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The Sino-Vietnamese Dispute over the Ethnic Chinese

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Pao-min Chang
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Extract

As in other South-east Asian countries, the controversy over the ethnic Chinese in Vietnam has its roots deep in the past and in essence centres on the issue of assimilation. However, unlike other countries in the region, Vietnam represents a unique case due to her geographical proximity and cultural affinity to China. Consequently, while ties between the Vietnamese Chinese and their homeland are traditionally closer than in perhaps any other case, over the centuries China has also been more inclined and has found it easier to intervene in Vietnamese affairs. In fact, even after French rule in Vietnam began, Beijing continued to seek to ensure most-favoured-nation treatment for all Chinese in Vietnam through a series of treaties and bilateral agreements, and also responded unfailingly to their pleas for help. According to the agreement signed with the French in 1946, the Chinese Government was even entitled to veto the selection of formal Chinese community leaders in Vietnam, thereby establishing a direct link between China and the Chinese in Vietnam.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 90 , June 1982 , pp. 195 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1982

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References

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139. One incident reportedly resulted from Vietnamese newsmen trying to take pictures of Chinese eating food received from the Chinese side, which provoked a violent reaction from the refugees, thereby leading to the expulsion of over 700 Chinese across the border. XHNA, 9 08 1978.Google Scholar See also note 132 above.

140. XHNA, 5 01 1979.Google Scholar

141. XHNA, 21 08 1978.Google Scholar

142. Such charges were made repeatedly by Beijing. See for instances XHNA, 11 07, 2, 21 08 1978.Google Scholar

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146. XHNA, 18 02 1979.Google Scholar

147. Chang Pao-min, loc. cit.

148. The phrase “Teach Vietnam a lesson” was first used by Chinese officials on 8 January 1978. ST, 4 05 1979, p. 16.Google Scholar It was repeated by Deng Xiaoping on 31 January 1979 in the United States, and again on 6 February in Tokyo on his way back to Beijing. New York Times, 1, 7 02 1979.Google Scholar Also, BR, 9 02 1979, p. 3.Google Scholar It was cited again by China after launching the invasion of Vietnam. ST, 28 02 1979, p. 1.Google Scholar

149. XHNA, 18 02 1979.Google Scholar

150. ST, 18 06 1979, p. 3.Google Scholar Vietnamese delegates at the Djarkata Conference in May said that there were at least half-a-million more waiting to leave Vietnam and that the problem lay only in whether other countries were ready to accommodate them, not in Vietnam. New York Times, 13 07 1979.Google Scholar

151. UNHCR data sheets for 1978 and 1979.

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153. ST, 23 05 1979, p. 1 and 25 May 1979, p. 5.Google Scholar

154. Ibid.; also ST, 6 06 1979, p. 2.Google Scholar The figure is based on the UNHCR data sheet for 1979.

155. New York Times, 13 06 1979.Google Scholar

156. ST, 8 06 1979, p. 36.Google Scholar

157. XHNA, 30 05 1978.Google ScholarST, 31 05 1979, p. 28Google Scholar; 18 June 1979, p. 3; 8 June 1979, p. 1; 29 June 1979, p. 2. New York Times, 13 06 1979.Google Scholar

158. XHNA, 18 04 1979.Google Scholar An estimated 30,000 out of a total of 260,000 refugees accepted by China are ethnic Vietnamese. ST, 10 07 1980, p. 2.Google Scholar

159. BBC/FE, No. 6095 (19 April 1979), p. A3/4; No. 6102 (27 April 1979), pp. A3/11–12.

160. Ibid. p. A3/9; BBC/FE, No. 6161 (6 July 1979), p. A3/2; No. 6155 (30 June 1979), p. A3/2.

161. BBC/FE, No. 6155 (30 06 1979), p. A3/11.Google Scholar

162. The summit of seven developed nations issued a strong statement on 28 June condemning Vietnam, ST, 29 06 1979, p. 36.Google Scholar The conference of ASEAN Foreign Ministers in late June also held Vietnam responsible for the refugee crisis. ST, 2 07 1979, P. 3.Google Scholar

163. BBC/FE, No. 6161 (7 07 1979), p. A3/7Google Scholar; No. 6172 (20 July 1979), p. A3/4.

164. BR, 22 06 1979, pp. 21–22Google Scholar; XHNA, 5, 19 07 1979.Google Scholar

165. BBC/FE, No. 6161 (7 July 1979), p. A3/2; No. 6172 (20 July 1979), p. A3/4.

166. BBC/FE, No. 6161 (7 July 1979), p. A3/2.

167. XHNA, 28 06 1979Google Scholar; BBC/FE, No. 6172 (20 July 1979), p. A3/4.

168. XHNA, 6 03 1980.Google Scholar

169. ST, 10 07 1980, p. 2.Google Scholar

170. UNHCR data sheets for 1979 and 1980.

171. Ibid.

172. It was estimated that at least 50% of all refugees leaving Vietnam by boat perished at sea. ST, 8 06 1979, p. 36.Google Scholar Some informed sources put the casualty rate as high as 70%. New York Times, 13 06 1979.Google Scholar The UNHCR estimated in May 1980 that one out of every two boats that landed in Malaysia had been attacked at sea by pirates. ST, 8 05 1980, p. 2.Google Scholar Also, FEER, 22 12 1978, pp. 13–14.Google Scholar

173. Based on UNHCR estimates. See ST, 13 10 1978, p. 3.Google Scholar