CHINA - VIETNAM WAR - 45 years ago 

45 years ago China invaded Vietnam - Feb 17-Mar 16, 1979. I was invited to Hanoi roughly two weeks after China ended its attack. In 2024 the event was marked by Vietnam with published salutes to Vietnamese heroes. In Beijing the history is seldom talked about. After the short attack, talks on relations ensued but Vietnamese - Chinese ties broken off in 1979 were not restored until 1991. In the 1970's carefully chaperoned visits to Vietnam and China were made only by special invitation. Hanoi extended permission to me through contacts at Vietnam's embassy in Tokyo Japan in late March 1979.