ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how Peking's harder policy toward Vietnam failed to secure Chinese interests in Southeast Asia and resulted in an overall serious setback for the Chinese leaders closely associated with the policy, especially Vice-Premier Teng. It reviews how US leaders - particularly US Presidential adviser Brzezinski - publicly associated the United States with China's harder line toward Vietnam and analyses the possible implications such an association might have for the future development of Sino-American relations. China's relations with Vietnam have in many respects underlined the anti-Soviet direction in Chinese policy in Asia. China's use of massive military force inside Vietnam almost certainly alarmed some of the non-Communist Southeast Asian states, as well as others of China's neighbors, regarding Peking's repeatedly expressed commitment to the establishment of a peaceful environment in Asia. US policy appeared to undergo a change after China invaded Vietnamese border provinces and the Soviet Union issued strong warnings of possible countermeasures.
