Vietnam speaks out on Chinese film’s trailer distorting history

The newly released trailer for the Chinese movie Wang Bai’s Army has caused outrage in Vietnam for falsifying historical facts of the fight to protect Vietnam’s northern border.

Vietnamese Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said it has caught the attention of the Vietnamese authorities and people.

“Vietnam’s consistent stance on historical issues is to put aside the past, look to the future, assess the history accurately and objectively, and take actions to enhance understanding among the peoples, contributing to the friendship, cooperation and development among the countries," Hang stressed during a regular briefing today. 

The spokesperson went on to say that, Vietnam requests China to strictly abide by the mutual perception by the two countries’ leaders on the friendship and objective propaganda with the aim to reinforce a social foundation that favors the development of bilateral ties.

Earlier, the Chinese social network Baidu has released the trailer for the film Wang Bai’s Army.

According to the social network, the film, set in 1983, is about the fighting and demining of Chinese army men in Guangxi, an autonomous region of China that borders the provinces of Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Lang Son, and Quang Ninh of Vietnam.

Many Vietnamese viewers have voiced their objections to the false details of the films saying they distorted the war that Vietnamese people protected their country’s northern border.

In the movie trailer, there are scenes of the Chinese army in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy who are “disguised as leaves and grass”, “using AK machine guns”. Besides, the costumes that the Chinese actors wear in the film match the military uniforms from the time of the war to defend the Vietnamese northern border in 1979.

On February 17, 1979, China launched a large-scale attack on Vietnam’s territory along all the northern borderline shared by the two countries from Phong Tho in the Lai Chau Province to Mong Cai in Quang Ninh Province. Vietnam’s army and people fought back with great fortitude, to exercise their legitimate right to defense. 

China announced the withdrawal on March 14 in the same year but its military forces still illegally occupied several sites in Lang Son, Cao Bang, and Ha Tuyen provinces and culminated in the bloody battle of Vi Xuyen in Ha Giang Province in the summer of 1984.

During 1984 -1989, more than 4,000 Vietnamese soldiers died and thousands of people were injured, while the remains of more than 2,000 martyrs have not yet been found, according to the Liaison Committee of the Veterans of the Battle of Vi Xuyen.