Sino-Vietnamese War



"I knew it! I've got a glimpse of the Communist Parties of China and Vietnam's true plans. Vietnam, while still a communist nation, used to hate China before World War III would begin with. Well, now I know that China and Vietnam were against each other, even though they were only communist nations back then."

--Su Ji-Hoon, Tunnel Cups

The Sino-Vietnamese War (Vietnamese: Chiến tranh biên giới Việt-Trung; simplified Chinese: 中越战争; traditional Chinese:中越戰爭; pinyin: Zhōng-Yuè Zhànzhēng), also known as the Third Indochina War, was a brief border war fought between China and Vietnam in early 1979. China launched a punitive expedition in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978 (which ended the rule of the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge).

Chinese forces entered northern Vietnam and captured several cities near the border. On March 6, 1979, China declared that the gate to Hanoi was open and that their punitive mission had been achieved. Chinese troops then withdrew from Vietnam. Both China and Vietnam claimed victory in the last of the Indochina Wars. As Vietnamese troops remained in Cambodia until 1989, China remained unsuccessful in its goal of dissuading Vietnam from involvement in Cambodia. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Sino-Vietnamese border was finalized.

Although unable to deter Vietnam from Cambodia, China succeeded in demonstrating that its Cold War communist adversary, the Soviet Union, was unable to protect its Vietnamese ally.

In When the Cold Breeze Blows Away, it will be mentioned in Lạng Sơn Victory Anniversary in USRAC War that this anniversary will be celebrated with Sino-Vietnamese War-era Vietnamese veterans.