Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I te tau 1977 i tino whakaekehia te Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) e te People's Republic of China (PRC) i te wa i werohia ai e te SRV te tutu Communist kohuru i Cambodia. I te mutunga o te tau 1978 ka neke te ope taua o Vietnam ki
whakaheke i te kāwanatanga Khmer Rouge. Hei whakautu, i whakaekea e te People's Liberation Army o te PRC a Vietnam puta noa i to raatau rohe i te timatanga o te tau 1979; he poto tenei pakanga patu engari he kaha.