From a young age, Tonkin was a supporter of the Liberal and Country League ( LCL ), handing out how-to-vote cards at the 1939 election for the party.

Tonkin quickly gained a reputation as a progressive member of the LCL and was an early supporter of the Liberal Movement faction created by former premier Steele Hall, although Tonkin remained with the LCL when the Liberal Movement split from it.

As leader, Tonkin worked toward healing the internal party wounds by coaxing the Liberal Movement back into the Liberal fold, which helped the Liberal Party to regain government at the 1979 election against a seemingly disunited Australian Labor Party.

Tonkin was awarded the Liberal Party's outstanding achievement award in 2000 by Prime Minister John Howard and died in his sleep at Mengler Hill, Barossa Valley, South Australia, on 2 October 2000 while attending a music festival.

Following his death, the Pitjantjatjara people paid tribute to Tonkin, stating that no Liberal politician had done as much for Aboriginal people.

In 1982, after the electoral defeat and retirement of David Tonkin, Olsen defeated Brown for the State Liberal Party leadership.

After the 1982 election and the electoral defeat and retirement of David Tonkin, Olsen defeated Brown for the State Liberal Party leadership and became Leader of the Opposition.

In 1980, the Liberal party won government on a platform of fiscal conservatism and the premier David Tonkin, incorrectly deeming Adelaide road capacities sufficient for future needs, committed his government to selling off the land acquired for the MATS plan ensuring that even when needs or public opinion changed, the construction of most MATS proposed freeways would be impossible.

The outcome of these two incidents was the passage by Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by " communist aggression ".

The French government, which took control of the region in the late 19th century, split Vietnam into three areas: the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin and the colony of Cochinchina.

French cultural influence on Tonkin was also significant as French became the primary language of education, government, trade and media and heavy Catholic missionary activity resulted in almost 10 % of the population identifying as Catholic by the 1940s.

Although French administration was allowed during Japanese occupation as a puppet government, Japan briefly took full control of Vietnam in 1945 under the Empire of Vietnam and Tonkin became the site of the Vietnamese Famine of 1945 during this period.

During the runup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq he warned of a possible " Tonkin Gulf scenario " that could be used to justify going to war, and called on government " insiders " to go public with information to counter the Bush administration's pro-war propaganda campaign, praising Scott Ritter for his efforts in that regard.

The French government disavowed Garnier's adventure and hastened to conclude a peace settlement with the Vietnamese, abandoning most of its claims in Tonkin.

The mountain regions of western Tonkin were inhabited by tribesmen who did not acknowledge the writ of the Vietnamese government, and these montagnards resented the arrival of the Black Flag Army on Vietnamese soil.

In 1873 the Vietnamese government enlisted the help of Liu's Black Flag Army to defeat the first French attempt to conquer Tonkin, led by the naval lieutenant Francis Garnier.

In 1882 he was sent by the Qing government to Vietnam to assess the ability of the Vietnamese government to resist French expansion in Tonkin.

In the wake of this disaster, Jules Ferry's government committed substantial military and naval forces to Tonkin.

In law, “ legitimacy ” is distinguished from “ legality ” ( see colour of law ), to establish that a government action can be legal whilst not being legitimate, e. g. the Southeast Asia Resolution, Public Law 88-408 ( The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution ), which allowed the U. S. to war against Vietnam, without a formal declaration of war ; a government action can be legitimate without being legal, e. g. a pre-emptive war, a military junta.

Subsequently, Tonkin returned to ophthalmology and served in various capacities in different government and community organisations, including chairman of the board of the State Opera from 1985 to 1986 and vice-president of Sturt Football Club.

Despite factional struggles within the party Bannon ( aged 39 ) managed to return Labor to government in the 1982 election with a 5. 9 percent two-party swing, stressing the continuation of prudent budgetary measures that had begun under David Tonkin and emphasising the economic development of the state.

He served in the ministry of the government of David Tonkin from 1979 to 1982.

When the state government approved the construction of Tonkin Highway ( a major arterial road ) through the centre of Redcliffe, Mr Coffee saw at once that eastern Redcliffe would be effectively isolated from the rest of Belmont.

In 1873 the Vietnamese government enlisted the help of the Black Flag Army to defeat the first French attempt to conquer Tonkin, led by the naval lieutenant Francis Garnier.

The Foreign Legion's First Battalion ( Lieutenant-Colonel Donnier ) was sent to Tonkin in the autumn of 1883, during the period of undeclared hostilities that preceded the Sino – French War ( August 1884 to April 1885 ), and formed part of the attack column that stormed the western gate of Son Tay on 16 December.

Davy's boyhood was spent partly with his parents and partly with Tonkin, who placed him at a preparatory school kept by a Mr. Bushell, who was so much struck with the boy's progress that he persuaded Davy's father to send him to a better school.

Disputes-international: maritime boundary with Cambodia not defined ; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with the People's Republic of China ( PRC ), Republic of China ( ROC ), Malaysia, Philippines, and possibly Brunei ; maritime boundary with Thailand resolved in August 1997 ; maritime boundary dispute with the PRC in the Gulf of Tonkin resolved in 2000 ; Paracel Islands occupied by the PRC but claimed by Vietnam and the ROC ; offshore islands and sections of boundary with Cambodia are in dispute ; agreement on land border with the People's Republic of China was signed in December 1999.

*** 1964 – In direct response to the minor naval engagement known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident which occurred on August 2, 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, a joint resolution of the U. S. Congress, was passed on August 10, 1964.

Prior to widespread availability of synthetic materials, such as fibreglass and graphite composites, fishing rods were typically made from split Tonkin bamboo, Calcutta reed, ash wood, hickory, iron wood, maple, lance wood, or malacca cane, as it was necessary that they be made light, tough, and pliable.

French Indochina was a federation of French colonies and protectorates, that France named Cochinchina, Tonkin, Annam, Laos and Cambodia.

A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin ( North ), Annam ( Central ), and Cochinchina ( South ), as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887.

The capital was moved from Saigon ( in Cochinchina ) to Hanoi ( Tonkin ) in 1902 and again to Da Lat ( Annam ) in 1939 until 1945, when it moved back to Hanoi.

French Indochina was formed in October 1887 from Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina ( which together form modern Vietnam ) and the Kingdom of Cambodia ; Laos was added after the Franco-Siamese War.

This was most notable in the colonies of Tonkin and Cochinchina ( Northern and Southern Vietnam respectively ), where French influence was most heavy, while Annam, Laos and Cambodia were less influenced by French education.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the President the exclusive right to use military force without consulting the Senate, was based on a false pretext, as Johnson later admitted.

In 1907 it was identified as Naematoloma caerulescens in Tonkin by Narcisse Théophile Patouillard, while in 1941 it was called Stropharia cyanescens by William Alphonso Murrill in Florida.

The second Tonkin Gulf incident was originally claimed by the U. S. National Security Agency to have occurred on August 4, 1964, as another sea battle, but instead may have involved " Tonkin Ghosts " ( false radar images ) and not actual NVN torpedo boat attacks.

At 1800 Washington time ( 0500 in the Gulf of Tonkin ), Herrick cabled yet again, this time stating, " the first boat to close the Maddox probably launched a torpedo at the Maddox which was heard but not seen.

A taped conversation of a meeting several weeks after passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was released in 2001, revealing that McNamara expressed doubts to President Johnson that the attack had even occurred.

After victory in the Sino-French War ( 1884 – 1885 ), Tonkin came under French sovereignty and all of Vietnam was governed by the French.

During the French colonial administration, Vietnam was administratively divided into three different territories: Tonkin protectorate ( in the North ), Annam protectorate ( in the center ), and the colony of Cochinchina ( in the south ).