On this day, 46 years ago, January 7, 1979 (December 9, 1978 in the lunar calendar), Vietnam troops occupied Cambodia. Vietnam army tanks drove into Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979. Vietnam troops, backed by Cambodia rebels, occupied the capital Phnom Penh and overthrew Prime Minister Lon Nut's pro-China Khmer Rouge government. A day after the occupation of the capital of Cambodia, Radio Hanoi announced that an organization calling itself the National National Salvation United Front of Cambodia had been formed, and that a committee headed by Han Samrin ruled the country. However, the Vietnamese army only controlled southeastern Cambodia. It seems that Cambodia may be mired in a protracted guerrilla war. Analysts believe that the purpose of the war launched by Hanoi in late 1977 was to overthrow the Lon Nol government. The government, backed by the Communist Party, seized power from the U.S. -backed right-wing government in 1975. Ronno then formed an alliance with China.