Title
Deng Xiaoping's Long War : the Military Conflict between China and Vietnam, 1979-1991 / Xiaoming Zhang.
ISBN
9781469621241 (hardcover)
146962124X (hardcover)
9781469621258 (electronic book)
Published
Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, [2015]
Language
English
Description
xii, 277 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.
Call Number
DS559.916 .Z48 2015
Dewey Decimal Classification
959.704/4
Summary
The surprise Chinese invasion of Vietnam in 1979 shocked the international community. The two communist nations had seemed firm political and cultural allies, but the twenty-nine-day border war imposed heavy casualties, ruined urban and agricultural infrastructure, leveled three Vietnamese cities, and catalyzed a decadelong conflict. In this groundbreaking book, Xiaoming Zhang traces the roots of the conflict to the historic relationship between the peoples of China and Vietnam, the ongoing Sino-Soviet dispute, and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's desire to modernize his country. Deng's perceptions of the Soviet Union, combined with his plans for economic and military reform, shaped China's strategic vision. Drawing on newly declassified Chinese documents and memoirs by senior military and civilian figures, Zhang takes readers into the heart of Beijing's decision-making process and illustrates the war's importance for understanding the modern Chinese military, as well as China's role in the Asian-Pacific world today.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-270) and index.
Series
New Cold War history.
The roots of the Sino-Vietnamese conflict
Deng Xiaoping and China's war decision
Planning and preparation for the invasion
Bloodshed over Vietnam's Northern Border Region
Reassessing the 1979 War
A decade long continued border conflict, 1980-1990
Under the shadow of the border conflict
The road to conflict termination
Conclusion: a personal retrospective on China's border war, rapprochement with Vietnam, and implications for East Asian affairs.
