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SECURITY ISSUES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA:
THE THIRD INDOCHINA WAR
Carlyle A. Thayer
Introduction
1. Vietnam's Security Perceptions
2. The Sino‐Vietnamese Border War
Case Study One: The Shelling of Cao Bang, July 1980
During the first six months of 1980, both China and
Vietnam reported an increasing number of border
incidents. In early July, both sides exchanged notes
protesting the others' actions. On July 4th, for
example, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry charged that
Chinese artillery had heavily shelled Vietnamese
territory on several occasions since June 28th, killing
or wounding scores of civilians.18 The following day,
Chinese border guards reportedly fired hundreds of
shells into Cao Bang province19 in a bombardment which
lasted three days. In a note dated July 6th, China
justified its actions by claiming it was responding to
"incessant armed provocations" on its border. Its
diplomatic note listed 114 armed provocations by
Vietnamese forces in May and June, including five
particularly severe incidents in which Vietnamese
forces either intruded upon or fired into Chinese
territory.20 The events of this period led one
correspondent to report that "tension on the border had
reached flashpoint."21 Then, as quickly as it had
begun, the conflict subsided. On September 12th Vietnam
renewed its request for a resumption of peace talks.
Case Study Two: Seizing High Ground in Lang Son and Ha Tuyen provinces,
May 1981
The year 1981 began with a repeat of the previous year.
On January 2nd, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry
proposed a cease-fire to mark new year celebrations.
This proposal was rejected by Chinese officials on the
20th. Nonetheless, both sides proceeded to exchange
prisoners. Over the next several months the frontier
area was relatively quiet.
Case Study Three: The Symbolic Offensive, April 1983
After the May 1981 clashes, tensions on the China-
Vietnam border remained at a relatively low level until
April 1983. It would appear that initiatives to
improve Sino-Soviet relations, as well as rumored
secret contacts between China and Vietnam, may account
for this lull. The Soviet Union's refusal to pressure
Vietnam, coupled with Vietnamese intransigence over
Kampuchea, probably accounts for the violent flare-up
which erupted in April 1983.
Chanda concluded:
Case Study Four: "Land‐Grabbing" in Vi Xuyen District, Ha Tuyen province,
April 1984
The quietness along the border was shattered in April
1984 in a major escalation of hostilities as Chinese
artillerymen rained down upon Vietnam the heaviest
bombardment since 1979. This was followed up by an
assault on Vietnamese hills in Vi Xuyen district of Ha
Tuyen province by PLA regulars. Fighting continued
well into May as VPA forces tried unsuccessfully to
dislodge them. This upsurge in fighting temporarily
slowed the pace of Sino-Soviet normalisation, as Moscow
cancelled the scheduled visit of Mikhail Arkhipov to
Beijing. In a new development, the Third Indochina war
took on a maritime dimension as naval demonstrations
were conducted in the South China Sea. By mid-year the
tensions eased once again as Vietnam announced its
third withdrawal of "volunteer forces" from Cambodia.
As in the previous year, the latter half of 1984
witnessed relative quiet along the China-Vietnam
border.
Case Study Five: The Shelling of Vi Xuyen district, June 1985
During the 1984/85 dry season in Cambodia, Vietnamese
military forces attacked and successfully overran all
major guerilla bases along the Thai-Kampuchea border.
Worst hit were the KPNLF whose forces retreated in
disarray back to Thailand where they subsequently fell
prey to fratricidal political in-fighting. Sihanouk's
ANS likewise retreated into Thailand where, after a
period of recuperation and rethinking of tactics, they
began to mount guerilla forays into Cambodia's
northwest quadrant. The Khmer Rouge managed to keep
their forces intact and conduct an orderly retreat into
the interior of Cambodia.
Table 1
Chinese Shelling of Vi Xuyen District, 1985
Month 1985 Shells Per Day
March 2258
April 1633
May 1255
June 7563
July 433
August n.a.
September 5333
October n.a.
November n.a.
December 2451
Average as per column 3235
Average on gross figures 2740
Case Study Six: The "Phony War," December 1986/January 1987
Throughout 1986, China kept up pressure on Vietnam by
incessantly shelling; at mid-year it was reported that
nearly a quarter of a million artillery and mortar shells
had been fired into Vietnamese territory. Table 2 below,
based on Vietnamese media reports, lists the monthly
Table 2
Chinese Shelling of Vietnam’s Border Provinces, 1986
Month 1986 Number of rounds
Reported
January 40,000
February 70,000
March 20,000
April 20,000
May 67.000
June 15,000
Sub‐total 232,000
July 27,000
August 27,000
September 4,600
October 52,000
November n.a.
December n.a.
January 7, 1987 60,000
Phnom Penh.114
In the midst of these positive developments, renewed
fighting broke out on the China-Vietnam border. On
October 14th, Vietnam announced that China had fired
35,000 shells into Thanh Thuy village, in the highest
density of shelling since the start of the year, and
Chinese forces had renewed their "land-grabbing
tactics" in the same area. Vietnam claimed to have
killed 100 intruding soldiers.115 Three days later
Vietnam reported that it had repulsed three attacks
launched against hill 1100 and a point near the Thanh
Thuy bridge in Vi Xuyen district by Chinese units at
company to battalion strength. China accounts reported
that its border guards had counter-attacked intruding
Vietnamese troops. While the events surrounding this
clash are still murky, Vietnamese accounts suggest that
China had launched these "new and fiercer waves of
land-grabbing attacks" in response to Vietnam's recent
conciliatory gestures.116 It is possible that China
was responding to Moscow's refusal to exert pressure
on Vietnam to withdraw from Cambodia, a proposal which
it had advanced early in the month at the 9th round of
normalisation talks.117
FOOTNOTES
10 Hoang Van Thai, "Ve Quan He Hoc Tap Dac Biet Giua Ba
Dan Toc Dong Duong," Tap Chi Cong San (January 1982).
16 Ibid., p. 812.
51 Ibid.
57 Ibid., p. 43.
59 Ibid.
p. 8-10.
75 Ibid.
100 Ibid.