THE EVENTS OF 1978 IN VIETNAMESE DIPLOMACY: ANALYSES AND LESSONS FOR TODAY’S SMALL-TO-MEDIUM SIZED COUNTRIES

ABSTRACT

The events of 1978 shaped much of Viet Nam's political and economic environment for more than a decade. After the triumph of the war for national independence in 1975, Viet Nam hoped for a new era of sustained peace and economic development. However, soon after, in 1978, Viet Nam found itself bogged down in another war against the Khmer Rouge to the West, defending against a surprise Chinese invasion to the North and bearing the brunt of economic sanctions from the U.S. and allies. Viet Nam's sole lifeline was economic and military aid from the Soviet bloc. Economic and political isolation crippled the country's economy and continued until Viet Nam launched comprehensive reforms in 1986 and withdrew from Cambodia in 1989. Given the critical importance of the events in 1978 and their consequences, this piece aims to review the happenings, their causes and lessons learned for contemporary diplomacy, particularly for small-to-medium sized countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Viet Nam
• diplomacy
• foreign policy
• historical lessons
• Cold War

Notes

1 See, for example, Xiaoming Zhang, ‘Deng Xiaoping and China’s Decision to go to War with Vietnam’. Journal of Cold War Studies Vol. 12. Issue 3 (2010) and Pao-min Chang, ‘The Sino-Vietnamese Dispute over the Ethnic Chinese’. The China Quarterly Issue 90 (1982).

2 See, for example, Joe Freeman and Phak Seangly, ‘The forgotten massacre Killing Fields in Vietnam recalled by few’. The Phnom Penh Post, April 19, 2013, https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/forgotten-massacre-killing-fields-vietnam-recalled-few (accessed 1 February 2021).

3 Dmitry Mosyakov, ‘The Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese Communists: A History of Their Relations as Told in the Soviet Archives’, in Susan E. Cook (Eds.), Genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda. New York: Routledge, 2017.

4 Nguyen Dinh Bin (Ed.), Ngoại giao Việt Nam 1945–2000 [Viet Nam’s diplomacy 1945-2000]. Ha Noi: Nhà xuất bản Chính trị Quốc gia, 2002, p. 314; 381.

5 See, for example, Alan Dupont, ‘The US-China Cold War Has Already Started’. The Diplomat, July 8, 2020, https://thediplomat.com/2020/07/the-us-china-cold-war-has-already-started/ (accessed 29 January 2021).

6 Nguyen (Ed.), op. cit.

7 James Brooke, ‘Why Did Vietnam Overthrow the Khmer Rouge in 1978?’, Khmer Times, August 7, 2014, https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50673/why-did-vietnam-overthrow-the-khmer-rouge-in-1978/ (accessed 2 February 2021).

8 Grant Evans and Kelvin Rowley, Red Brotherhood at War: Indochina since the Fall of Saigon. New South Wales: Pluto Press, 1984, p. 120.

9 Ibid.

10 According to Chinese sources, the number of Vietnamese-initiated incidents for the years 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978 are 121, 439, 986, 752, 1108 incidents, respectively. Vietnamese accounts for Chinese-initiated incidents for the above years are 179, 294, 812, 873, 2175 incidents, respectively. See: Min Chen, The Strategic Triangle and Regional Conflicts: Lessons from the Indochina Wars. Ph.D dissertation. Canberra: Australian National University, 1990, p. 209.

11 Chang, op. cit., p.213.

12 King C. Chen, ‘China’s War Against Viet Nam, 1979: A Military Analysis’. Journal of East Asian Affairs Vol. III. Issue 1: 11.

13 Ramses Amer, ‘Sino-Vietnamese Normalization in the light of crisis of the late 1970s’. Pacific Affairs Vol. 67. Issue 3 (1994): 32.

14 Zhang, op. cit., p. 19.

15 See, for example, “40th anniversary of Vietnam-China 1979 border war a chance to reflect”. Viet Nam News, February 16, 2019, https://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/505461/40th-anniversary-of-vietnam-china-1979-border-war-a-chance-to-reflect.html (accessed 28 January 2021).

16 Ibid.

17 Chen, op. cit., p. 192, p. 201.

18 K. Klose, ‘Soviets and Vietnamese sign treaty, warn Chinese’. Washington Post, November 4, 1978, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/11/04/soviets-and-vietnamese-sign-treaty-warn-chinese/e7be2390-fc73-441d-b91c-2a196d6476b7/?utm_term=.3e9ed25e7e63 (accessed 20 January 2021).

19 Lau Teik Soon, ‘The Soviet-Vietnamese Treaty: A Giant Step Forward’. Southeast Asian Affairs (1980): 59.

20 Mosyakov, op. cit., p. 71.

21 Nayan Chanda, Brother Enemy: The War after the War. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986, p. 152.

22 Vu Duong Huan, interview by Huynh Phan and Lan Anh, ‘30 năm Đổi mới nhìn từ ngành Ngoại Giao: Thực hư quan điểm của ông Nguyễn Cơ Thạch về Trung Quốc.’ [30 years of Doi Moi from the perspective of the foreign service: The realities of Nguyen Co Thach’s views on China]. Vietnamnet, August 25, 2016, http://vietnamnet.vn/vn/tuanvietnam/doithoai/30-nam-doi-moi-nhin-tu-nganh-ngoai-giao-ong-nguyen-co-thach-co-phai-la-nguoi-chong-trung-quoc-322982.html (accessed 18 January 2021).

23 Quoc Viet, ‘Tảng băng mới’ [A new iceberg]. Tuoi Tre, https://tuoitre.vn/tang-bang-moi-772956.html (accessed 3 January 2021).

24 Ibid.

25 ‘GDP per capita (current US $)’. The World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP

.CD?end=2016&start=2016&view=map&year=1978 (accessed 20 January 2021).

26 See, for example, ‘Báo cáo của Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng tại Đại hội đại biểu toàn quốc lần thứ IV’ [Report of the Party Central Committee at the 4th National Congress], http://dangcongsan.vn/tu-lieu-van-kien/van-kien-dang/van-kien-dai-hoi/khoa-iv/doc-092420153151956.html (accessed 20 January 2021).

27 Nguyen (Ed.), op. cit., p. 317.

28 Ezra Vogel, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China. Cambridge: The Belknap Press, 2011, p. 269.

29 Chen, op. cit., p. 183.

30 Bernard Gwertzman, ‘Vance and Brzezinski: Feuding chapter by chapter’. The New York Times, May 26, 1983, https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/26/us/vance-and-brzezinski-feuding-chapter-by-chapter.html (accessed 20 January 2021).

31 Chen, op. cit., p. 210.

32 Ross, op. cit., p. 173.

33 Zhang, op. cit., p. 19.

34 Henry Kissinger, On China. New York: The Penguin Press, 2011, p. 364.

35 Vogel, op.cit., p. 339.

36 Xiao, op. cit., p. 24.

37 Kissinger, op. cit., p. 376.

38 Ho Chi Minh, Buổi nói chuyện tại Hội nghị Ngoại giao lần thứ ba [Talk at the third diplomatic conference], 14/1/1964. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam archives.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Le Dinh Tinh

Dr Le Dinh Tinh is Director General of the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam (DAV). Previously, he was Deputy Director General at the Bien Dong Institute for Maritime Studies. His latest book American Foreign Policy: A Neo-realist Interpretation and the Case of Viet Nam since Normalization was published in 2020. Email: [email protected]

Hoang Hai Long

Hoang Hai Long is a research assistant at the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam. A graduate from DePauw University in Indiana, he has authored and co-authored several research papers. His writings have appeared on the Diplomat and Asia-Pacific Bulletin (East West Center). Email: [email protected]