered all kinds of speculation and analysis.
One of the articles mentioned: "The assembly and mobilization of the squadron on the Sino-Vietnamese border is the focus of attention of journalists from various countries. ”
Figure 8 After the talks, Comrade Xiaoping took the time to reply to the reporter's questions. In his analysis of the international situation, he strongly condemned hegemonist tendencies. When talking about the situation in Southeast Asia, ** said bluntly: "On February 17, 1979, the atmosphere in the whole country was very tense, and after full preparation, the first batch of 7 corps, 22 divisions, and 360,000 combatants of our army had gathered on the Sino-Vietnamese border, and war was about to break out. ”
Before dawn broke on the 9th day, the front-line command gave an order, and our army fired 10,000 artillery pieces in unison, and the Vietnamese army's position was instantly full of fire, as if the whole earth was trembling. Every shell, with the roar of the Chinese people, was directed at the ...... of the Vietnamese army's positionAt the beginning of the war, from February 27 to March 5, in the second stage of the war, our army quickly occupied the Liangshan and Quang Yuan areas, which made the Vietnamese army deeply feel that Hanoi was about to fall, so it immediately issued a national mobilization order.
Lang Son has been a military stronghold of Vietnam since ancient times, and taking Liang Son is equivalent to taking control of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. When the leaders of Hanoi feared that our troops would attack directly, the Chinese side began to fulfill its pre-war promise to "not want an inch of Vietnam's land", after all, this war was not for aggression, but to teach Vietnam a lesson.
This move immediately made Vietnam's just-issued national mobilization order a laughing stock in the international community.
On March 6, our troops began to retreat while carrying out clean-up work. In the process of blowing up a facility in Vietnam, the most brilliant strategy is to blast concrete high-voltage power poles.
This action dealt a heavy blow to the Vietnamese ** at that time, and also effectively suppressed the arrogance of the leaders of the Vietnamese authorities. Although there was some resistance from the stragglers during the retreat, these had an impact on the war situation.
Eventually, all our troops withdrew from Vietnam on March 16, declaring the end of the war. So, what was Vietnam's ally, the Soviet Union, doing in this war, which lasted 28 days?
At the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union began to wonder whether the United States was involved in the war. If it weren't for the United States, why did the Soviet Union send troops to Vietnam immediately after China's visit to the United States?
Did the two sides reach any untold agreement?
The Soviet Union, which had originally planned to send troops to Vietnam, eventually chose to give up because it was afraid of the United States. However, what is unexpected is that due to the improper command of the Soviet Union, this exercise resulted in a large number of people.
Despite this, the USSR still did not completely rule out the possibility of armed intervention. However, the rapid end of the war frustrated all Soviet plans in Southeast Asia, and Vietnam became the laughing stock of the world.
One might ask, wasn't our country's previous relations with Vietnam very good? We also provided a lot of aid after the war, so why would Vietnam join forces with the USSR against us?
In the history of Vietnam's national development, there was once a great leader - Ho Chi Minh. Under his leadership, China and Vietnam have established a deep fraternal friendship.
However, after the death of Ho Chi Minh, Le Duan took over the position of leader and began to change his position on China. This change led to the breakdown of the relationship between the two sides, and the former friendship was shattered.
With the reunification of the North and the South in 1975, Vietnam began to think that they were strong enough that they no longer needed China's help. Probably in order to escape the shadow of thousands of years of Chinese domination, Vietnam began to take more arrogant actions on the Sino-Vietnamese border.
Since 1974, Vietnamese armed personnel have repeatedly entered Chinese territory, such as Pu Nin Ling, Pu Zhai Ling, Pu Yingding and other places, obstructing normal patrols by Chinese border guards.
These actions have seriously violated China's territorial sovereignty and undermined friendly relations between the two countries.
Fig.13 As the invasion of Le Duan escalated, Vietnam** began to expel the Chinese from the territory, causing a large number of deaths and property damage. Of the 500,000 overseas Chinese who were expelled, only 200,000 returned to China, and the rest went overseas and their whereabouts are unknown.
The expulsion of the Chinese completely broke down the previously close relations between China and Vietnam. So, what is the reason for the alliance between Vietnam and the Soviet Union? With the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated day by day.
They use all kinds of means to undermine China's progress and bring China's development to a standstill. The quickest way to destroy a country is to wage war.
The Soviet leadership was faced with the problem of waging war against China, but the choice of partners was a difficult one. At that time, the Soviet Union first considered North Korea and South Korea, since these two countries were in a state of military confrontation in the East Asian region.
However, any conflict in this region could trigger US involvement, which was a huge risk for the Soviet Union. In addition, South Korea's industry and economy are developing rapidly, and it is also unknown whether they will be willing to give up future prosperity for the sake of war.
Thus, the East Asian region was excluded, and Vietnam, which had just defeated the American army with the help of China and the Soviet Union and achieved the reunification of the country between the north and the south, came into the sights of the Soviet Union. A new Vietnamese leader came to power, and Vietnam was ambitious, calling itself "the world's third military power".
Under the instigation of Figure 15, other countries in Southeast Asia are facing the danger of annexation, and the border between China and Vietnam is constantly frictional, and the clouds of war are thick. In order to stop China's development, the Soviet Union, together with India, attempted to create chaos in China's **, northeast and Xinjiang, and at the same time formed a military ally with Vietnam to create trouble in the south of our country.
However, all this was easily resolved by Comrade Xiaoping. Comrade Xiaoping not only visited the United States, but also actively publicized in the international community the just nature of China's counterattack against Vietnam and prevented Vietnam from inciting other Southeast Asian countries to violate China's borders.
** Visit to Singapore and highlight the position on the Vietnam issue. He reiterated that China has always advocated a peaceful solution, but if Vietnam continues to be obsessed, China will not rule out the use of force.
In talks with Singapore's leader, Lee Kuan Yew, he made it clear that China would not be afraid and would not tolerate Soviet harassment, whether the Soviet Union intervened or not. The speech directly stated China's position, made Southeast Asian countries neutral on the Vietnam issue, and promised not to interfere with China's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Figure 17: ** and Lee Kuan Yew set their sights on three countries in the Asia-Pacific region after pacifying Southeast Asian countries. First of all, because we helped North Korea drive out the American aggressor, the DPRK has close relations with us and is on our side.
In addition, South Korea will not take the opportunity to make trouble because of North Korea's containment. Other than that, Japan is the only one that needs our careful consideration. **After analyzing the current international situation, the comrade flew to Japan for a visit.
During the talks with Prime Minister Tanaka, the two sides talked about the Vietnam issue. At a press conference in Tokyo after the talks, reporters questioned whether China's sanctions were just verbal warnings.
However, Comrade **'s last words shocked all the foreign journalists present, and he said sonorously: "For Vietnam, we do what we say. ”
During the trip to Tokyo, the resolute stance showed the world the deep sorrow of the Chinese people over the betrayal of Vietnam. After resolving the eastern issue, ** also strengthened ties with Pakistan in the expectation that they would be able to effectively counter the threat from India.
Thus, with the exception of the allies of the Soviet Union, all countries maintained a neutral attitude and pledged to respect the territorial and sovereign integrity of China. It was because of these efforts that the Soviet Union, even if it amassed a million troops, did not have the courage and ability to intervene in this Sino-Vietnamese war.
** Wisdom and courage have enabled our country to achieve victory under the heavy encirclement of the enemy, which is worthy of our deep admiration!