Sino-Vietnam War

Shortly after Vietnam achieved national unification at the end of the Vietnam War (1975) they invaded Cambodia (1979) to oust the regime commonly known as the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge had a singularly bad record in terms of human rights, bordering (or worse) on genocide, but they were allied with China, whose government was not pleased with the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia.

Due to the Vietnamese attack on Cambodia, as well as its military occupation of the Spratly Islands, tensions between China and Vietnam rose to a new height. Small border incursions in 1979 led to a full scale retaliatory attack by China on February 17, 1979 from three different points in two Chinese provinces. After a devastating rocket barrage by the superior Chinese forces, the Chinese People's Liberation Army forces were able to push down near Hanoi.

External Links:

XinHui:

G.D.Bakshi:

Bruce Elleman: