The Sino-Vietnamese War was a conflict of the last century and can be divided into two main phases. The first phase involved a large-scale Chinese offensive against Vietnam, while the second phase involved a conflict that lasted about a decade in the Sino-Vietnamese border region. Although China taught Vietnam a serious lesson in the first stage, why did Vietnam still dare to provoke China? It's not because they don't feel pain. In the first phase of the Sino-Vietnamese War, China had significant military superiority, both in terms of strength and equipment. China almost captured Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, in less than a month. In addition, the Chinese army destroyed many Vietnamese infrastructure and fortifications during its retreat, and took with them supplies that had previously aided Vietnam. In theory, Vietnam would not have been qualified to continue fighting again after this war. However, Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union at the time, which led them to learn their lesson and continue armed attacks in the Chinese border areas. Next, the two countries engaged in a long tug-of-war in the border area.
It should be noted that the Sino-Vietnamese War was orchestrated by the Soviet Union from the beginning, when Sino-Soviet relations were tense and the Soviet Union had been trying to contain the rise of China. But because of the Soviet Union's own situation, they could not intervene personally, so they groomed Vietnam as their agent. In the seventies and eighties of the last century, Sino-US relations eased somewhat, and in order to contain China, the Soviet Union could only continue to encourage Vietnam to provoke war. Another reason is that Vietnam did not suffer significant losses in the first phase of the counterattack against Vietnam. At that time, due to intelligence errors, Vietnam did not send a large number of elite troops, so the losses were relatively small. Therefore, after the withdrawal of Chinese troops, Vietnam tried to gather elite forces and prepare for a counteroffensive with the Chinese army.
It is clear that Vietnam and China are not the same on different levels, and even if Vietnam gathers all its strength, there is little chance of victory. The reason why the second phase lasted for nearly a decade was mainly because China did not choose to attack on a large scale again, but sent troops from different theaters to the front line in turn to accumulate actual combat experience. After all, many of China's military at that time had not participated in real combat for many years, which was a rare opportunity. However, over time, the Soviet Union was unable to continue to support Vietnam due to internal problems, and Vietnam was also dragged down by the war, causing development in various fields to stagnate. Eventually, in order to reduce losses, Vietnam had to offer reconciliation. In short, Vietnam's provocation of China, from the beginning to the end, was a failed choice. To this day, Viet Nam is still a poor and backward country. This historical experience makes it impossible for China and Vietnam to become close friends. It must be said that everyone bears the consequences for their choices, and the state is no exception.