Dragons Entangled: Indochina and the China-Vietnam War

by Steven J. Hood

In February 1979, China launched a full scale attack on Vietnam bringing to the surface the deep tension between the two socialist neighbours. The importance of the resultant war is often overlooked. Millions of people throughout the region were affected, and the frictions that remain in the wake of the war threaten the prospects for peace not only in Southeast Asia, but also the whole Asia-Pacific region as well. This is a full scale examination of the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War - the events that led to it, the Cold War aftermath, and the implications for the region and beyond.

Genres: China, History, Asia

188 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1992

Reviews

[Zare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book about the conflict that I never heard of but that shook the Asia in critical period of 1980's, immediately before and after the end of the Cold War.

I have to admit that whenever I read about Vietnam military might I was under impression that it was more in terms of "sour grapes" both from the French and US side. Dont get me wrong, Vietnam did incredible feat of arms by first defeating French and then US but I never saw them as local military powerhouse. Internally definitely they were power to be reckoned with but I never expected to learn that Vietnam is a country that bloodied the nose of China in relatively short border conflict of 1979 (although did not manage to break the dead-lock established in that conflict) and then got involved in the invasion of Cambodia, setup of puppet government in further aspiration to establish control over the Indochina. And during all that time Vietnam was masterfully balancing between Soviets and China and rest of the Asia.

Author is not concentrating on the actual military activities - as a matter of fact these are just mentioned in very general terms. What is presented in exquisite detail are relations between Vietnam and China in the past over to French colonization, WW2, defeat of the French and US invasion, defeat of US and straining relationship with China that escalated to Vietnam's rather harsh treatment of its Chinese population to conflict in 1979, invasion of Cambodia and proxy war waged there and diplomatic efforts to stabilize the area.

Excellent book, highly recommended.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important and possibly singular piece for the rarely discussed or analyzed Third Indochina War/Cambodia-Vietnamese War/Sino-Vietnamese War with the focus mainly on diplomatic events. Vietnam’s decades long quagmire in Cambodia, in light of it coming right on the heels of America’s decade long quagmire in Vietnam, demonstrates lessons unlearned and as much hubris as the preceding Americans and French. I’ve struggled to find any books on this conflict, this being the only real piece available. The dearth of information available to me gives this book an automatically higher rating when in reality I t’s more analytical than readable.