In order to contain and exhaust China, the US tacitly permitted China to launch a punitive war on Vietnam. Then the US moved actively to repair relations with Vietnam and instigated the argument over sovereignty in the Nansha (Spratley) Islands in order to widen the differences between China and Vietnam, and also pull ASEAN closer to the US, as part of a scheme to isolate China in Asia.
為了遏制中共，使其疲於應付，美國先是默許中共的懲越戰爭，之後又積極改善與越南的關係，並挑起南沙群島的主權之爭，以擴大中、越之間的矛盾，拉攏東協（ASEAN），意圖在亞洲孤立中國。