ECCC verdict on Khmer Rouge crimes: Historic day!

Panorama of the dialogue at studio H3, Institute of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities

The dialogue on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Southwest border war and the day of Cambodia's liberation from genocide (January 7, 1979 - January 7, 2019) was organized by Ho Chi Minh City Television in coordination with the Department of Propaganda - General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army and the Institute of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU. The event was attended by Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Member of the Central Military Commission, Deputy Minister of National Defense; Lieutenant General, Hero of the Armed Forces Trieu Xuan Hoa - former Commander of Military Region 7; Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh - Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities; Prof. People's Teacher Vu Duong Ninh - expert in history and international relations.

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh and Professor Dr. Pham Quang Minh are two guests of the program.

The Khmer Rouge regime only existed from 1975-1979 but caused genocide for millions of Cambodians (estimated to be ¼ of the country's population at that time) and massacred Vietnamese people in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge waged war against Vietnam when they sent troops to occupy Phu Quoc Island (May 3, 1975), Tho Chu Island (May 10, 1975), and invaded many territories along the border from Ha Tien to Tay Ninh, committing barbaric crimes against the Vietnamese people. At the end of 1978, the Khmer Rouge launched a large-scale attack on Vietnam and forced the Vietnamese people to rise up to counterattack to protect the Fatherland. Vietnamese volunteer troops marched to help the Cambodian people overthrow the Pol Pot regime, liberate the capital Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979, and then continued to support the Cambodian revolution and government in rebuilding the country.

Professor, People's Teacher Vu Duong Ninh at the studio

At the dialogue, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh stated that the ECCC’s November 16 verdict affirmed the justice of Vietnam’s struggle against the Khmer Rouge regime, not only to protect the country but also to fulfill its international obligation to help the Cambodian people escape genocide. After 40 years, to answer the question of whether Vietnam could have avoided this war, the answer is still: no! Because sitting idly by in the face of the Khmer Rouge’s crimes is suicide, pushing the Cambodian people to extinction. After 40 years, the ECCC’s verdict proves that justice will never be obscured.

Vietnam at that time was facing many difficulties after the country's reunification in 1975 and was surrounded and diplomatically isolated by many countries. But in the context of Cambodian society being severely devastated, the economy exhausted, the government still young... then in the next 10 years, Vietnamese volunteer troops were stationed in almost all localities of Cambodia, gradually helping the Cambodian people stabilize their lives, helping the Cambodian army fight against the destructive activities of the Pol Pot remnants. The Cambodian people were grateful and called the Vietnamese volunteer troops "Buddhist army". The late King of Cambodia Norodom Sihanouk once affirmed: If Vietnam had not driven out Pol Pot, all Cambodians would have died. The Cambodian People's Party did not make a mistake in asking Vietnam for help in fighting the Khmer Rouge, because if we had not been liberated from Pol Pot, the entire nation would have been destroyed. At the time when Vietnamese volunteer soldiers returned home, the Cambodian People's Newspaper on June 29, 1989 published an editorial with the following paragraph: "During the extremely tragic years under the Pol Pot genocide regime, there were countless strong and rich people in this world, but only our poor neighbor Vietnam came to save our people.

The TV crew took photos with the show's guests.

Sharing lessons learned from history to build and develop the friendly relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh emphasized: the most important thing is that Vietnam has independence and autonomy; we give our friend autonomy and respect each other's interests for mutual development. It is because Vietnam helps Cambodia on the basis of respecting Cambodia's independence and autonomy that our friend has gradually recovered from difficulties.

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh - Deputy Minister of National Defense in a meeting with leaders of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities before the program

International relations expert - Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh commented: Vietnam bravely stood up to carry out the just struggle against the crimes of the Khmer Rouge in the context of frightening silence from major countries for certain political purposes. But after 40 years, Vietnam has shown its mettle and perseverance. Vietnam's actions also show the world an important lesson, which is not to be lenient with crimes. Vietnam also helps enrich knowledge about international relations, which is the theory of obligations and responsibilities of nations and humanity in protecting people, preventing genocide ... has been internationally recognized. The world has an annual Holocaust Memorial Day to never forget the crimes of Nazi Germany against the Jews. Therefore, the crimes of the Khmer Rouge against humanity should be remembered with an official memorial day, not only to help the world become more aware of a dark period in history but also to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again. In addition, Vietnam also learned a profound lesson about thoroughly utilizing the power of people's diplomacy and promoting foreign communication to serve the cause of national defense.

Further strengthening the traditional solidarity, friendship and comprehensive cooperation, for the benefit of the people of Vietnam and Cambodia, for peace and development in the region and the world - that is the common vision, the common determination of the people of the two countries in the present and the future. In that common strategy, there is an important role of history and teaching history to the young generation of the two countries. Sharing this point of view, Professor, People's Teacher Vu Duong Ninh said: history is a collection of lessons, including the experiences of success and failure of previous generations. But history needs to be taught with honesty even though there are still twists and turns and dark spots. And more importantly, the lessons of history must always remind us to aim for humane values, for people, for the prosperous development of all nations, for the spirit of friendship, equality and charity among nations in the world.

Lieutenant General, Hero of the People's Armed Forces Trieu Xuan Hoa (left) is one of the guests of the program.