Chapter 13：“Touching the Tiger’s Buttocks”：The Third Vietnam War

1. ?“Touch ?the ?tiger's ?buttocks” ?is ?a ?Chinese ?idiom ?popularized ?by ?Mao, meaning to do something daring or dangerous. The occasion of this remark was my meeting with Hua Guofeng in Beijing in April 1979.

2. During the Cultural Revolution, then Defense Minister Lin Biao abolished all ?ranks ?and ?insignia ?and ?ordered ?extensive ?ideological ?training ?for ?Chinese troops ?using ?the ?“Little ?Red ?Book” ?of ?Mao's ?aphorisms. The ?PLA ?was ?called ?on to play social and ideological roles far outside the mission of an ordinary military. A ?penetrating ?account ?of ?the ?toll ?these ?developments ?took ?on ?the ?PLA ?during ?the conflict with Vietnam may be found in Edward O’Dowd, Chinese Military Strategy in the Third Indochina War ?(New York：Routledge, 2007).

3. “Zhou Enlai, Kang Sheng, and Pham Van Dong：Beijing, 29 April 1968,” in ?Odd Arne Westad, ?Chen ?Jian, ?Stein T?nnesson, ?Nguyen Vu Tung, ?and ?James G. ?Hershberg, ?eds., ?“77 ?Conversations ?Between ?Chinese ?and ?Foreign ?Leaders on ?the Wars ?in ?Indochina, ?1964–1977,” ?Cold War ?International ?History ?Project Working Paper Series, working paper no. 22 (Washington, D.C.：Woodrow Wilson International History Project, May 1998), 127–28. (Brackets in original.)

4. ?I ?have ?always ?believed ?that ?having ?been ?willing ?to ?force ?the-to ?Mao-?ideologically ?correct ?Khmer ?Rouge ?into ?a ?compromise, ?unnecessarily ?as ?it ?turned out, ?contributed ?to ?Zhou's ?fall. ?See ?also ?Kissinger, ?Years ?of ?Upheaval ? (Boston：Little, Brown, 1982), 368.

5. ?Robert ?S. ?Ross, ?The ?Indochina ?Tangle：?China's ?Vietnam ?Policy, ?1975–1979 ?(New York：?Columbia ?University ?Press, ?1988), ?74, ?quoting ?Xinhua ?news report ?(August ?15, ?1975), ?as ?translated ?in ?Foreign ?Broadcast ?Information ?Service (FBIS) Daily Report, People's Republic of China (August 18, 1975), A7.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid., 98, quoting Xinhua news report (March 15, 1976), as translated in FBIS Daily Report, People's Republic of China (March 16, 1976), A13.

8. In April 1978, the Afghan President was assassinated and his government was ?replaced; ?on ?December ?5, ?1978, ?the ?Soviet ?Union ?and ?the ?new ?government of Afghanistan ?entered ?into ?a ?Treaty ?of ?Friendship, ?Good-Neighborliness ?and Cooperation; and on February 19, 1979, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan was assassinated.

9. ?Cyrus Vance, ?Hard ?Choices：?Critical ?Years ?in America's ?Foreign ?Policy (New York：Simon & Schuster, 1983), 79.

10. “President Carter's Instructions to Zbigniew Brzezinski for His Mission to China, May 17, 1978,” in Zbigniew Brzezinski, ?Power and Principle：Memoirs of the National Security Adviser, 1977–1981 (New York：Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1985), Annex I, 2.

11. ?The ?five ?principles ?were：?affirmation ?of ?a ?one ?China ?policy; ?a commitment ?not ?to ?offer American ?support ?to Taiwan ?independence ?movements; American ?discouragement ?of ?a ?hypothetical ?Japanese ?deployment ?into Taiwan; support for any peaceful resolution between Beijing and Taipei; and a commitment to ?continued ?normalization. ?See ?Chapter ?9, ?“Resumption ?of ?Relations：?First Encounters with Mao and Zhou,” page 271.

12. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation, ?Summary ?of ?the ?President's ?Meeting with ?the ?People's ?Republic ?of ?China Vice ?Premier ?Deng ?Xiaoping：Washington, January, ?29th ?1979, ?3：35–4：59 ?p.m.,” ?Jimmy ?Carter ?Presidential ?Library ?(JCPL), Vertical File—China, item no. 270, 10–11.

13. ?“Summary ?of ?Dr. ?Brzezinski's ?Meeting ?with ?Foreign ?Minister ?Huang Hua：Beijing, May 21st, 1978,” JCPL, Vertical File—China, item no. 232, 3.

14. Ibid., 6–7.

15. Ibid. Sadat served as President of Egypt from 1970 until his assassination in ?1981. The ?“bold ?action” ?referred ?to ?included ?Sadat's ?expulsion ?of ?over ?twenty thousand Soviet military advisors from Egypt in 1972, the launching of the October 1973 War, and the subsequent entry into a peace process with Israel.

16. Ibid., 4.

17. Ibid., 10–11.

18. “Memorandum of Conversation, Meeting with Vice Premier Teng Hsiao P’ing：Beijing, May 21st, 1978,” JCPL, Vertical File—China, item no. 232-e, 16.

19. Ibid., 5–6.

20. ?“Summary ?of ?Dr. ?Brzezinski's ?Meeting ?with ?Chairman ?Hua ?Kuo-feng：Beijing, May 22nd, 1978,” JCPL, Vertical File-China, item no. 233c, 4–5.

21. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation, ?Summary ?of ?the ?President's ?Meeting with Ambassador Ch'ai Tse-min：Washington, September 19, 1978,” JCPL, Vertical File—China, item no. 250b, 3.

22. “Memorandum of Conversation, Meeting with Vice Premier Teng Hsiao P’ing：Beijing, May 21st 1978,” JCPL, Vertical File—China, item no. 232-e, 6.

23. ?In ?recent ?years, ?Chinese ?leaders ?and ?policy ?analysts ?have ?introduced the phrase “peaceful rise” to describe China's foreign policy aspiration to achieve major-power ?status ?within ?the ?framework ?of ?the ?existing ?international ?system. In ?a ?thoughtful ?article ?synthesizing ?both ?Chinese ?and Western ?scholarship ?on ?the concept, ?the ?scholar ?Barry ?Buzan ?raises ?the ?prospect ?that ?China's ?“peaceful ?rise” began ?in ?the ?late ?1970s ?and ?early ?1980s, ?as ?Deng ?increasingly ?aligned ?China's domestic development and foreign policy to the nonrevolutionary world and sought out common interests with the West. Deng's trips abroad offered dramatic proof of this ?realignment. ?See ?Barry ?Buzan, ?“China ?in ?International ?Society：?Is ?‘Peaceful Rise’ Possible?” ?The Chinese Journal of International Politics 3 (2010)：12–13.

24. “An Interview with Teng Hsiao P’ing,” Time (February 5, 1979), http：//www .time.com/time/magazine/ article/0,9171,946204,00.html.

25. “China and Japan Hug and Make Up,” Time ?(November 6, 1978), http：//

www .time.com/time/magazine/ article/0,9171,948275-1,00.html.

26. ?Henry ?Kamm, ?“Teng ?Begins ?Southeast Asian Tour ?to ?Counter ?Rising Soviet Influence,” New York Times (November 6, 1978), A1.

27. Henry Kamm, “Teng Tells the Thais Moscow-Hanoi Treaty Perils World's Peace,” ?New York Times ?(November 9, 1978), A9.

28. ?“Excerpts ?from ?Talks ?Given ?in ?Wuchang, ?Shenzhen, ?Zhuhai ?and Shanghai：?January ?18–February ?21, ?1992,” ?in Selected ?Works ?of ?Deng ?Xiaoping , vol. 3, trans., The Bureau for the Compilation and Translation of Works of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin Under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (Beijing：Foreign Languages Press, 1994), 366.

29. Lee Kuan Yew, ?From Third World to First：The Singapore Story—1965–2000 (New York：HarperCollins, 2000), 597.

30. Ibid., 598–99.

31. ?Fox ?Butterfield, ?“Differences ?Fade ?as ?Rivals ?Mingle ?to ?Honor Teng,” New York Times (January 30, 1979), A1.

32. ?Joseph ?Lelyveld, ?“‘Astronaut’ ?Teng ?Gets ?New ?View ?of ?World ?in Houston,” New York Times (February 3, 1979), A1.

33. Fox Butterfield, “Teng Again Says Chinese May Move Against Vietnam,” New York Times (February 1, 1979), A16.

34. ?Joseph ?Lelyveld, ?“‘Astronau'Teng ?Gets ?New ?View ?of ?World ?in Houston,” A1. ?For ?consistency ?with ?the ?main ?text ?of ?the ?present ?volume, ?the quoted passage's original spelling “Teng Hsiao-p’ing” has been rendered as “Deng Xiaoping.”

35. Twenty-two years represented the interval between the two world wars. Since more than twenty-two years had elapsed since the end of the Second World War, ?Chinese ?leaders ?were ?nervous ?that ?a ?certain ?historical ?rhythm ?was ?moving events. ?Mao ?had ?made ?the ?same ?point ?to ?the Australian ?Communist ?leader ?E. ?F. Hill a decade earlier. See also Chapter 8, “The Road to Reconciliation,” page 207; and Chen Jian and David L. Wilson, eds., “All Under the Heaven Is Great Chaos：Beijing, ?the ?Sino-Soviet ?Border ?Clashes, ?and ?the ?Turn ?Toward ?Sino-American?Rapprochement, ?1968–69,” ?Cold ?War ?International ?History ?Project ?Bulletin ?11 (Washington, ?D.C.：Woodrow Wilson ?International ?Center ?for ?Scholars, Winter 1998), 161.

36. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation, ?Summary ?of ?the ?President's ?First Meeting with PRC Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping：Washington, January 29th, 1979,” JCPL, Vertical File—China, item no. 268, 8–9.

37. “Memorandum of Conversation, Meeting with Vice Premier Teng Hsiao P’ing：Beijing, May 21st, 1978,” JCPL, Vertical File—China, item no. 232-e, 14.

38. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation, ?Summary ?of ?the ?President's ?Meeting with ?the ?People's ?Republic ?of ?China Vice ?Premier ?Deng ?Xiaoping：Washington, January ?29th, ?1979, ?3：35–4：59 ?p.m.,” ?JCPL, Vertical ?File-China, ?item ?no. ?270, 10–11.

39. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation, ?Carter–Deng, ?Subject：?Vietnam：Washington, ?January ?29th, ?1979, ?5：00 ?p.m.–5：40 ?p.m.,” ?JCPL, ?Brzezinski Collection, China

40. Ross, ?The Indochina Tangle , 229.

41. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation, ?Carter–Deng, ?Washington, ?January 29th, ?1979, ?5：00 ?p.m.–5：40 ?p.m.,” ?JCPL, ?Brzezinski ?Collection, ?China ?

42. Ibid., 5.

43. Brzezinski, Power and Principle, 410.

44. ?“President ?Reporting ?on ?His ?Conversations ?with ?Deng：?January ?30th, 1979,” JCPL, Brzezinski Collection, China

45. Henry Scott-Stokes, “Teng Criticizes the U.S. for a Lack of Firmness in Iran,” ?New York Times (February 8, 1979), A12.

46. The ?lower ?figure ?appears ?in ?Bruce ?Elleman, Modern ?Chinese ?Warfare, 1795–1989 (New York：Routledge, 2001), 285. The higher figure is the estimate of Edward O’Dowd in ?Chinese Military Strategy in the Third Indochina War , 3, 45–55.

47. O'Dowd, Chinese Military Strategy in the Third Indochina War, 45.

48. ?Deng ?Xiaoping ?to ?Jimmy ?Carter ?on ?January ?30, ?1979, ?as ?quoted ?in Brzezinski, ?Power and Principle, 409–10.

49. “Text of Declaration by Moscow,” ?New York Times (February 19, 1979); Craig ?R. Whitney, ?“Security ?Pact ?Cited：?Moscow ?Says ?It Will ?Honor Terms ?of Treaty—No Direct Threat Made,” ?New York Times (February 19, 1979), A1.

50. ?Edward ?Cowan, ?“Blumenthal ?Delivers ?Warning,” ?New ?York ?Times (February 28, 1979), A1. 51. Ibid.

51. One of the few scholars to challenge this conventional wisdom—and to emphasize the conflict's anti-Soviet dimension—is Bruce Elleman, in his Modern Chinese Warfare , 284–97.

52. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation, ?Summary ?of ?the ?President's ?First Meeting with PRC Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping：Washington, January 29th, 1979,” JCPL, Vertical File-China, item no. 268, 8.

53. ?“Memorandum, ?President ?Reporting ?on ?His ?Conversations ?with ?Deng：January ?30th, ?1979,” ?JCPL, ?Brzezinski ?Collection, ?China ?

10/3/79, item no. 009, 2.

55. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation ?with ?Vice ?Premier ?Deng ?Xiaoping：Beijing, January 8th, 1980,” JCPL, NSA Brzez. Matl. Far East, Box No. 69, Brown (Harold) Trip Memcons, 1/80, File, 16.

56. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation ?with ?Vice ?Premier ?Deng ?Xiaoping：Beijing, January 8th, 1980,” JCPL, NSA Brzez. Matl. Far East, Box No. 69, Brown (Harold) Trip Memcons, 1/80, File, 15.

57. “President Carter's Instructions to Zbigniew Brzezinski for His Mission to China, May 17, 1978,” in Brzezinski, Power and Principle, Annex I, 4.

58. By one estimate, as of 1986 Vietnam stationed “700,000 combat troops in the northern portion of the country.” Karl D. Jackson, “Indochina, 1982–1985：Peace Yields to War,” in Solomon and Kosaka, eds., The Soviet Far East Military Buildup, as cited in Elleman, Modern Chinese Warfare, 206.

59. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation, ?Summary ?of ?the ?Vice ?President's Meeting ?with ?People's ?Republic ?of ?China Vice ?Premier ?Deng ?Xiaoping：?Beijing, August ?28th, ?1979, ?9：30 ?a.m.–12：00 ?noon,” ?JCPL, Vertical ?File-China, ?item ?no. 279, 9.

60. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation ?Between ?President ?Carter ?and ?Premier Hua Guofeng of the People's Republic of China：Tokyo, July 10th, 1980,” JCPL, NSA Brzez. Matl. Subj. File, Box No. 38, “Memcons：President, 7/80.”

61. As ?quoted ?in ?Chen ?Jian, ?China's ?Road ?to ?the ?Korean ?War ?(New York：Columbia University Press, 1994), 149.

62. ?“Memorandum ?of ?Conversation, ?Summary ?of ?Dr. ?Brzezinski's Conversation ?with Vice ?Premier ?Geng ?Biao ?of ?the ?People's ?Republic ?of ?China：Washington, ?May ?29th, ?1980,” ?JCPL, ?NSA ?Brzez. ?Matl. ?Far ?East, ?Box ?No. ?70, “Geng Biao Visit, 5/23–31/80,” Folder, 5.

63. Lee, From ?Third World to First, 603.