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Keesing's Record of World Events (formerly Keesing's Contemporary Archives),
Volume XXIV, October, 1978 Vietnam, Cambodia, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Cambodia, Page 29269
© 1931-2006 Keesing's Worldwide, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Border clashes between Vietnam and Cambodia, which had occurred at intervals since 1975, developed into
serious fighting in 1977, and on Dec. 31 Cambodia broke off diplomatic relations with Vietnam. The fighting
continued throughout the first eight months of 1978, although because of the contradictory nature of the
reports from Vietnamese, Cambodian and neutral sources its actual course was obscure. A number of
Vietnamese proposals for peace negotiations were rejected by the Cambodian Government, which on June 24
made allegations that there had been an unsuccessful Vietnamese plan for a coup in Cambodia, following a
series of earlier similar attempts. Vietnamese broadcasts from April onwards called on the Cambodian Army
to overthrow the Government, and a number of reports in the summer suggested that a strong resistance
movement had developed in the border areas with Vietnamese support. These events further widened the
divisions in the communist world; Cambodia was supported by China and North Korea, and Vietnam by the
Soviet bloc and Albania, while Laos, Yugoslavia and Romania remained neutral. Details of these
developments are given below.
Background to the Conflict
The Mekong delta and the whole of the present southern Vietnam (formerly known as Cochin China) were
annexed by the Vietnamese from the Khmer (Cambodian) Empire in the 18th century, but they still contained
a large Cambodian-speaking population and Cambodia continued to claim Cohin China as "Khmer territory".
After the conquest of Cochin China by the French in 1859 and the establishment of a French protectorate
over Cambodia in 1863, four more areas were transferred to Cochin China or Annam. These were (i) the
present Dac Lac province, in the Central Highlands; (ii) the Loc Ninh area of Song Be province; (iii) Tay
Ninh province, together with a large area extending from the salient of Cambodian territory known as "the
Parrot's Beak" or in French as the "Bec de Canard" almost to the east coast of the Mekong delta; (iv) the Ha
Tien area of Kien Giang province, adjoining the Gulf of Thailand. In addition, part of northern Cambodia was
transferred to Laos.
Relations between the present Governments of Vietnam and Cambodia were further complicated by the
history of the Communist parties of the two countries.
The Communist Party of Indo-China was founded by Ho Chi Minh in 1930, and although nominally
representing all three countries of Indo-China was dominated by Vietnamese. A resolution adopted by the
party in 1935 envisaged the establishment of an Indo-Chinese federation, but stated that each country would
be free to join it or set up a separate state. This formula was modified in 1941, when the party laid down that
the peoples of Indo-China might either form a federation or become independent states. At the same time it
was decided to establish separate organizations in each country to resist the French and Japanese-the League
for the Independence of Vietnam (the Vietminh), the Khmer Patriotic Front and the Lao Patriotic Front.
The party's second congress, held in February 1951, decided to divide the party into three independent
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organizations-the Vietnamese Workers' Party, the Cambodian People's Revolutionary Party and the Lao
People's Revolutionary Party. The Cambodian party was divided between a pro-Vietnamese faction known as
the Khmers Vietminh, which favoured collaboration with Prince Norodom Sihanouk (then the Cambodian
head of state), and a rival faction led by Mr Saloth Sar (now known as Mr Pol Pot —see page 28807) which
advocated his overthrow. After the Geneva Agreement of 1954 between 5,000 and 6,000 of the former
faction settled in North Vietnam, with the result that their opponents were able to gain control of the party.
The present Cambodian leadership regarded 1960, when the party held its first national congress and adopted
a pro-Chinese and anti-Soviet policy, and not 1951 as the date of its foundation [see 28805 A].
A major point at issue between the two countries was the question of sovereignty over the islands in the Gulf
of Thailand-this question having been exacerbated by the discovery of offshore oil in these waters [see 26222
A]. In 1939 M. Brevie, the Governor-General of Indo-China, laid down that all islands situated north of a line
drawn at right angles to the coast at the frontier between Cambodia and Cochin China would be administered
by Cambodia, and that all islands south of this line, including Phu Quoc (the largest of the islands, the greater
part of which lay north of the line), would continue to be administered by Cochin China. In 1960 the South
Vietnamese Government laid claim to seven islands north of the Brevie Line, however, and in 1962 Prince
Sihanouk appealed to the great powers to guarantee Cambodia's territorial integrity [see 18886 A].
A Vietnamese statement of April 7, 1978, revealed that on June 20, 1964, Prince Sihanouk had asked Mr
Nguyen Huu Tho, then president of the South Vietnamese National Liberation Front (NLF) and now a
Vice-President of Vietnam [see page 27918], to meet him for an exchange of views on the border question,
stating that "we give up all territorial claims in exchange for an unambiguous recognition of the existing
borders and of our sovereignty over the coastal islands illegally claimed by the Saigon Administration".
Negotiations held in Peking in the following October and December failed to achieve any result, however, as
Cambodia claimed two islands also claimed by Vietnam and called for modifications to the border and
privileges for Khmers residing in South Vietnam. When the negotiations were resumed in Phnom-Penh (the
Cambodian capital) in August 1966 Cambodia again demanded amendments to the frontier, put forward a
claim to Phu Quoc and called for privileges for the Khmers in South Vietnam, navigation rights on the
Mekong and the use of the port of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), with the result that the negotiations were
adjourned. The Cambodian Government appealed to all countries on May 9, 1967, to respect Cambodia's
territorial integrity within its existing borders, this guarantee being given by the NLF on May 31 and by North
Vietnam on June 8, as well as by a number of other countries [see page 22284]. [For subsequent confirmation
f borders, see page 24018.].
From 1965 onwards North Vietnamese and NLF troops used the eastern provinces of Cambodia as bases
against the South Vietnamese and US forces, with Prince Sihanouk's connivance. The Cambodian Communist
Party in 1967 launched a guerrilla movement against Prince Sihanouk's regime, in opposition to the North
Vietnamese party's policy [see page 22283], but the situation was transformed when in March 1970 Prince
Sihanouk was overthrown by a military coup led by General Lon Nol, which was accompanied by massacres
of the local Vietnamese community [see 24025 A], and the Cambodian Communists (generally known as the
Khmers Rouges) announced their support for Prince Sihanouk. At the Summit Conference of Indo-Chinese
Peoples, held in Canton on April 24–25 of that year[see page 243031], the North Vietnamese and NLF
representatives again pledged respect for "the territorial integrity of Cambodia within its existing borders".
During the early stages of the succeeding war in Cambodia the North Vietnamese and NLF forces bore the
brunt of the fighting, and they continued to co-operate with the Khmers Rouges, though in decreasing
numbers, until the war ended. The return from North Vietnam after 1970 of hundreds of Khmers Vietminh to
take part in the struggle led to friction between them and the Khmers Rouges, however, and the resulting
tensions became acute when after the signing in 1973 of the Paris Agreements on a peace settlement in
Vietnam[see 25781 A] North Vietnam greatly reduced its military aid to the Khmers Rouges. Pro-Vietnamese
cadres were eliminated from the Cambodian party, and early in 1975, before the end of the war in Cambodia,
North Vietnamese and NLF units in and around the Parrot's Beak were reported to have been attacked by
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Khmer Rouge troops seeking to establish Cambodian control of the region.
The reports of conflict between the Khmers Rouges and the Khmers Vietminh were confirmed by a
Cambodian statement of Dec. 31, 1977 [see below], which asserted that Vietnam had organized "a handful of
traitors to found a new party which was its instrument to sabotage the CPK ". The statement went on: “When
they set up their sanctuaries on Cambodian territory-since 1965 and especially from the period that followed
the March 18, 1970, coup d'état-Vietnam secretly organized a group of hooligans into a separate Cambodian
army as its instrument on Cambodian soil, and created a separate Cambodian state administration to oppose
and attack the Cambodian revolutionary state power under the leadership of the CPK."
Fighting began immediately after the fall of Phnom-Penh on April 17, 1975, and that of Saigon on April 30,
which ended the civil wars in Cambodia and Vietnam respectively [see 27149 A; 27197]. According to the
Vietnamese statement of April 7, 1978, Cambodian troops encroached on Vietnamese territory in a number of
places from Ha Tien (on the coast) north-east to Tay Ninh on May 1, 1975, causing heavy casualties. The
Cambodian statement of Dec. 31, 1977, on the other hand, alleged that "immediately after Cambodia was
liberated" Vietnamese troops had shelled the border areas and set up bases on Cambodian soil in the northeastern Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri provinces and in other areas.
Fighting also took place during this period on the offshore islands, as was reported at the time [see page
27470]. According to the Vietnamese statement, Cambodian troops landed on Phu Quoc on May 4, and six
days later launched attacks from the mainland and from the Cambodian island of Poulo Wai on the
Vietnamese island of Tho Chu The Vietnamese forces expelled them from Tho Chu on May 25 and pursued
them as far as Poulo Wai, which they temporarily occupied. The Vietnamese report was confirmed by
refugees from Phu Quoc who had escaped to Australia, and who stated that the Cambodians had made many
harassing attacks on the island early in 1975.
A CPK delegation headed by Mr Pol Pot visited Hanoi on June 11–14, 1975[ibid.]. The Cambodian version of
the talks said that the purpose of the visit had been to settle the border problem, but the Vietnamese had not
taken up the matter for discussion. The Vietnamese version, on the other hand, said that the Cambodians had
suggested the conclusion of a treaty of friendship, but had not requested immediate negotiations on the border
question.
The situation apparently remained peaceful for the next six months, but later Vietnamese statements alleged
that in December 1975 Cambodian troops had attacked and occupied Vietnamese territory in Gia Lia-Kontum
and Dac Lac provinces, and that further incidents had occurred in the early months of 1976.
An official of the An Giang provincial government told the correspondent of Le Monde in March 1978 that
over 1,000 Cambodians who had taken refuge in the province had been handed over to the (Cambodian)
Takeo provincial authorities in December 1975. At that time, he stated, the situation on the border had still
been friendly, and the minor incidents which had occurred had been settled through discussions between the
provincial authorities on the two sides.
The Two Governments agreed in April 1976 to hold discussions in June in preparation for the signing of a
border treaty. At a preliminary meeting in Phnom-Penh on May 4–18 it was decided to follow the map of the
land border used by the French before 1954 and to set up liaison committees to investigate and settle border
conflicts, but differences arose over the sea border. The Cambodians proposed that the Brévié Line should be
retained as the border, but the Vietnamese, while prepared to accept it as the demarcation line in respect of
sovereignty over the islands, refused to regard it as demarcating territorial waters. The meeting was adjourned
at Cambodia's request and was not resumed, although the Vietnamese claimed that they had proposed several
times that it should be. The number of border incidents nevertheless decreased over the next 10 months.
The Cambodian statement of Dec. 31, 1977[see below], alleged that in 1975 and 1976 Vietnam had "carried
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out criminal activities in an attempt to stage a coup détat overturning Democratic Cambodia through a
handful of traitorous forces which were Vietnam's agents". This statement made no reference to any coup
attempt in 1977, but a broadcast by Phnom-Penh radio on April 29, 1978, asserted that the Vietnamese had
"engaged in a series of criminal activities to smash the Democratic Cambodian leadership" in September
1975, in April and September 1976 and in April and September 1977.
No other information was published about the alleged attempted coups in 1975 and 1976, although some of
the dates given coincided with changes in the Cambodian Government. Reports from several sources,
however, had referred to an attempted coup early in 1977, which was said to have been followed by
wholesale executions. The South-East Asia correspondent of Le Monde reported on March 30, 1978, that
conversations with Vietnamese political leaders had confirmed that "there was an attempted coup d',tat in
Phnom-Penh in April 1977, which might be described as 'pro-Vietnamese"' and he added: "This event seems
to have been the prelude to an intensification of Cambodian attacks."
Four former Khmers Rouges stated at a press conference in Paris on June 29, 1978, that a purge of
"deviationist peasants and workers" and persons suspected of pro-Vietnamese sympathies had been in
progress since the beginning of 1977, and that the Ministers of Co-operatives and the Interior" had been
executed on a charge of treason. (The reference was apparently to Mr Hou Youn, a veteran Communist
leader who had held the posts of Minister of the Interior and of Co-operatives, at first in Prince Sihanouk's
Government-in-exile and subsequently in the Phnom-Penh Government, from May 1970 to April 1976—see
24127 A; page 27154—-since when nothing had been heard of him.)
The situation gravely deteriorated from March 1977 onwards. According to an official Vietnamese document
published on Jan. 6, 1978[see below], the Cambodian forces made raids into the Vietnamese provinces of
Kien Giang and An Giang on March 15–18 and 25-28, 1977, along a sector nearly 100 km long from Ha Tien
(Kien Giang) to Tinh Vien (An Giang). Strong Cambodian forces launched concerted attacks on Vietnamese
Army posts and on border villages in An Giang between April 30 and May 19, killing 222 civilians, and
shelled Chau Doc, the provincial capital, on May 17. These reports were corroborated by Vietnamese
refugees reaching other Asian countries, who stated that the civilian population had been evacuated from Ha
Tien on May 16 and from Chau Doc on the following day after the two towns had been shelled.
In a letter of June 7, which was conciliatory in tone, the Vietnamese Government proposed that a high-level
meeting to settle the border question should be held as soon as possible in Phnom-Penh or Hanoi (the capital
of Vietnam). The Cambodian Government replied on June 18 that it would be better "to let some time elapse
for the situation to return to normal" before any such meeting took place.
According to the Vietnamese document, fighting continued at intervals throughout mid-1977. Cambodian
troops shelled Ha Tien on June 11 and 14 and Chau Doc on July 16–18, and attacked border posts in Kien
Giang on June 14. Mr Thanin Kraivichien, then Prime Minister of Thailand, stated on Aug. 6 that "the conflict
between Cambodia and Vietnam on the border dispute is far worse than that on the Cambodian-Thai border",
and that "they even have planes bombing on both sides". A Bangkok Post report of Sept. 1 said that
Vietnamese aircraft had carried out bombing raids up to 15 miles into Cambodia and had undertaken
long-range reconnaissance flights, but made no reference to bombing by the small Cambodian Air Force.
The fighting, which had previously been confined mainly to Kien Giang and An Giang provinces (i.e. between
the Mekong and the coast), spread in mid-1977 to the Parrot's Beak area and apparently to the Central
Highlands of Vietnam. The Vietnamese document mentioned Cambodian attacks on villages in Tay Ninh and
Long An provinces (bordering on the Parrot's Beak) on Aug. 30 and Sept. 8–10, as well as continued raids
into An Giang. Although it did not refer to the Central Highlands, Phnom-Penh radio suggested several times
at the end of July and in the first week of August that fighting was taking place on the borders of the
neighbouring Mondolkiri and Ratanakiri provinces.
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The scale of the fighting greatly increased in the second half of September 1977-this development coinciding
with Mr Pol Pot's resumption of the premiership and his visits to China and North Korea [see 28805 A]. The
Vietnamese document of Jan. 6, 1978, which was supported by reports from US intelligence sources, stated
that from Sept. 24 onwards Cambodian forces totalling about four divisions had launched continuous attacks
along the entire border of Tay Ninh province, and that over 1,000 civilians had been killed or wounded in this
area between Sept. 24 and late November. The Cambodian statement of Dec. 31, on the other hand, alleged
that since September Cambodia had been invaded by several Vietnamese divisions, supported by hundreds of
tanks and by artillery and aircraft.
A Cambodian statement of Jan. 6, 1978, alleged that the invasion had taken place in three phases: (i) in
September 1977 the Vietnamese had advanced 20 km along Highway 7 into Kompong Cham province and
occupied the towns of Memot and Krek; (ii) in November they had also advanced along Highway 1 into Svay
Rieng province (the Parrot's Beak), occupying positions 10 km north and east of the town of Svay Rieng
itself; and (iii) in December they had advanced up to 30 km into Takeo province, and up to 30 km into the
coastal province of Kampot. During this period they had also repeatedly shelled and intruded into the
northern provinces of Kratie, Mondolkiri and Ratanakiri. The statement alleged that "wherever they have
intruded they have destroyed the administrative apparatus of the Cambodian people, killed the cadres of the
Cambodian people's administrative power at all levels, and installed in their places the remnants of the
hooligans of the old Cambodian society, appointing them as commune and village chairmen".
It was impossible to verify these contradictory reports, as at that time foreign journalists were excluded from
Cambodia and were not allowed to visit the border areas of Vietnam. Reports from diplomatic and
intelligence sources in Bangkok, however, generally agreed that in December Vietnam had reacted to
Cambodian provocation by launching a counteroffensive into Cambodia.
The Cambodian Foreign Ministry announced on Dec. 31, 1977, that the Cambodian Government had decided
to break off diplomatic relations with Vietnam until Vietnamese forces withdrew from Cambodian territory
and "the friendly atmosphere between the countries is restored", and that Vietnamese embassy personnel
must leave Cambodia before Jan. 7, 1978. It was also announced that air services between Cambodia and
Vietnam would be suspended from Jan. 7. A long government statement denouncing the Vietnamese
"aggression" had been issued an hour earlier.
After referring to the fighting since September (but not to that before that date), the statement asserted that
"the aggressive Vietnamese forces have carried out these acts of violation and aggression against Cambodia in
order to plunder rice and livestock from the Cambodian people as a solution to their hunger problem". [As a
rusult of drought, Vietnam was suffering from a serious food shortage—see 28909 A.] It went on to allege:
"The fundamental cause is that Vietnam has for a long time harboured a strategic desire to make Cambodia a
member of the Vietnam-dominated Indo-Chinese federation. … For generations since the time of the struggle
against French colonialism, Vietnam has educated its cadres and troops that Cambodia has to be included in
the Indo-Chinese federation at all costs, otherwise Vietnam could not become a great power in South-East
Asia." The statement complained that whereas Cambodia had kept an ambassador in Hanoi Vietnam had been
represented in Phnom-Pehn only by a charge d'affaires, and concluded: "During the 1977 Vietnamese
offensive against Democratic Cambodia some foreign nationals have acted as advisers, experts and
commanders in artillery companies and tank squadrons given by them. … All these foreign nationals and their
Government must put an immediate end to all acts of interference and aggression against Democratic
Cambodia, … otherwise they will be entirely responsible for the consequences."
The Vietnamese reply, issued later the same day, described the Cambodian statement as "a crude distortion".
It summarized the development of relations between the two countries since 1975, and proposed that "the two
sides meet as early as possible, at whatever level, so as to solve together the border issue between the two
countries in a spirit of brotherly friendship".
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The Vietnamese offer to negotiate was rejected in a statement issued by the Cambodian Ministry of
Information on Jan. 3, 1978, which declared that "in order to make negotiations possible, the aggressor
Vietnamese forces must be completely and immediately withdrawn from the territory of Democratic
Cambodia, and Vietnam must respect in concrete deeds the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity
of Democratic Cambodia and first create an atmosphere of friendship and mutual confidence".
The Cambodian ambassador (Mr Sok Kheang) left Hanoi on Jan. 2, whilst the Vietnamese charge' d'affaires
(Mr Tran Xuan Man) left Phnom-Pehn on the following day. Phnom Penh radio broadcast messages from Mr
Penn Nouth (the former Premier) and Prince Sihanouk on Jan. 3 and 4 respectively expressing complete
support for the Government's position.
The two sides' reports of the fighting in January 1978 remained completely contradictory. The Cambodians
claimed to have expelled the Vietnamese "invaders" after a. major victory on Jan. 6, whilst the Vietnamese
continued to report Cambodian incursions into their territory.
According to the Cambodian version of events, the Vietnamese troops in Kompong Cham province advanced
along Highway 7 on Jan. 1 to the Pratheat crossroads, 30 km from the border, and spread out 20 km north and
south of the road. On the same day, however, the Cambodian forces began a counter-offensive along the
whole front. In Kampot province the Vietnamese were "basically wiped out" on Jan. 1, the remainder being
mopped up along the border two days later. In Takeo the Cambodian forces attacked on Jan. 2 and reached
the border on the following day, destroying two enemy divisions. In Svay Rieng province the Cambodians
attacked on Jan. 4; captured Chak (10 km north of Svay Rieng town) on the following day; wiped out the
enemy almost completely on Highway 1 on Jan. 6; and destroyed the remaining Vietnamese forces on Jan. 8.
In Kompong Cham province the Cambodians launched co-ordinated attacks on All sides during the night of
Jan. 4–5, completely routing the Vietnamese. Phnom-Penh radio also claimed on Jan. 6 that the Vietnamese
had been "routed shamefully" in Kratie province, and on Jan. 7 that they had been wiped out in Mondolkiri,
where they had entered Senmonorom, the provincial capital; these were the first reports that Vietnamese
troops had invaded these two provinces.
A Cambodian broadcast on Jan. 6 claimed that over 29,000 Vietnamese troops had been killed or wounded,
five divisions routed and 117 tanks destroyed or put out of action, for the loss of only 470 Cambodians killed
and 1,222 wounded. It also alleged that on the Krek battlefront communications in Russian between
Europeans and Russian-speaking Vietnamese had been overheard, and that the corpses of two Europeans had
been seen on a tank put Out of action. Messages from Prince Sihanouk and Mr Penn Nouth congratulating the
Government on its "victory" were broadcast on Phnom-Penh radio on Jan. 8.
Vietnamese sources meanwhile continued to report Cambodian raids on Vietnam. The official Vietnam News
Agency stated on Jan. 7 that Cambodian troops had made several attacks in force on Dong Thap, An Giang
and Kien Giang provinces during Jan. 1–3, and had "compelled the Vietnamese armed forces to use their right
of legitimate self-defence to reply in an appropriate way and drive far away from the Vietnamese border the
Cambodian Army units which had encroached on Vietnamese territory", thereby admitting that Vietnamese
forces had entered Cambodia.
Reports from intelligence and diplomatic sources in Bangkok agreed that strong Vietnamese forces had
entered Cambodia in December and at the beginning of January, and were gradually withdrawn in January
and February, but regarded the Cambodian claims with extreme scepticism. Le Monde described them as
"completely incredible", whilst The Times commented: "There is little doubt that the Cambodians have
suffered a bloody defeat and that their radio claims have been made solely in an effort to boost flagging
morale."
Thousands of Cambodians fled into Vietnam after the entry of the Vietnamese troops. The Office of the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees, to which Vietnam had appealed for help in April, stated in June that
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according to the Vietnamese Government's estimates 150,000 Cambodians and 170,000 persons of
Vietnamese origin normally resident in Cambodia had entered Vietnam, whilst 750,000 Vietnamese had been
displaced from the frontier region.
From the second half of January to the first half of June the Vietnamese forces remained largely on the
defensive, repelling repeated Cambodian raids across the border. Although Phnom-Penh radio had frequently
alleged that Vietnamese troops had encroached on Cambodian territory, it stated on May 10 that after the
"victory" of Jan. 6 "we did not let the Vietnamese initiate further attacks against us, but kept launching
attacks against them", and that on some fronts whole divisions had been engaged.
According to reports from Bangkok, shipments of Chinese weapons reached Cambodia in the early months of
1978. Although China had supplied Cambodia with small arms and ammunition in the past, the new
consignments were believed to include anti-tank rockets, heavy mines and long-range artillery. The
Vietnamese towns of Chau Doc and Tay Ninh were reported to have been shelled on Jan. 19 from Cambodian
territory for the first time.
From January onwards the Vietnamese authorities allowed foreign journalists to visit the border area. Their
reports fully corroborated Vietnamese descriptions of Cambodian atrocities, which strongly resembled
Western journalists' accounts of massacres carried out by Cambodian troops raiding Thailand in early 1977
[see 28512]. On the other hand, no foreigners were allowed to visit the area on the Cambodian side of the
border, other than a party of Yugoslav journalists who were taken on a tour of Takeo and Kampot provinces
on March 6–7 but who afterwards stated that they had seen no incontestable traces of recent fighting.
The Cambodian attacks, as indicated in the broadcast of May 10, were often on a large scale. According to
Vietnamese reports, two Cambodian regiments advanced up to 4 km into An Giang province on Jan. 11, and
were driven out only after a battle on Jan. 19 in which they lost 1,060 killed and wounded. In an offensive
which Hanoi radio described as a "grave escalation" of the war, four Cambodian battalions were reported to
have attacked at three points around Ha Tien on March 14 while another battalion landed from the sea, the
Cambodians being driven out only after a counter-attack late on the following day. Another attack by three
battalions in the Ha Tien area on the night of April 23–24 was reported to have been repulsed, nearly 100
Cambodians being killed. Meanwhile there was almost daily shelling of Ha Tien (the population of which was
stated by foreign observers to have fallen from 30,000 to less than 1,000) of Chau Doc, of Tay Ninh and of
other towns.
Phnom-Penh radio regularly reported Vietnamese incursions into Cambodia, all of which it claimed had been
repulsed with heavy casualties. On April 12 it alleged that many divisions of Vietnamese troops, supported by
tanks and artillery, had on April 7 launched "another large-scale invasion" along the whole front from Ha Tien
in the south-west to Ratanakiri in the north-east, but had been "heavily defeated and forced to flee". Hanoi
radio, however, declared on April 14 that since the beginning of the month Cambodian troops had made
repeated attacks on border areas, penetrating up to 6 km into Vietnamese territory, and maintained that the
Cambodian report had been "cooked up" as a cover for these attacks and as a pretext for refusing to
negotiate. Neutral sources in Bangkok regarded the Cambodian allegation as improbable.
At a press conference in Hanoi on Feb. 5 Mr Nguyen Co Thach, a Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister,
released a government statement containing the following proposals for a peace settlement:
" (i) An immediate end shall be put to all hostile military activities in the border region. The armed forces of
each side shall be stationed within their respective territory 5 km from the border.
" (2) The two sides shall meet at once in Hanoi or Phnom-Penh or at a place on the border to discuss and
conclude a treaty, in which they will undertake (i) to respect each other's independence, sovereignty and
territorial integrity, (ii) to refrain from aggression, from the use of force or the threat to use force in their
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relations with each other, from interference in each other's internal affairs, and from subversive activities
against each other, (iii) to treat each other on an equal footing and (iv) to live in peace and friendship in a
good-neighbourly relationship. The two sides shall sign a treaty on the border question on the basis of respect
for each other's territorial sovereignty within the existing border.
" (3) The two sides shall reach agreement on an appropriate form of international guarantee and supervision.
"To create favourable conditions for the negotiations between the two countries, it is necessary to put an end
to any propaganda creating hatred between the two nations, and to all divisive acts detrimental to the existing
solidarity and friendship between the two peoples…
In reply to a question about the Cambodian allegation that Vietnam had tried to force Cambodia into an
Indo-Chinese federation, Mr Thach said that Vietnam had never raised the question since the Indo-Chinese
Communist Party was dissolved in 1951 [see above], and had repeatedly pledged to respect the
independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia and Laos. On the allegation that Vietnam had
carried out subversive activities against the Cambodian authorities Mr Thach commented: "World public
opinion has widely reported about internal purges and bloody massacres in Cambodia and condemned the
unpopular policies of the Cambodian authorities. It is easy to understand that the Cambodian authorities do
not recognize their responsibility for the bloody events in Cambodia, but believe that the best way for them is
to shift all the blame on external factors in an attempt to slander the Vietnamese Government."
The Vietnamese Foreign Minister, Mr Nguyen Duy Trinh, sent a copy of the statement on Feb. 6 to the UN
Secretary-General, Dr Kurt Waldheim, requesting that it should be forwarded to all UN member-countries. He
also sent copies to the Foreign Ministers of the (25-member) Co-ordinating Bureau of the non-aligned
countries [see page 27977], expressing the wish that they should take appropriate measures conducive to
early talks between Vietnam and Cambodia. Phnom-Penh radio, however, dismissed the Vietnamese peace
plan on Feb. 8 as merely "a propaganda gesture to mislead international opinion".
At a press conference on April 7 the Vietnamese Government released two documents dealing with the border
question and the Indo-Chinese federation question.
The former summarized the negotiations between Vietnam and Cambodia on the border question which had
taken place since 1960, and concluded with an appeal to Cambodia to respond positively to the Vietnamese
peace proposals. The latter quoted the Indo-Chinese Communist Party's statements of 1935 and 1941 on the
federation question [see abpve]; emphasized that since the dissolution of the party in 1951 Vietnam had never
raised the matter again; and declared that "the Indo-Chinese federation is a question which has passed for
ever into history".
Mr Nguyen Duy Trinh sent a note to the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mr Ieng
Sary, on April 10 through the Laotian ambassador to Cambodia, restating the Vietnamese proposals and
requesting that negotiations should be opened immediately, but Mr Ieng Sary refused to accept the note.
Mr Pol Pot, in a broadcast interview on April 12, accused Vietnam of co-operating with the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) and reaffirmed Cambodia's claims to Cochin China and to certain offshore islands
held by Vietnam [see page 29269 above].
"Vietnam has not abandoned its idea of an Indo-Chinese federation," he declared. "It has been implementing
this idea systematically through continuous planning and operations since 1930. At first it desired to have an
Indo-Chinese federation composed of one single state, that is, to have one party, one people, one army and
one country in its Indo-China. Later on it pretended to raise the question of forming a special friendship and
special solidarity through the adoption of agreements or treaties for co-operation, particularly in the fields of
domestic and foreign policies, military affairs, the economy and culture, without any borders. Since liberation
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in 1975 Vietnam has raised this question again, preserving this same form. This is the essence of Vietnam's
Indo-Chinese federation-to abolish the border in order to weld Cambodia to Vietnam as part of its
Indo-Chinese federation
"From 1965 to 1975, when Vietnam asked for asylum, taking advantage of the Cambodian people's
friendship, it took the opportunity to conduct subversion by setting up a separate party, state power and army
on Cambodian soil. … During the period 1970-75 Vietnam used all kinds of criminal acts in an attempt to
sabotage the correct Central Committee of the CPK and in its place to put its own henchmen. … Since
1975… Vietnam has conducted subversion and infiltration and interfered in Cambodia's internal affairs in
order to sow discord and disrupt our internal unity. It has prepared many times to stage a coup d'etat in order
to topple Democratic Cambodia, by co-ordinating its espionage agents planted within our country with attacks
launched from outside by its forces in cooperation with the CIA forces.
"I should like to reaffirm: (i)Vietnam must truly respect Cambodian independence, sovereignty and territorial
integrity and the right of the Government of Democratic Cambodia to manage its state affairs. Vietnam must
absolutely not interfere in the internal affairs of Democratic Cambodia, and must not commit subversion,
espionage, encroachment, aggression, shelling, strafing and bombing of the territory of Democratic Cambodia.
(ii) Vietnam must respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Democratic Cambodia
within the limits of the land and sea territories whose recognition the Provisional Revolutionary Government
of the Republic of South Vietnam and the Hanoi Government solemnly announced in 1966-67[see page
22284 and above].
"Speaking of the right to demand the revision of border documents and changes in the demarcation of land
and sea borders, only Democratic Cambodia has the right and countless justified reasons to do so, including to
demand the resettlement of the Kampuchea Kraom [Cochin-China] issue and the issue of the Cambodian
islands, which the French colonial regime annexed to Cochin China and which the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem
[president of South Vietnam, 1955-63] and past Saigon administrations took away by force. With regard to the
sea border alone, if Democratic Cambodia wants to revise the documents, we have all the legal reasons as
well as those based on land demarcation to bring the Cambodian border even farther south of the Brevie Line.
However, because Democratic Cambodia wants friendship it has not revised any documents at all. This
should not be interpreted by the Vietnamese side as total ignorance on the part of Cambodia….
A Cambodian note of May 15 demanded that Vietnam should comply with the following conditions:
" (1) To stop carrying out any acts of aggression, invasion, annexation, provocation and violation, machinegunning, bombing and air raids against the territory, territorial waters and air space of Democratic Cambodia.
" (2) To stop sending spying agents to gather intelligence in the territory, territorial waters and islands of
Democratic Cambodia; to stop carrying out any act of subversion and interference in the internal affairs of
Democratic Cambodia; and to stop carrying out attempts at coups d'etat or other activities aiming at
overthrowing the Government of Democratic Cambodia.
" (3) To abandon definitively the strategy aimed at putting Cambodia under the domination of Vietnam in the
'Indo-China federation' following the doctrine of 'one party, one country and one people' in the 'Indo-China'
belonging to Vietnam.
" (4) To respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Democratic Cambodia and the rights
of the Cambodian people to decide their own destiny for themselves."
The note concluded: "If the Socialist Republic of Vietnam carries out concrete acts in conformity with this
note during a period of seven months, from now up to the end of 1978, by stopping during this period all acts
of violation or aggression against the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of
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Democratic Cambodia, then an atmosphere of friendship and confidence would surely be created. In this
atmosphere the Cambodian side and the Vietnamese side will meet together in order to seek sincerely for a
correct and definitive solution to the various problems."
The Vietnamese reply (June 6) described the Cambodian Government's allegations as "slanderous" and its
demands as "absurd", and put forward the following proposals:
" (1) The two sides shall issue a joint statement or each side shall make a separate statement to cease all
hostile military activities in the border regions at the earliest date possible to be agreed upon by the two sides
and to station their armed forces within their respective territories 5 km from the border.
" (2) On the same date the diplomatic representatives of Vietnam and Cambodia in Vientiane (the capital of
Laos) or in another mutually acceptable capital shall meet to discuss and quickly reach agreement on the
date, place and level of a meeting between representatives of the Vietnamese Government and the
Cambodian Government to settle problems in relations between the two countries."
A Cambodian Foreign Ministry statement of June 17 declared that the Vietnamese proposals were aimed at
misleading world public opinion and permitting Vietnam to "carry on more easily its acts of violation and
aggression against Cambodia", and that "the withdrawal of Cambodia's armed forces 5 km from the border as
the Vietnamese side demands automatically lets Vietnam annex a belt of Cambodia's territory 5 km wide".
Mr Ieng Sary asserted at a press conference in Phnom-Penh on June 24 that a new Vietnamese attempt to
stage a coup in Cambodia had been foiled at the end of May. Messages of congratulation from Prince
Sihanouk and Mr Penn Nouth on the defeat of the alleged coup were broadcast on June 28.
An official communique' said: "The aim of the Vietnamese coup d'etat this time was to overthrow Democratic
Cambodia. If this plan did not succeed completely, however, they planned to try to take over the eastern
region, separate it from Cambodia, establish a new state power and party to serve as a Vietnamese puppet,
and use the eastern region as a springboard for the launching of a Vietnamese military attack in order to seize
the entire area east of the Mekong river and other parts of Cambodia, and then the whole of Cambodia." It
named six Vietnamese officials who, it alleged, had held a series of meetings with their agents in Kompong
Cham and Svay Rieng provinces between February and the beginning of May, and added: "As with previous
plans, the Vietnamese carried out this plan to stage a coup d'etat and launch offensives into Cambodia with
their supporters and in co-ordination with the CIA."
The Vietnam News Agency described the allegation on June 27 as "an extremely ridiculous slander". From
April onwards, however, Vietnamese broadcasts in Cambodian had periodically appealed to the Cambodian
troops to revolt against their own Government, and a number of broadcasts from June onwards quoted reports
attributed to Cambodian prisoners of war and refugees that a section of the Army had revolted.
These reports alleged that thousands of soldiers had been killed in earlier unsuccessful uprisings; that troops
had mutinied on May 26 in Kompong Cham, Prey Veng and Svay Rieng provinces, where fighting still
continued; that risings had likewise occurred in Kampot, Takeo, Kratie and Kompong Thom province, and
also in the north-western provinces of Siem Reap and Battambang; and that peasants, workers on the rubber
plantations and civil servants had joined the mutineers. A broadcast on Aug. 29 alleged that nearly 1,000
officers and soldiers had been massacred in July by "the reactionary Pol Pot-Ieng Sary clique" on suspicion of
having contact with the rebel forces, and called on Cambodian soldiers to "rise up and train their guns on the
clique".
The Hong Kong Far Eastern Economic Review on Aug. 4 quoted Vietnamese reports that Mr Sau Phim, a
former deputy chief of staff of the Khmer Rouge forces who was appointed First Vice-President of the State
Presidium in April 1976[see page 27757] and also held the posts of head of the party and the administration
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for the eastern region, was leading a resistance movement against Mr Pol Pot's Government. Mr Sau Phim
and a number of other leading political figures had not been mentioned in official Cambodian statements for
several months, and Le Monde commented that the reports, if correct, suggested that he had gone over to the
Vietnamese following a purge of the top ranks of the Cambodian leadership. Reports from Bangkok estimated
the strength of the resistance forces at between 25,000 and 30,000 men.
No major operations were reported by either side in May and the first half of June. According to Hanoi radio,
however, a Cambodian regiment entered An Giang province on June 16, and was expelled two days later
after a battle in which it lost over 350 killed. A number of contradictory reports of an alleged Vietnamese
offensive were received at the end of June and the beginning of July.
The semi-official Voice of America radio alleged on June 28 that 80,000 Vietnamese troops had been taking
part in a major offensive for the past fortnight, had advanced more than 30 miles into Cambodia and had
installed friendly Cambodian officials in occupied areas. This report was immediately denied by a US State
Department spokesman, who described it as "inaccurate and misleading", and said that although there had
been an upsurge in the fighting the Department was unable to confirm reports about the number of troops
involved. The Agence France-Presse reported, also on June 28, that according to the Thai military authorities
there was no confirmation of the alleged Vietnamese offensive, and the Thai Prime Minister, General
Kriangsak Chamanan, said on June 30 that reports of the scale of the fighting had been greatly exaggerated.
Hanoi radio described the alleged invasion on June 29 as "a completely groundless fabrication". It stated,
however, that in the last few days a large Cambodian force which had attacked many areas in Tay Ninh, Long
An, An Giang and Kien Giang provinces had been hurled back "a good distance from the border line" with
the loss of several hundred killed, suggesting that Vietnamese troops had pursued the raiders into Cambodian
territory.
When questioned about the alleged Vietnamese invasion the Cambodian ambassador in Peking, Mr Pich
Cheang, said on June 28 that he was "not aware" of such an operation. On July 1, however, a Cambodian
communique' asserted that Vietnamese troops had entered Kompong Cham and Svay Rieng provinces during
June 15–29 but had been "smashed and routed", losing over 3,500 killed or wounded and 19 tanks destroyed
or damaged. Mr Ieng Sary said during a visit to Bangkok on July 17 that a Vietnamese attack had been beaten
back, but he maintained that reports of 60,000 to 80,000 troops having been involved were untrue
Heavy fighting continued in July. According to Vietnamese reports, 400 Cambodians were killed or wounded
in Long An province between June 28 and July 4; 474 in a battle in Tay Ninh province on July 3–4; 279 in
Song Be province on July 22; and over 850 in two engagements in the same province on July 26.
Phnom-Penh radio claimed on July 30 that since the beginning of the month Vietnamese attacks on Svay
Rieng, Kompong Cham, Kratie and Ratanakiri provinces had been defeated, and that 2,100 Vietnamese had
been killed and over 4,500 wounded in Svay Rieng and Kompong Cham alone.
According to Cambodian reports, which were confirmed by US intelligence sources, bombing by Vietnamese
aircraft greatly increased from June onwards. However, a report by Phnom-Penh radio that four Vietnamese
MiG aircraft had been shot down in Svay Rieng province between July 19 and Aug. 11 was denied by Hanoi
radio on Aug. 15. At the same time, diplomatic sources in Bangkok reported on Aug. 24 that the Chinesetrained Cambodian Air Force, using captured US bombers, had begun flying combat missions.
Reports received from Bangkok in the last week of August alleged that Vietnamese troops had captured Snoul
(Kratie province) on July 28 and controlled the area around Memot (Kompong Cham province); that a
Cambodian attempt to recover Snuol had been repulsed; and that two Cambodian divisions had been
encircled. The Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok, however, described these reports on Aug. 29 as completely
without foundation. The Bangkok correspondent of The Times reported on Aug. 24 that according to Western
intelligence sources the Cambodian Army was disintegrating, and Vietnam was "leaving ground operations to
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the Cambodian resistance fighters", who controlled the Parrot's Beak and a large area of the border, although
the Vietnamese Air Force continued to inflict heavy casualties on the Cambodian troops.
After the Cambodian Government's statement of Dec. 31, 1977, which brought the conflict into the open, the
Chinese Government, while nominally remaining neutral, adopted an attitude which made clear its support for
Cambodia. The New China News Agency published long extracts from the Cambodian statement on the same
day, but on Jan. 1, 1978, issued only a brief summary of the Vietnamese reply, from which all references to
Cambodian attacks on Vietnam were omitted. Following a protest by the Vietnamese ambassador in Peking
(Mr Nguyen Trong Vinh) against biased Chinese reporting of the conflict, the agency published on Jan. 9 full
summaries of the two sides' statements of Jan. 6.
Miss Teng Ying-chao, the widow of the late Prime Minister, Mr Chou En-lai, (and a vice-chairman of the
Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress), paid a "friendly visit" to Cambodia on Jan.
18–21, during which she had talks with Mr Pol Pot.
According to Phnom-Penh radio, she said at a banquet on Jan. 18 that "the cause of the Cambodian people in
steadfastly adhering to the five principles of peaceful coexistence and in safeguarding the independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity of their nation is a just cause", and at a meeting with Mr Pol Pot on the
following day expressed her desire that the Cambodian people should "always achieve victories in defending
the country". After her return, according to unofficial reports, she told the French Premier, M. Raymond
Barre, who was then visiting Peking, that China regarded Cambodia as a victim of "Vietnamese aggression".
Hanoi radio indirectly suggested that Chinese military aid to Cambodia was responsible for the war. "It is
crystal clear," it declared on Feb. 21, "that the Cambodian authorities could not conduct their anti-Vietnam
campaign alone. World public opinion believes that the imperialists and international reactionaries have
helped them build up and equip overnight a dozen divisions armed with long-range artillery and warplanes
Relations between China and Vietnam sharply deteriorated in the next few months. Thousands of the Chinese
(Hoa) community in Vietnam left for China, it being implied in Vietnamese official statements that this was at
the Chinese Government's instigation; Chinese economic aid to Vietnam was twice cut in May and was ended
altogether on July 3; and the Vietnamese consulates in China were closed on June 16. As a result of these
developments (details of which will be given in a forthcoming article) Vietnamese criticism of China became
increasingly open and bitter.
Hanoi radio described the Cambodian Government on June 5 as "just a black pawn on the chessboard of
sinister powers", and declared that "the imperialists and international reactionaries, who are very malicious
and ruthless, are using the bones and blood of the Cambodian people to dig a deep abyss to divide the peoples
of Cambodia and Vietnam". Another broadcast on June 21 said: "On the orders of a foreign country, Pol Pot
and Ieng Sary have murdered the Cambodian people. … The conflict which the Pol Pot-Ieng Sary clique has
created with Vietnam, the forcing of Hoa people to return to their country, the cutting of aid to Vietnam and
the closing of Vietnamese consulates are designed for one purpose and one purpose only A third broadcast on
June 27 said that 'the reactionary policy of the Cambodian authorities … only serves the interests of the
international reactionaries who are nurturing expansionist ambitions in this region".
Co-operation between China and Cambodia during the same period became increasingly close. Mr Ieng Sary
visited Peking on June 14 after attending the UN General Assembly special session on disarmament, and
again on July 31-Aug. 5 after attending the conference of Foreign Ministers of non-aligned countries held in
Belgrade. His second visit coincided with that of a Cambodian military delegation led by Mr Son Sen, the
Defence Minister, which had arrived in Peking on July 29. At a banquet in honour of the delegation on July
30, General Chen Hsi-lien (a Deputy Premier and a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo)
declared that "we can see the shadow cast by hegomonism [i.e. the Soviet Union] in what is happening in
Asia, including Indo-China," and that the Chinese Army would always support the Cambodian Army.
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Vietnamese official spokesmen told a visiting US congressional delegation on Aug. 22 that Chinese troops
were operating heavy artillery supplied by China to Cambodia, and that Chinese aid had enabled Cambodia to
increase its Army from three to about 20 divisions.
At a banquet given on Sept. 3 in Peking for a visiting Cambodian delegation led by Mr Nuon Chea (deputy
secretary of the Central Committee of the CPK and chairman of the Permanent Committee of the Cambodian
People's Representative Assembly), General Ulanfu (a vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the
Chinese National People's Congress) congratulated the Cambodian people for their "heroic resistance" against
"armed invasions by Vietnam since the beginning of this year" and for their "smashing of the enemy's
subversive schemes". Mr Nuon Chea, for his part, said that Vietnam "schemes to split the Central Committee
of the CPK and hoodwink the governments of South-East Asian countries with the aim of carrying out the
expansionist policy of a big expansionist nation in the South-East Asian region"; however, he added, "the
South-East Asian countries and their people have come to see more and more clearly that Vietnam is only a
cheap tool of that big expansionist nation".
The Government of Laos, which has common frontiers with Vietnam, Cambodia and China (as well as with
Thailand), adopted a neutral attitude towards the conflict, although the tone of its statements was more
favourable to Vietnam, with which it had signed a treaty of friendship and co-operation in 1977[see page
28769]. It categorically denied on Jan. 16, 1978, a Japanese press report that Vietnam had dispatched a
division of troops to the north of Cambodia through Laotian territory, stating that Laos "always persisted in
the policy of solidarity with Vietnam and Cambodia".
The Laotian Prime Minister, Mr Kaysone Phomvihan, sent identical letters on Jan. 18 to the Vietnamese and
Cambodian Governments expressing his earnest desire that they would "make joint efforts to settle the
disputes at an early date by holding negotiations on the basis of respect for each other's independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity". The Laotian Government on Feb. 7 welcomed the Vietnamese peace
proposals of Feb. 5, which (as explained above) were rejected by Cambodia.
In an editorial published in the official government newspaper in Vientiane on July 18 (the first anniversary of
the signing of the friendship treaty with Vietnam), the Laotian Government declared that it would "stand by
the side of the Vietnamese people" and was "determined to smash all divisive schemes of the imperialists and
international reactionary forces".
Apart from China, North Korea, which Mr Pol Pot had visited in October 1977[see page 28808], was the only
communist country which fully supported Cambodia.
In a message to Mr Son Sen, the North Korean Defence Minister, General Oh Jin Wu, said on Jan. 16, 1978,
that the North Korean people were "overjoyed" at the victories achieved by the Cambodian Army and would
"constantly support their just struggle". During a visit to Cambodia in July the North Korean Deputy Foreign
Minister, Mr Kim Hyong Yul, asserted that "the Cambodian people have never committed aggression against
anyone, but they will always struggle resolutely to defend their country and will not allow any external enemy
to commit aggression"
The Albanian official newspaper Zen i Popullit said in an article in June that "nobody has the right to use
pressure and threats against Vietnam", which enjoyed "the solidarity and sympathy of all freedom-loving
peoples". Albania's support for Vietnam reflected the widening rift between Albania and China, which
culminated in the ending of Chinese aid in July[see 28546 A; 28824 A; 29276 A].
The Soviet press adopted a strongly pro-Vietnamese attitude in its reports on the conflict, for which it
repeatedly suggested that China was responsible.
An article in Pravda (the organ of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party) on Jan. 8, after
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referring to press reports that there were "foreign" advisers in Cambodian military units, commented: "The
supporters of a worsening of tensions are seeking to add fuel to the dangerous centres of hostility which they
have set ablaze. This time they have decided to use for this purpose the frontier between Cambodia and
Vietnam. Someone apparently does not like the principled and peaceful policy of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam."
A further article in Pravda on Feb. 8 (i.e. shortly after the publication of the Vietnamese proposals of Feb.
5—see bove) said that the position adopted by the Cambodian authorities met "the secret plans of the
advocates of heightening international tension and those who dislike the Vietnamese people's victory, the
reunification of Vietnam, its advances in building socialism and its growing international prestige"; that Mr
Pham Van Dong, the Vietnamese Prime Minister, had recently told a correspondent of the Vietnam News
Agency that "such a dangerous policy is being approved and encouraged by the forces of imperialism and
international reaction which are nurturing far-reaching plans with regard to South-East Asia"; and that a
delegation of the (Helsinki-based) World Peace Council had issued a statement "firmly supporting the just
cause of Vietnam" in the border conflict and calling on "the peace-loving peoples and governments of the
whole world actively to support the Vietnamese position directed towards a peaceful resolution of the
conflict".
In another Pravda article on Aug. 1 (i.e. during Mr Ieng Sary's visit to Peking—see bove), it was alleged that
the Chinese leadership had been "using the present rulers of Cambodia as henchmen in implementing their
hegemonistic aspirations in South-East Asia and open military expansion against Socialist Vietnam", and that
"having unleashed an unbridled anti-Vietnamese campaign, pushed Cambodia into armed provocations and
stopped All economic aid to Vietnam, Peking clearly considers that this will slow down the process of
constructing a socialist society in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam"
The countries of the Soviet bloc, Mongolia and Cuba also adopted a pro-Vietnamese attitude, as did the
Marxist Governments of Angola and Mozambique, but Yugoslavia and Romania remained neutral.
Mr Milos Minic, then the Yugoslav Federal Secretary for Foreign Affairs, visited both Vietnam and Cambodia
during a tour of Asian countries at the end of April and the beginning of May, and had long talks with the
leaders of the two Governments, to whom he handed messages from President Tito appealing to them to
reach a peaceful settlement as soon as possible, although it was emphasized that Yugoslavia had not offered to
mediate between them. Yugoslav broadcasts referred to Cambodia considerably more warmly than to
Vietnam; Zagreb radio said on April 28 that "certain trends in the communist and workers' movements and
among socialist countries from 1957 onwards" [see 15899 A] were partly responsible for the "insufficiently
developed political contacts" between Yugoslavia and Vietnam, but referred on May 1 to 'the well-known
friendship" between Yugoslavia and Cambodia. Mr Minic's successor, Mr Josip Vrhovec, had talks in July
with Mr Ieng Sary and Mr Nguyen Duy Trinh, who were visiting Belgrade for the conference of Foreign
Ministers of non-aligned countries.
President Ceausescu of Romania visited both Vietnam (from May 23 to 26) and Cambodia (from May 28 to
30) in the course of an Asian journey which also embraced official visits to China, North Korea and Laos and
short discussions in Tehran with the Shah of Iran and in New Delhi with Mr Morarji Desai, the Indian Prime
Minister.
In a statement to representatives of the press in Peking on May 19, President Ceausescu said that the aim of
his "friendship visits" to Vietnam and Cambodia was to "discuss matters concerning the relations between our
countries" and that "the problems between Vietnam and Cambodia should be settled by the two countries
concerned by way of negotiations". This attitude was reiterated in a joint declaration "on the steady
deepening of friendship and solidarity and on the development of collaboration between the Romanian
Communist Party and the Communist Party of Vietnam and between the Socialist Republic of Romania and
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" whose text was released on May 25; in this declaration the two sides said
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that they "consider that the problems pending in the relations between Vietnam and Cambodia should be
settled peacefully, by negotiations, on the basis of mutual respect for independence, sovereignty, territorial
integrity, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of rights and reciprocal interest". In Cambodia,
President Ceausescu and Mr Pol Pot on May 28 signed a treaty of friendship and collaboration between their
two countries.
Referring to his Asian visits in a televised address on Aug. 3, President Ceausescu said: "It goes without
saying that in no way do we counterbalance our relations with China and other Asian socialist countries with
our relations of friendship and co-operation with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries in Europe and
other continents; likewise we do not counterbalance our relations with the Soviet Union and other countries
with our ties with China and other socialist countries in Asia."
Dr Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's Assistant for National security Affairs, described the war on Jan 8
as "the first case of a proxy war between China and the Soviet Union". A comment by the Soviet Tass agency
on Jan. 9, however, denied reports that Vietnam was using foreign (i.e. Soviet) advisers; maintained that "it is
Peking which is giving Cambodia both political and military support"; and declared that "by putting into
circulation the false story about 'a proxy war between China and the Soviet Union', certain circles in the
United States demonstrate their desire to see that Soviet-Chinese relations remain spoiled and, still better,
tense, and count on poisoning the international atmosphere" -(Times - Daily Telegraph - Guardian - Financial
Times - Le Monde New York Times - Peking Review - BBC Summary of World Broadcasts - Romanian
News)(prev. rep. Border Fighting 27469 A; Cambodia,28805 A; Vietnam, 28909 A)
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