China’s Vietnam War Revisited
A Domestic Politics Perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12422663 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joshua Eisenman (0000-0002-4709-4353, University of Notre Dame, USA; The University of Texas at Austin, USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 119 |
| Pages | 729-745 |
| Publication date | 2019-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Contemporary China (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1067-0564 • E-ISSN: 1469-9400 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10670564.2019.1580430 |
| OpenAlex | W2919269192 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
This study examines the role elite factional politics played in China’s decision to attack Vietnam in February 1979. Whereas existing studies have clarified the geopolitical context and the influence of China’s international relations with other states, this one unlocks the connections between the war, China’s post-Mao political succession struggle, and a long-standing dispute between the supporters of two distinct military doctrines—Mao’s People’s War strategy and, its rival, military modernization. To establish whether causation exists, this study first identifies the causal mechanism, then conducts a careful investigation of the relationship between the decision to go to war and the power struggle that raged in Beijing at the time. Process tracing is used to conceptualize and sequence six distinct stages in the causal chain between 1959 and 1981; that is, in the lead up to, during, and in the aftermath of the war. The primary conclusion is that, in addition to international considerations, Deng Xiaoping advocated the attack on Vietnam because it allowed him to accelerate military modernization and de-Maoification and thus defeat his political rival Communist Party Chairman Hua Guofeng and take control of China
Beijing · Causation · China · Communism · Context (archaeology · Elite · Geopolitics · Great power · Modernization theory · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Vietnam War · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,4 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2025 (5) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |