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Salient. Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 42 No. 5. March 26 1979

The New Enemy

The New Enemy

In a speech at Vietnamese Army Day, 21 December 1978, Defence Minister Vo Nguyen Giap announced that "Vietnam is determined to defeat the reactionary clique in Phnom Penh" (4 days before their invasion) but went on to say - "the reactionaries in the Peking authorities are practising big nation hegemonism". His aim was to key up the army for more attacks on China. He omitted to explain what the "big nation hegemonism" actually was. When his full statement was broadcast on Radio Hanoi, however, the reference to the "Peking reactionaries" was dropped.

The question must be, what is the reason for the Vietnamese aggression. The most hostile act that China could claim to have inflicted upon Vietnam was cutting off military and industrial aid, the support of the expelled Chinese nationals, and the opposition of the Vietnamese invasion of Kampuchea.