Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991)
Series of border and naval clashes between China and Vietnam / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Sino-Vietnamese conflicts of 1979–1991 were a series of border and naval clashes between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam following the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979. These clashes lasted from the end of the Sino-Vietnamese War until the normalization of ties in 1991.
Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991) | |||||||||
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Part of the Third Indochina War and the Cold War | |||||||||
Chinese PLA officer Ma Quanbin reports to his command after a battle against Vietnamese forces on 14 October 1986. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
China | Vietnam | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Strength | |||||||||
c. 200,000[1]–400,000[2] (including irregular units) | c. 600,000[2]–800,000[1] (including irregular units) | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Vị Xuyên: 2,000 dead, 2,100 wounded[3] | Vị Xuyên: 4,000 killed, 9,000 wounded[4] |
When the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) withdrew from Vietnam in March 1979 after the war, China announced that they were not ambitious for "any square inch of the territory of Vietnam".[5] However, Chinese troops occupied an area of 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi), which was disputed land controlled by Vietnam before hostilities broke out.[6] In some places such as the area around Friendship Gate near the city of Lạng Sơn, Chinese troops occupied territories which had little military value but important symbolic value. Elsewhere, Chinese troops occupied the strategic positions of military importance as springboards to attack Vietnam.[7]
The Chinese occupation of border territory angered Vietnam, and this ushered in a series of border conflicts between Vietnam and China to gain control of the area. These conflicts continued until 1988, peaking in the years 1984–1985.[8] By the early 1990s, along with the withdrawal of Vietnam from Cambodia and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the relationship between the two countries gradually returned to normality. By 1991, the two countries proclaimed the normalization of their diplomatic relations, thereby ending the border conflicts.