DENG XIAOPINGS LONG WAR

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 twentynineday 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 SinoSoviet dispute and Chinese leader Deng Xiaopings desire to modernize his country Dengs perceptions of the Soviet Union combined with his plans for economic and military reform shaped Chinas strategic vision Drawing on newly declassified Chinese documents and memoirs by senior military and civilian figures Zhang takes readers into the heart of Beijings decisionmaking process and illustrates the wars importance for understanding the modern Chinese military as well as Chinas role in the AsianPacific world today