1988 Spratly Islands battle between China and Vietnam

I am reading a book about the South China Sea. A lot more happened between World War II and the present than I thought. Here is footage taken by the Chinese navy. Warning, near the end, there is footage (from afar) of the Chinese opening fire on Vietnamese soldiers standing in knee deep water. These islands and reefs are so shallow, many of these conflicts could be eliminated if we just sunk them.

More info about this skirmish here.