Balance of Threat, Dynamic Balance and Security Dilemma: Deterioration of Sino-Vietnamese Relations in the Late 1970s

Abstract

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) had been close-knit allies since the the formation of the two states. However, they gradually moved apart in approaches towards regional and international affairs in the late 1960s and 1970s. This paper offers an account for the deterioration of Sino-Vietnamese relations in the 1970s. It is original in the sense that it focuses on exploring the perceptions of Vietnam and China that led to the competition for alliances, which has not been fully addressed in existing literature. This research employs the balance of threat theory in international relations – which argues that states commonly pursue an alliance strategy to balance against perceived threats – as the primary analytical framework to analyse primary and secondary sources and historical documents in Sino-Vietnamese relations. This study’s main finding is that the different perceptions of threats in China and Vietnam has led the two countries . 
to pursue balancing strategies to counter these threats. Such balancing acts led
to a situation of security dilemma and it eventually ended up with a period of
turbulent bilateral relations.