The Battle of the Paracel Islands (Battle of Hoàng Sa) was fought between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in the Paracel Islands on January 19, 1974.

Historical Background

The tiny, uninhabited Paracel Islands, called Hoàng Sa in Vietnamese and Xīshā in Chinese, were historically considered part of ancient Vietnam. After an era of French colonial rule (c.1887-1954), the Geneva accord of 1954 gave administrative control of the islands to the new Republic of Vietnam in the South. This arrangement was immediately contested by the fledgling People's Republic of China, which had not been party to the accord, and which voiced a Chinese claim to the islands stretching back at least to the 19th century. China sent troops to the area in a small-scale invasion that was quickly routed by the South Vietnamese. Undeterred, China always maintained its claim of sovereignty over the islands.