By Hồng Vân

Peter Dunai was among very few foreign correspondents who travelled to the northern border area of Việt Nam to cover the 1979 Việt Nam-China border war. 

He came to Việt Nam to work as a foreign correspondent for the Hungarian News Agency and Hungary’s biggest daily newspaper Nepszabadsag (People’s Freedom) in 1981-1984 after the intensive first phase of the war.

Though the war was over almost 40 years ago, Dunai has kept regular contact with the Vietnamese community in Hungary and memories about his work in Việt Nam still linger in his mind.

“I was deeply touched by seeing the people rebuilding the country, the workers toiling the whole day on a handful of steamed rice, the peasants wearing raincoats made of palm leaves, the women standing barefoot in cold water planting rice,” he told Việt Nam News in an email interview.

“I returned to Hungary with a deep sympathy for the Vietnamese people undergoing incredible suffering, which I was fortunate, or unfortunate, to witness and report, families who lost loved ones, innocent people maimed or killed, those who lost home due to terrible shellings,” said Duna.

Last week he was invited to a meeting with the Vietnamese expats in Budapest to talk about the border war. The meeting was held by Nhịp Cầu Thế Giới newspaper to mark the 40th anniversary of the war, attracting some 60 Vietnamese and Hungarian people including Bakos Ferenc, the translator of Nỗi Buồn Chiến Tranh (The Sorrow of War) by Bảo Ninh, and Marton Varaljai, a diplomat working in Việt Nam in the 1980s.

“I was happy to share my thoughts and experiences with the audience. I noticed that in Việt Nam, for the first time, the window of opportunity opened to talk about events 40 years from now. On the contrary, in China silence is kept about the events 40 years ago,” said Dunai.

“I knew from the very beginning that it was China which started the war as “punishment” for Việt Nam actively supporting forces in neighbouring Cambodia to overthrow the murderous Pol-Pot regime.

“Chinese soldiers, who were sent for a war they didn’t understand and probably not support, say they are forgotten. Chinese war veterans also want to be acknowledged for the sacrifices they made. They were not volunteers (as far as I know) and it was not their decision to go and fight against soldiers defending their own country,” said Dunai.

The meeting’s audience, many of whom were young, made Dunai “happy and satisfied”.

There in the beautiful city of Budapest, the audience travelled back to the year 1979 to learn about the Việt Nam-China border war. They learned about the main events, the strength of the invading Chinese army, and the destruction caused to Việt Nam’s towns, roads and railways.

Vũ Quốc Dương, a Vietnamese expat in Budapest, said at the meeting: "I think the evidence and documentation of this war should be respected and paid due attention. It should be included in history textbooks for students too. Historical facts need to be clarified honestly and objectively for both sides and the world.”