Cambodia and the Sino-Vietnamese War

In late 1978, following repeated raids by the Chinese-supported Pol Pot regime into Vietnamese territory and the massacre of ethnic Vietnamese and Khmer people in Cambodia, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and installed a pro-Vietnamese government. In early 1979 China invaded Vietnam in retaliation. The Sino-Vietnamese War was brief, but casualties were high on both sides. In late 1989 Vietnam withdrew its troops from Cambodia.

1980s

Vietnam's third constitution, based on that of the USSR, was written in 1980.

Through the 1980s, Vietnam received nearly $3 billion a year in economic and military aid from the Soviet Union and conducted most of its trade with the USSR and other Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) countries.

Reforms

In 1986 Vietnam, under a new leader Nguyen Van Linh, abandoned its attempt to maintain a purely planned economy. Many restrictions on private enterprise were lifted, and the education system was liberalised. In 1995 Vietnam joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). A stock exchange opened in 2000. The Soviet collapse also deprived Vietnam of economic assistance from its former ally, and its government soon began mending relations with the US, its former enemy. In 1994, the US effectively ended the embargo and the two countries finally established normal diplomatic & trade relations in 1995. The embargo of Vietnam began in 1964 for North Vietnam and extended to all of Vietnam in 1975. Thirty years later, its ending marked the beginning of Vietnam joining the economic, cultural and political sphere of South East Asian nations.

Vietnam is a nation in transition from its Communist past. It is still a one-party state (with minimal separation of powers), but can no longer be regarded as following Communist political philosophy. Journalism and political dissent are still strictly controlled, with all media owned by the government. The arrest of democracy, human rights, and religious freedom advocates has also given Vietnam a negative image. The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and ethnic minority Protestant groups in the northern and central highlands are also suppressed, although the Vietnamese government claims this is a result of their political involvement rather than their religious beliefs. In June 2004, Japan announced that it would link its aid to Vietnam with Vietnam's respect for human rights. Japan's aid to Vietnam has risen steadily over the last decade. In September 2004, the US State Department designated Vietnam a “Country of Particular Concern” because of Vietnam’s “particularly severe violations of religious freedom”.

Nevertheless, Vietnamese are enjoying more freedom than in the past. Vietnam is growing fast economically (GDP doubled every ten years in the last two decades) and adopting a transparent, decentralized governing style to further reduce poverty. It is still however relatively poor country. Vietnam hopes to become a member of the WTO (World Trade Organization) in late 2005 or early 2006.

Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Vietnam