Gulf of Tonkin
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The Gulf of Tonkin is located to the south of China. |
The
Gulf of Tonkin (;
Vietnamese: Vịnh Bắc Bộ), measuring approximately 480 km by 240 km, lies between
China and
Vietnam. Notably shallow (less than 60 meters deep), it is the northwest arm of the
South China Sea.
Beihai,
China and
Haiphong, Vietnam are the chief ports.
Hainan Island of China lies in the Gulf. Other small islands in the gulf include
Weizhou Island of China. The
Red River flows into the Gulf.
The name
Tonkin, written 東京 in
Chinese characters and
Đông Kinh in Vietnamese, means 'Eastern Capital', and is the former
toponym for
Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. (Incidentally, the same characters are used to write "
Tokyo", capital of Japan.) Vietnam calls the Gulf either the
Vịnh Bắc Bộ ("Gulf of the North") or
Vịnh Hải Nam (Gulf of
Hainan).
In August of
1964,
United States President
Lyndon B. Johnson claimed that North Vietnamese forces had twice attacked American
destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Although there was a first attack (in response to U.S. equipped and orchestrated South Vietnam's commando raids on the coast [
1]), claims of a second attack were later proved to be unfounded. Known today as the
Gulf of Tonkin Incident, this led to the
open involvement of the
United States in the
Vietnam War, with the
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
*
Gulf of Tonkin Incident*
Geography of China*
Geography of Vietnam*
From Vietnam to Iraq: Lessons from Tonkin Gulf Lies by Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
