The foundations of today's world
In the history of the last century, some years immediately stand out: 1914, 1917, 1918, 1939, 1945, 1968, 1989.
In retrospect, it may be worth having another look at a five-month period from 1978 to 1979. During this short time, a number of events laid the foundations for the way the world works today.
• 18 December 1978:
China's leader Deng Xiaoping announces the reform and opening up of China's economy. At the time, the announcement receives little notice in the West. But it marks the beginning of the transformation of China from an isolated agrarian society into a global superpower.
• 1 January 1979:
The United States and China re-establish formal diplomatic relations after US President Jimmy Carter switches recognition to Beijing from Taipei. The relationship between these two countries may define the course of the 21st century.
• 1 February 1979:
Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran, marking the no-turning-back point of the Iranian Revolution.
Relations between Iran and the West come to dominate events for 30 years, provoking the downfall of one US President (Carter) and the biggest crisis of another (the Iran-Contra affair in the Reagan years).
• 14 April 1979:
The Afghan government requests helicopters from the USSR. By the end of the year, the Soviet Union invades. The fighters who resist Soviet forces eventually go on to form the nucleus of the Taleban.
• 4 May 1979:
Margaret Thatcher is elected prime minister of the UK. Her election starts to shift the ground of Western politics and foreshadows the election a year later of the US President Ronald Reagan. The current UK and US leaders acknowledge their debt to the Thatcher-Reagan revolution.
Today marks another anniversary from that five-month period.
• 17 February 1979:
China invades North Vietnam and fights a brief border war. This conflict is inconclusive. But, in retrospect, it marks the last time that China sends troops into a foreign country in anger. This anniversary has barely been marked in China (when asked about it, a foreign ministry official told a briefing that China and Vietnam experienced "an unhappy part of history").
I’m 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~44~RS~)
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Interesting material here. I never knew that China invaded Vietnam in '79. I don't think your overseas Chinese readers will be happy about the word 'invade' though as China is a peaceful country.
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James - If you'd have said the last 100 years then you could have also included 2001 as a defining year. This weeks ICJ Report another indicator. But you're right, 1979 certainly marked a change in Chinese policy.
I'm not sure 1968 should be in your list unless I'm suffering a temporary memory loss. Someone please enlighten or remind me.
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During the Vietnam War of 1959-75 the US tested the power of Communism particularly that of China by invading its allies Vietnam. China responded by supplying arms and training Vietnamese soldiers resulted in the defeat of USA.
In 1979 Vietnam with assistance from USSR tested China by invading its allies Cambodia. China responded likewise and tested Soviet Viet alliance by invading Vietnam. In the end USSR did nothing fearing a conflict with China.
The 1979 war was actually a victory for China over the the former USSR.
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It's ridiculous for Chinese leaders to emphasize time after time about peaceful rise because just nobody believes it (even Chinese, and as a Chinese, I don't even wish this happens) and west will not sell arms to China even if they believe. China should just tell the world that the debts which all those who have inflicted anguish upon China owe us are to be answered for!
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#1 Daxiongmao
Chinese readers would be extremely proud of the 1979 China's invasion of Vietnam for two reasons: (1) Vietnam had invaded Laos and Cambodia, and had plans to push further south into Thailand. China's invasion of Vietnam put a stop to its plans and forced its eventual withdrawal from Cambodia; (2) Since the invasion of Vietnam in 1979, China has not fought another war for 30 years. A very peaceful country indeed!
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Dear James!
For me, 1914, 1945 stand out because I grew up in Germany. We were educated about the history and learnt a lot after the sixties / seventies. This upbringing in Germany is why 1989 and 1990 (Year of Unification) also stand out in my personal history line.
1948 stands out in German history - the economic wonder.
1968 - the parents talk about it - flower power / student revolution.
1999 (am I right?) - the year when many European countries joined the Euro stands out somehow.
2008 stands out - because of the global financial crisis.
2009 stands out in computer technologies - we will see more changes.
And: 2009 - it stands out because B. Obama became US-president.
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Yeah invasion is the wrong word to use here since it was fought over an ill-defined frontier territory. Invasion has to include breaching a recognized border and occupation of established territory. Neither was the case in that conflict.
But this is not a surprise coming from the BBC
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I think the most important among the five month period of 78-79 is Dec 18,78 is when Deng Xiaoping announces the reform and opening up of China's economy.
As we've seen today in 21st century, after 3 decades of that reformation, all your Sterlings, USD, Euros end-up in China's treasury vault.
As the foundations of today's world and beyond, you like it or not, only China has money while the West literally already broke.
The second most important, is Iranian revolution Feb 1979.
This revolution encouraged Muslim World thereafter. When the Western policies undermined Muslim World, it culminated in 911 tragedy end-up in today's war in Iraq and Afganistan.
The Western world must to learn to sleep with stronger China and stronger Muslim World in this 21st century.
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Wow, you learn something new every day. I had no idea that China invated Vietnam during 1979. Non of my Chinese friends know about this at all and one of my friends thinks the story is fabricated.
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Thanks to China heavily punched Vietnam in 1979 and gave the latter a lesson telling them stopping following Soviet Union, the south east asia went to peace after that war. At the same time, the biggest winner was not China but was The U.S. and the rest of south east countries avoiding invasions from Vietnam.
Do you which country would be Vietnam's next target? It was Thailand. So that why Thailand and China have a really good relationship since that.
Do you know who was the top commander in China during the war and won it? It was Deng Xiaoping and he was actually a general since China civil war (1945-1949)! He is definitely a genius!
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>Daxiongmao wrote:
>I don't think your overseas Chinese readers >will be happy about the word 'invade' >though as China is a peaceful country.
Probably because when one is looking for objectivity semantics matter tremendously. But I'm sure you have a good explanation that China is war-mongering nation.
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The truth of the matter is around 60000 people lost their lives for nothing but an arrogant attitute of the communist leaders for quest of geopolitical status. so called Chinese peaceful rise is on the expense of others. the sentiment in vietnam is rising even though the leaders claim otherwise. people in street protest openly last year and also during the olympic torch relay in Vietnam.
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Deng was such a calculating person. The 79’s War with Vietnam was part of his grand Open’n’Reform plan. He staged the 79’s war when he had the decisive power in order to provide the PLA a platform to gain real battlefield experiences. Although Vietnam as a nation was weak after the previous long war with the US, the Vietnamese military was more experienced and better equipped with the weapons from both the US and USSR. At the time, Vietnam boasted the 3rd strongest military on the planet next to the US and USSR. China did not really win 79’s War, but indeed gained reorganization that China must modernize the PLA along with the economic reform. To be honest, older generations of Chinese still resent 79’s War…
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Vietnam has recently signed border agreement with China after so many years of conflicts. Maybe it has finally realised a stable border is an important part of a stable relationship with China.
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Totally agree with #6 cnlnsyhp,
totally agree with your ideas and feelings! I found the word "peaceful rising" very creepy. No empire rose peacefully. The world follows only the laws of the jungle.
The first and second generations of Chinese leaders, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping etc. were very intimate with war as war was their life, their lives were war. They fought against warlords starting 1927, against Japanese during WWII, against nationalists in the civil war and against the United Nations army in the Korean war, against India in 1962. and Deng was not afraid of going into Vietnam to achieve his goals. If the iron lady, admired by so many Brits for her strength, had refused to hand over Hong Kong in 1997, I believe, Deng would not hesitate to send PLA to take over by force. If Deng had died before the agreement was reached, I doubt Chinese flag would ever fly over Hong Kong ever again)
The last two generations of leadership are led by Jiang and Hu, both engineers, never oversaw any large scale military operations except internal disaster relieves. I am afraid that their unfamiliarity and inexperience with military operations will hamper China's national interests.
To #1 Daxiongmao
Neither China nor Chinese is Jesus, if you expect a "peaceful" China to be one that you can slap her face and expect no revenge from, you are so misunderstanding "oversea Chinese". As I said before, in Chinese tradition or native religion, there is no such word or teaching as "forgiveness", as is in the Christian world.
"teeth for teeth, eye for an eye". If you read a lot Chinese literatures, you find out people take their life time to revenge for their suffered parents or partners.
This is also the reason death penalty will never be abolished in the near future, no Chinese government can do that. People expected a killer executed. Human rights have so different definitions. Dead people deserve the death of whoever killed them. That is one of the basic human rights in China.
"It is never too late to revenge, not for ten years". Every Chinese knows this. Note: The term "ten years" here is vague in Chinese, it can mean forever. You can ask James to tell you whether it is true.
Don't mess with Chinese. What more can I say?
Vietnamese government killed thousands of Chinese citizens in Vietnam. A lot "boat people" fled from Vietnam to Hong kong in the 1970s were in fact Chinese not Vietnamese. They were robbed of their property and many killed by the Vietnam government. A lot of them walked back to China (I know some of them personally) and some of them were butchered near the border. That was one of the reasons Deng sent Chinese army to Vietnam, although the China-Soviet relationsip was the far big picture.
From an oversea Chinese point of view, my dear hope is that a strong Chinese government, like the US government, can protect its oversea citizens. Not the one that saw hundreds and thousands Chinese butchered in Indonisia in 1998 and did nothing. (From what I know, most of them have Republic of China passports, since communist China abolished dual citizenship under the pressure from southeastern countries.) A lot of students in Beijing in fact staged a demonstration and pledged the government to send troops to Indonesia.
This is why I feel so creepy hearing the term "peaceful rising" from our leaders.
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James,
By ranking the Chinese-Vietnamese conflict alongside the other monumental events you've mentioned here you must have came to the conclusion that this brief conflict was a watershed moment in global history.
If that's the case, could you please explain how and why?
As far as I know this conflict ended in a bloody draw with no territorial gain by either sides. It also had minimal impact to relations between the two countries which was already sour since the end of the Vietnam War.
What is the people's opinion and recollection of this conflict? How are the Chinese and Vietnamese governments planning to commemorate its 20th anniversary?
Why wasn't 1973 an important year as that was the year that the US lost its first international war - through its withdrawal from the Vietnam War? Surely the global impact of that would have been far greater than the 1979 conflict.
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James, how can you tell it is China that invaded Vietnam? You should be responsible for your readers. Have you ever made any research? That is a really complicated history and it's much more a matter of 2 big superpowers, US & Russia.
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James, the word "invade" really upset me. That's not true in history. It's really complicated and not just a matter between China and Vietnam.
#6
I really doubt whether you are really a Chiese.
1. As a Chinese, I do hope so-called "peaceful rise" can come true and I believe it's really on its way. I love my country and I hope my country can be strong enough to resist other nations' invation and insultation like before, but I don't hope my country will one day do the same to the others.
2. For arms, it won't bother China. Russian will sell us and China can produce by herself.
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Someone please tell me how1968 is a foundation for today's world. After the lies and deception leading up to the Iraq War, including the long period of sanctions through the 90's, 1968 is all but forgotten. Tony Blair was someone whose views should have been built on 1968. Nothing was learned.
Sorry James - 1968 has to come out of your list.
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it certainly seems that the conflict in Vietnam was more about Russia and China trying to exert their influence in the area.
However what was the real reason why China invaded Vietnam, as for sure they certainly were the ones that entered some distance into Vietnam itself, even beyond any disputed borders?
Chinese justification was given to be because of treatment of Ethnic Chinese living in Vietnam, however the real reason seems to be because the Vietnamese went into Cambodia and removed the Khymer Rouge which were supported by the PRC.
What is interesting in this regard is that the Khymer Rouge also treated ethnic chinese badly, probably much worse then the Vietnamese ever did, but the PRC never bothered to go into Cambodia.
Would be interesting to find out more about the real reasons.
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I would like to thank the great leader of China Mr Deng Xiaoping for his far-sightedness and determination to transform China from a weak and poor country to a strong country which has a bigger say in the international arena. His contributions to the modern China is highly commendable and will be remembered forever. Without his able leadership, China will not be the same as what we have seen today.
A strong and stable China is good for the stability of the world.
It is a big headache and a big challenge to manage a country like China. Just imagine at noon time, you have 1.3 billion people to feed, this is already beyond our imagination. When come to food for her 1.3 billion people, China has more or less resolve the problem.
What is more pressing for the leadership is to figh corruption, to resolve income disparity and to create jobs for the people. These problems are not unique to China, these are also the challenges facing other countries in the West and the East.
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#30 Guy_CN
At the time of China invasion in 1979, I didn't come across any news reports which say ill-treatment of ethnic Chinese in Vietnam was the justification or reason for the invasion. It was widely reported in the western media that China wanted to teach Vietnam a lesson for its invasion of Cambodia. At the time, the US and members of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) were very glad to see the Vietnamese got a taste of its own medicine.
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Renolds, you are doing a good job here to debates going! Well done!
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#to 12 flibblesan,
There are hundreds, if not, thousands of movies, songs, and novels in China about the China-Vietnam war. The most famous movie is “Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain” (Gao Shan Xia de Hua Huan). It is one of the best movies I’ve ever watched. The most famous song is "The moon on the 15th" (Shi Wu de Yue Liang).
I am really intrigued to know where your Chinese friends grew up… (L.A.?).
They may not know that Chinese army was 50 miles away from Hanoi, and the Vietnam government was panic. When I was a school kid, we had soldiers coming to our school telling there stories on the frontline every now and then.
On the other hand, I have to admit that many American kids don’t know the Korean war; and some don’t even know who Dick Chiney is.
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By saying war I refer not only to the Sino-Vietnam War and Vietnam War but also wars of any kind - regional wars, civil wars, world wars, wars on protesters, wars on terror...
This is truly a war universe.
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How many countries did China fight with after 1949? Indian, Vietnam, Russia and the Army of UN with 20+ countries.
I met Statues of liberty last year, and saw the monument of Korean War, I felt so proud to see the flags of so many nations on it. And now Mrs Clinton is begging in China for buying Americans, what a suddenly change!
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#37
China was involved in only 3 wars after 1949 - with the US in Korea (1950); with India (1962); and with Vietnam (1979). The border skirmishes with the former Soviet Union in 1969 can hardly be classified as a "war".
The Korean War in 1950 was a US war using a UN tag, just like the 2003 Iraq War another US war using a "Coalition of the Willing" tag.
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For 1968, read 1963, surely? (Kennedy assassination.)
On the Vietnam-China issue I cannot comment. On the underestimated significance of 1978-9, I cannot argue.
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