I te tau 1977 i tutaki te Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) ki te whakaekenga kaha mai i 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 nekehia te ope taua o Vietnam ki te huri i
te kāwanatanga o 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.