It has been 44 years since the outbreak of the self-defense and counterattack war against Vietnam, but there are still few authoritative sources, especially the details of the exchanges and games between China and the United States before the outbreak of the war are even more "vague", and only a little mention is made in the memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew, Brzezinski, Carter and other relevant parties, and there are many speculations about this, and it is difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood.
In recent years, the U.S. Printing Bureau has compiled and published five volumes of "U.S. Foreign Relations Documents."Some diplomatic historical materials of the three-country game between China, the United States and the Soviet Union from 1977 to 1980 were made public, including the content of the talks during the visit to the United States, as well as the internal relations of the United States during the war.
Of course, Americans' attitude towards historical materials has always been "with their own standpoint", and in Lao Baiyu's view, the "authenticity" of these materials is not a big problem, but most of them have been screened and only show the side that is in line with the interests of the United States, but despite this, they still have strong documentary value. This article is just to provide you with some perspectives for thinking, for reference only.
[The Sino-Vietnamese War and the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and the United States].
In 1960, the Soviet Union announced the withdrawal of all experts from China, which meant that Sino-Soviet relations changed from friendship to hostility, and China was thus caught in a situation of encirclement by the two hegemonic powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, and the diplomatic situation was very difficult. Compared with the United States, the Soviet Union is China's neighbor and has a strong army, and is regarded as our "number one enemy".
In November 1978, the Soviet Union and Vietnam concluded a military alliance, and soon after the Soviet Pacific Fleet began to enter Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam was not idle, planning to dominate Southeast Asia, if the Soviet Union and Vietnam conspiracy succeeded, China will fall into a desperate situation of the north and the south, the sea ***, in this case, Sino-US relations began to heat up rapidly.
At 10 a.m. Beijing time on December 16, 1978, China and the United States simultaneously announced that they would formally establish diplomatic relations on January 1, 1979In particular, it was emphasized that "neither party should seek hegemony in Asia, the Pacific or any part of the world, and each side opposes the efforts of any country or group of countries to establish such hegemony". ”
Judging from the timing of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States and the content of the "Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations," the Soviet-Vietnamese alliance has indeed greatly promoted the pace of establishing diplomatic relations between China and the United States.
In the final stage of the negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, when receiving Japanese friends, Carter expressed his intention to visit the United States, and Carter understood and invited him to visit the United States in January 1979.
Prior to the official visit, the Chinese side tentatively mentioned the sensitive issue of "a possible military conflict between China and Vietnam" through its liaison office in the United States, and the United States was very cautious and decided to communicate face-to-face.
[**Visit the United States to find out the attitude of the United States].
** Visiting the United States comes with "problems", and Americans know this. The day before the official meeting with Carter, Brzezinski invited him to his "family dinner," and all the people attending the "family dinner" were US dignitaries, who expressed the hope of holding in-depth consultations with Carter on the "Indochina issue."
On January 29, *** and Carter officially met, and the talks began, and the two sides decided on a two-day topic:The first day discussed major international and regional issues around the world, the next day ** Sino-US bilateral relations.
From the setting of the topic, it can also be clearly seen what the main task of the visit to the United States is.
On the first day, the two sides focused on the foreign policy of the Soviet Union and Vietnam, and when talking about Vietnam, they clearly pointed out that Vietnam is the "Cuba of the East" and made it clear that if China and the United States do not pay enough attention to this, Vietnam will play a role that will surpass that of Cuba.
** A solution to this "tension" was then proposed: "Western Europe, China, Japan, and the United States have joined forces to deal with events in all corners of the world. ”
In order to avoid misunderstanding on the part of the Americans, ** explained that "China is not proposing a formal alliance," but rather recommending that the two sides "take coordinated actions and necessary measures."
That afternoon, China and the United States spent an hour devoting themselves to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia, believing that Vietnam intended to establish an "Indochina Federation" in Southeast Asia under its own control, which would eventually "be used by the Soviet Union against China."
China's decision was revealed to the American side: to take a short-term punitive action to "curb Vietnam's ambitions", to "prepare for the worst" against the Soviet Union, China and even "prepare for the worst", and hope that the United States will provide "moral support" internationally.
[**Before the visit to the United States, the real position of the United States].
As we all know, after the outbreak of the Sino-Vietnamese War, the United States led Western countries to the side of China and gave valuable intelligence support, forcing the Soviet Union to abandon its plan to intervene by force. So, is this position a change brought about by ***'s visit to the United States? Or is it their established approach?
Vietnam is the sad place of the Americans, after the end of the Vietnam War, they still pay a lot of attention here, as early as the time of the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, the CIA realized the seriousness of the problem, and repeatedly issued early warnings to the US committee.
As for the purpose of ***'s visit to the United States, the Americans are naturally clear. On January 25, four days before the visit to the United States, the United States held a discussion on the Vietnam issue, and the result of their discussions was that the United States would not help the Soviet Union deal with China, and at the same time would prevent the outbreak of war between China and Vietnam.
The next day, the United States further addressed the Vietnam issue and made more specific decisions: on the one hand, it continued to isolate Vietnam and demanded that relevant countries stop aiding Vietnam; On the other hand, China was strongly discouraged from taking military action against Vietnam.
Later, the United States Committee organized another special topicThe final verdict is that there is no support for possible actions by China.
It can be seen that, judging from the declassified data, before the visit to the United States, the United States did not support China in launching a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
During the formal talks between China and the United States, Carter accurately conveyed the established attitude of the United States, believing that it was "a mistake" for China and the United States to form an alliance against the Soviet Union, but that the two countries should "act in concert on many international affairs."
Carter pointed out that the United States had issued a strong warning to the Soviet Union, demanded that the Soviet Union immediately stop supporting Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia, advocated a diplomatic solution, and believed that China's military action would lead to "China's military threat from the north."
In the declassified materials, the diplomatic rhetoric of both sides is very cautious, and the Americans strive to maintain their international image of fairness, justice, and peace-loving, but are they expressing their true intentions? This point is up to readers and friends to discern for themselves.
One intriguing detail of the meeting was that Carter provided an important piece of intelligence that "no recent signs of Soviet troops moving near the Chinese border have been found."
This situation is of great significance, because it took at least a month for the Soviet Union to gather troops in the Far East, and in the later self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, China took the initiative to withdraw its troops after a month of fighting.
[The United States is neutral on the surface, but secretly supports China].
During the Sino-US talks, although he repeatedly insisted that "Vietnam must be taught a lesson" from the perspective of safeguarding national interests, Carter did not change the established position of the United States.
Later, Carter publicly read out the position of the US side: that it was a mistake for China to carry out a self-defense counterattack, and that the United States would not support China's action, and urged China to abandon this action.
On the surface, it seems that China and the United States are at odds on the Vietnam issue, but in reality, the visit to the United States has been a major success on the Vietnam issue alone.
After the meeting, Carter knew that the Chinese side had made up his mind, and quickly carried out a systematic study, assessment, and deployment of the Sino-Vietnamese border area—the Americans needed to do some foreshadowing to avoid falling into passivity when war broke out because of their support for China.
On 17 February, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam officially began, and the US top brass did not feel the slightest surprise, because *** had already written a letter to Carter the day before to re-state its position.
A few hours after the outbreak of the war, Carter convened a meeting of the *** Committee to determine the principles of the United States in this war:It is necessary not to get involved militarily, to contain the Soviet Union, and to prevent the Soviet Union from intervening by force.
This principle is actually the result we want to see the most, because the PLA is more than enough to deal with Vietnam, and the only thing to fear is the Soviet Union, and if the United States can contain the Soviet Union, it will be the greatest support for this war.
At the relevant United Nations meetings, the United States rejected the Soviet Union's proposal to discuss only the Sino-Vietnamese issue and not the Cambodian issue, and lobbied the allies to support its own proposal to "withdraw all foreign forces from Indochina."
The Americans clearly advocate that China should withdraw its troops from Vietnam and that Vietnam should also withdraw its troops from Cambodia. Because *** has long told the United States that this is only a punitive, short-lived military operation, and the peace-loving Chinese have no intention of staying in Vietnam for long; Vietnam wants to occupy Cambodia for a long time, and the withdrawal of troops means that its strategy of dominating Southeast Asia has failed.
Regarding the "Soviet question" that the Chinese are most concerned about, the United States has also clearly given restrictive measures at the United Nations, stating:If the USSR does not respond to the crisis, the United States will also stand idly by; If the USSR acted, the United States would act in reciprocal terms.
In particular, the United States stressed that "if the activity of the Soviet Union in this region increases, we will also take corresponding military countermeasures." ”
In addition, during the war, U.S. Treasury Secretary Blumenthal led a delegation to China, and the two sides reached a number of economic cooperation agreements, which together allowed the international community to see clearly the true position of the Americans.
[**Thanks].
The war of self-defense and counterattack, which lasted for a month, had a major impact on China, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam.
The Soviet Union suffered the heaviest losses, at first bluffing, then intimidating at the United Nations, and finally reneging on the alliance with Vietnam under pressure from all sides, and the hegemony was seriously damaged, and in order to regain the dignity and interests lost in Southeast Asia, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan 10 months later, and finally fell into the quagmire again, and finally collapsed;
Vietnam, as a pawn of the Soviet Union, bore specific war damage, destroyed the infrastructure of the north, and then fell into a decade-long border war, and the economy regressed for at least ten years;
At the critical moment, China and the United States established diplomatic relations, and the United States won the most important economic partner in the next 30 years.
AbsolutelyThrough this border war at a small cost, China completely broke free from the situation of being attacked by the two hegemons of the United States and the Soviet Union, and the situation of "preparing for war and preparing for war" that lasted for more than ten years was put to an end, and we finally got the historical opportunity to develop the economy with all our might.
In addition, this war is also like a huge advertisement, declaring to the world that Sino-US relations have entered a new era!
In April 1979, after receiving members of the U.S. House of Representatives, China was satisfied with the attitude and stance of the United States during the war.