University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU Hanoi

https://ussh.vnu.edu.vn

"The regional and global context and the impacts of international factors to Cambodia before and during the period of 1989-1999"

On April 17th, 2019, USSH collaborated with the Department of External Affairs - Vietnam's Ministry of Defense to hold the academic Conference "The regional and global context and the impacts of international factors on Cambodia before and during the period of 1989-1999"

Cambodia is a close neighbor of Vietnam. The two countries share many historical and cultural similarities. From 1975 to 1978, the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot and Ieng Sary conducted a large-scale genocide. The people of Cambodia were suppressed; nearly 2 million Cambodians were killed through the most savage methods that the history of mankind had ever witnessed.

From 1976 to 1978, Khmer Rouge forces for many times invaded the Southwest border areas of Vietnam. Vietnam persistently maintained a peaceful approach to resolving the conflict with Cambodia through negotiations. In constrast to that disposition, at the end of 1978 the Khmer Rouge regime mobilized 19 divisions to attack the Southwest border areas of Vietnam. The people of Vietnam resolutely stood up against Khmer Rouge's invasion and also sent their troops to overthrow the Khmer Rouge regime and saved the people of Cambodia from genocide. The Vietnamese troops stayed in Cambodia from 1979 to 1989 to help the people of Cambodia completely remove any remnants of the Khmer Rouge, revitalize the country, and restored peace and prosperity to its people. As soon as the Cambodia's revolutionary government became strong enough, the Vietnamese volunteer troops withdrew. From 1989 to 1999, Vietnam-Cambodia bilateral relations developed fruitfully and the two countries then became members of ASEAN.

From the time after 1975 to 1989, contradictions between the capitalist and socialist blocs and those within the socialist bloc, and the interests of big countries strongly impacted Vietnam-Cambodia relations. The Khmer Rouge that used to be Vietnam's ally in the war against the Americans was provoked and induced to become the enemy of Vietnam and the people of Cambodia themselves. The sacrifices made by Vietnam for the people of Cambodia from 1979 to 1989 were of great significance. However, the presence of Vietnamese volunteer troops in Cambodia was deliberately misrepresented and distorted by international reactionary forces so that they were able to isolate and impose embargoes on Vietnam. In 1989, Vietnam withdrew its troops from Cambodia and thus the stalemate in its relations with the world was solved.

In 2018, the International Court decided the Khmer Rouge and its leaders guilty of the crime of genocide. The Court ruled that the act of bringing troops into Cambodia by Vietnam was to oppose the genocidal regime, which was rightful by nature.

As the scope of studies surrounding the Cambodia issue was large, the conference focused on the following major topics:

- The regional and international context and its impacts on Cambodia from 1979 to 1989.

- The role of international organizations, big countries and Southeast Asian countries to Cambodia from 1979 to 1989.

- The role of the withdrawal of Vietnamese volunteer troops in the settlement of the Cambodia issue.

- The impacts of international factors on the process of national unification, socio-economic development and international integration of Cambodia from 1989-now.

Author: Tran Viet Nghia

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