QUORA

Richard Wilson · Studied International Relations and International Law7y

China invaded Vietnam to punish it for its offensive on Cambodia. They made this very clear at the time. The Chinese ended up withdrawing after 4 weeks, sustaining heavier than expected casualties, while Vietnam stayed in Cambodia for another 10 years to keep them in check. That is hard to sell as a victory for them.

Casualties on both sides appeared to be roughy even in the end (but who would ever really know). The Chinese thought they would attack the Northern border of Vietnam while the core Vietnamese army were occupied in the South with Cambodia.

They appear to have miscalculated on 150,000 odd strong local militias in the area willing to band together, who were well trained and experienced from decades of war.

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