Cambodian–Vietnamese War

1977–1991 conflict

Not to be confused with the 12th-century Đại Việt–Khmer War, the 19th-century Vietnamese invasions of Cambodia, or the 1970 invasion of Cambodia by South Vietnam and the U.S.

Cambodian–Vietnamese War
Part of the Third Indochina War, the Cold War in Asia, and the Sino-Soviet split
Vietnamese soldiers entering Phnom Penh in January 1979
Date 21 December 1978 – 29 September 1989 (11 years, 5 months, 4 weeks and 1 day) Location Cambodia, Southern Vietnam, eastern Thailand Result Vietnamese victory Khmer Rouge removed from power and collapse of Democratic Kampuchea End of the Cambodian genocide Establishment, then disestablishment, of the People's Republic of Kampuchea Chinese invasion of Vietnam and continued border skirmishes Vietnamese occupation until 1989 Start of CGDK insurgency and Thai border skirmishes Signing of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords agreeing to UN-led transition
Belligerents
Democratic Kampuchea (1977–1982)	Vietnam FUNSK (from 1978)
Post-invasion:  Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (1982–1990) Khmer Rouge KPNLF FUNCINPEC  Thailand (border clashes)[1]	Post-invasion: Until April 1989:  Vietnam  People's Republic of Kampuchea From April 1989: State of Cambodia
Commanders and leaders
Pol Pot Khieu Samphan Ieng Sary Son Sann Dien Del Norodom Sihanouk	Lê Duẩn Trường Chinh Nguyễn Văn Linh Võ Nguyên Giáp Văn Tiến Dũng Lê Đức Anh Lê Trọng Tấn Đoàn Khuê Võ Chí Công Heng Samrin Hun Sen Pen Sovan Chea Sim
Strength
1979: 73,000[2] 1989: 30,000[a]	150,000–200,000 Vietnamese soldiers[b] 1,000 Lao soldiers (1988)[4]
Casualties and losses
1975–1979: c. 15,000 killed[5] 1979–1989: more than 100,000 killed	1975–1979: 10,000 killed[5] 1979–1989: Vietnam: 15,000[6]–25,300[7] killed 30,000 wounded[6] People's Republic of Kampuchea: Unknown Total: 25,000–52,000 killed[8]
200,000+ Cambodian civilians killed Indochina Wars
Masterdom First Second Laotian Civil War Cambodian Civil War Third Khmer Rouge–Vietnamese Cambodian Conflict Cambodian–Thai border Sino-Vietnamese Sino-Vietnamese border and naval conflicts Hmong insurgency FULRO insurgency against Vietnam Thai–Laotian Border War

The Cambodian–Vietnamese War

In spite of the fighting, the leaders of reunified Vietnam and Kampuchea made several public diplomatic exchanges throughout 1976 to highlight the supposedly strong relations between them. However, behind the scenes, Kampuchean leaders continued to fear what they perceived as Vietnamese expansionism. Therefore, on 30 April 1977, they launched another major military attack on Vietnam. Shocked by the Kampuchean assault, Vietnam launched a retaliatory strike at the end of 1977 in an attempt to force the Kampuchean government to negotiate. The Vietnamese military withdrew in January 1978, even though its political objectives had not been achieved; the Khmer Rouge remained unwilling to negotiate seriously.

Small-scale fighting continued between the two countries throughout 1978, as

On 8 January 1979 the pro-Vietnamese People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) was established in Phnom Penh, marking the beginning of a ten-year Vietnamese occupation. During that period, the Khmer Rouge's Democratic Kampuchea continued to be recognised by the United Nations as the legitimate government of Kampuchea, as several armed resistance groups were formed to fight the Vietnamese occupation. Throughout the conflict, these groups received training in Thailand from the British Army's Special Air Service.^[22][23] Behind the scenes, Prime Minister Hun Sen of the PRK government approached factions of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) to begin peace talks. Under diplomatic and economic pressure from the international community, the Vietnamese government implemented a series of economic and foreign policy reforms, and withdrew from Kampuchea in September 1989.

At the

A major point of departure between the Khmer Rouge faction and the Vietnam-aligned Communist Party of Kampuchea, which has favored more classical Marxism–Leninist ideology, was the Khmer Rouge's embrace of a nationalistic form of Maoism, one of the few major communist parties to do so in the wake of the Sino-Soviet split.^[38] This served as the basis for the Khmer Rouge's agrarian policies.

Even before the Vietnam War ended, the relationship between the Khmer Rouge—which was in the process of seizing power from a US-backed government headed by Lon Nol—and North Vietnam was strained. Clashes between Vietnamese communists and Khmer Rouge forces began as early as 1974, and the following year Pol Pot signed a treaty codifying the "friendship" between the Khmer Rouge and China.^[39]

The

Nine days later, on 10 May 1975, the KRA continued its incursion by capturing the Thổ Chu Islands, where it executed 500 Vietnamese civilians. The Vietnamese military immediately responded to Kampuchean actions by launching a counterattack and removing Kampuchean forces from Phú Quốc and Thổ Chu, and then invading the Kampuchean island of Koh Poulo Wai.^[16] In June 1975, while on a visit to Hanoi, Pol Pot proposed that Vietnam and his country should sign a treaty of friendship and begin discussions on border disputes. However, those discussions never materialised, and the Kampucheans claimed that Vietnam turned down both offers.^[16] In August 1975, Vietnam returned the island of Koh Poulo Wai to Kampuchea and formally recognised Kampuchean sovereignty over the island.^[16]

Following those incidents, both countries attempted to improve their diplomatic relations with a series of congratulatory messages and exchange visits. On 17 April 1976, Vietnamese leaders sent a message to congratulate Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea and Pol Pot on their "elections" as president, President of the People's Representatives and Premier of Kampuchea, respectively.^[29] Furthermore, the Vietnamese even denounced the alleged "U.S. bombing" of Siem Reap in February 1976, thereby reinforcing the Kampucheans' fictitious claims over the incident.^[40] In response, in June 1976, the Kampuchean leadership sent a message to the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, which had governed South Vietnam since the fall of Saigon, congratulating them on the seventh anniversary of their establishment.^[41]

In July 1976, following the establishment of the

When the pro-Chinese Pol Pot and his brother-in-law Ieng Sary resigned from their respective positions as premier and foreign minister in September 1976, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Văn Đồng and General Secretary of the Communist Party Lê Duẩn were optimistic that Vietnam could exercise greater influence on the Kampucheans. In a private meeting with the Soviet ambassador to Vietnam on 16 November 1976, Lê Duẩn dismissed both Ieng Sary and Pol Pot as "bad people" for their pro-Chinese policies.^[44] Le Duan then asserted that Nuon Chea, who had ascended to the position of Premier of Democratic Kampuchea as Pol Pot's replacement, was a person of pro-Vietnamese orientation, so Vietnam could exercise its influence through him. However, the events which developed over the next few months would prove Lê Duẩn had been mistaken in his assessment of Nuon Chea.^[44]

Meanwhile, in Phnom Penh, the Kampuchean leadership had developed a fear and hatred of the Vietnamese leadership as a result of Vietnam's historical dominance over their country. From the Kampuchean perspective, the Vietnamese strategy to dominate Indochina involved infiltrating the communist parties of Kampuchea and Laos with Vietnamese-trained cadres.^[43] For that reason, when the first group of North Vietnamese-trained Khmer Rouge personnel returned to the country, they were immediately purged from the KCP. During the months following the defeat of the Lon Nol government, Pol Pot continued to purge the KCP and the Government of Democratic Kampuchea of those who he believed to be Soviet and Vietnamese agents. Then, in the context of the triumphalism that prevailed among the Khmer Rouge leadership—they claimed they had single-handedly defeated the "American imperialists"—Democratic Kampuchea began preparing for war against Vietnam.^[45]

As the KRA made preparations for its war against Vietnam, state-controlled media in Vietnam sent congratulatory messages to the Government of the Democratic Kampuchea on the second anniversary of its establishment, on 17 April 1977. On 30 April 1977, the second anniversary of the fall of Saigon, the Kampuchean reply came in the form of a military attack against the Vietnamese provinces of

Instead of being sobered by the Vietnamese show of force, the Kampuchean government boasted that the Vietnamese withdrawal was a major victory for Democratic Kampuchea, comparing it to the "defeat of U.S. imperialism" on 17 April 1975. The Kampucheans went on further to proclaim that "our 6 January victory over the annexationist, Vietnamese aggressor enemy has given all of us greater confidence in the forces of our people and nation, in our Kampuchean Communist Party and our Kampuchean Revolutionary Army, and in our Party's line of people's war".^[2]

The Kampuchean leadership claimed that one Kampuchean soldier was equal to 30 Vietnamese soldiers, so if Kampuchea could raise two million soldiers from a population of eight million, it could wipe out Vietnam's population of 50 million and still have six million people left.^[49] In reality, Kampuchean leaders simply ignored the condition of the population in their own country and Vietnam; the Vietnamese, though poor, were in good physical condition, while Kampuchea's population was physically and mentally exhausted from years of hard labour, starvation and disease.^[2]

In addition to the disparity in population, there was also a great disparity between the fighting capabilities of the armed forces of the two countries. In 1977, Vietnam was estimated to have 615,000 soldiers and 900 tanks, supported by a 12,000-member air force with 300 combat aircraft, including one squadron of light bombers. In comparison, Kampuchea had an army of 70,000, only a few heavy tanks, 200 armoured vehicles and limited air capability.^[2] Despite facing such heavy odds, Kampuchea showed no signs of hesitation as its military continued to assault Vietnam's border regions. In January 1978, KRA forces still held portions of Vietnamese territory and began overrunning Vietnamese outposts in Hà Tiên Province.^[47] On 27 January 1978, Vietnam started calling on the KRA along the border regions to overthrow the Khmer Rouge government.^[47]

Against the backdrop of military clashes, between 9 January and 20 February 1978, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Phan Hien made several trips to Beijing to hold discussions with representatives of the Kampuchean government, which ultimately proved to be fruitless. On 18 January 1978, China attempted to mediate between Kampuchea and Vietnam when Vice Premier Deng Yingchao (widow of Zhou Enlai) travelled to Phnom Penh, where her effort was met with strong resistance by Kampuchean leaders.^[50] Meanwhile, Vietnamese government officials began conducting secret meetings with So Phim, the Khmer Rouge leader in Kampuchea's Eastern Military Zone, to plan a military uprising backed by Vietnam. During that same period, military setbacks experienced by the KRA in the Eastern Military Zone prompted Pol Pot to label the region as a "nest of traitors".^[51]

In order to purge the Eastern Military Zone of those he perceived to have been contaminated by the Vietnamese, Pol Pot ordered military units from the Southwest Zone to move into eastern Kampuchea and eliminate the "hidden traitors". Unable to withstand an attack from the Kampuchea Government, So Phim committed suicide while his deputy Heng Samrin defected to Vietnam.^[50] On 12 April 1978, the Kampuchean government declared they and Vietnam could negotiate again if the Vietnamese gave up their expansionist ambitions and recognised Kampuchea's sovereignty.^[47] However, there was also a pre-condition requiring Vietnam to meet several obligations through a seven-month trial ceasefire. The Vietnamese government immediately rejected the demand. In response, two KRA divisions penetrated up to 2 km (1.2 mi) into Vietnamese territory and massacred over 3,000 Vietnamese civilians in the village of Ba Chúc in An Giang Province.^[47]

In June 1978, the VPAF started bombing KRA positions along the border regions, flying about 30 bombing sorties per day and inflicting heavy casualties on the Kampucheans. By that stage in the conflict, most surviving leaders of the Eastern Military Zone had escaped into Vietnam, where they assembled at various secret camps with the purpose of forming a Vietnamese-backed "liberation army" to fight against the Khmer Rouge government.^[52]

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Communist Party Politburo was meeting in Hanoi to discuss its strategy for Kampuchea. It concluded that the Khmer Rouge government was a proxy of China, which had been trying to fill the power vacuum following the withdrawal of the United States. As such, China was identified as Vietnam's main enemy, and its client government in Phnom Penh had to be removed by conventional military force, because the Vietnamese adaptation of the Maoist "people's war" doctrine had not been a success against the Khmer Rouge's security apparatus.^[47][52]

To reflect the attitude of the country's leaders, Vietnam's state-controlled media stepped up its propaganda war against the Khmer Rouge, with the official Nhân Dân newspaper regularly calling for international intervention to save the Kampuchean people from domestic terror initiated by the Khmer Rouge government. Furthermore, instead of sending congratulatory messages as they had done in the previous years, the Vietnamese media changed their tone and began referring to the Kampuchean Government as the "Pol Pot-Ieng Sary clique" as the Kampuchean military continued their campaign in Vietnam.^[52]

By the end of June, the Vietnamese military assembled a multi-division task force to launch another limited-objective campaign against the Kampucheans. Again, the Vietnamese pushed the KRA forces back into the provincial cities of Suong and Prey Veng and then pulled out. However, as they had done before, the KRA moved its artillery back towards the border and continued shelling Vietnamese villages as though nothing had happened.^[53]

During the second half of 1978, Vietnamese leaders devoted much of their energy towards the military campaign against the Khmer Rouge government, by seeking political support from the Soviet Union. In a briefing with Vietnamese Foreign Ministry officials on 25 July 1978, the Soviet chargé d'affaires in Hanoi was told that the Kampuchean Government had deployed 14 of its 17 regular army divisions and 16 local regiments along the border with Vietnam.^[54] Then, in early September 1978, Lê Duẩn informed the Soviet ambassador that Vietnam aimed to "solve fully this question of Kampuchea by the beginning of 1979". While Vietnam was laying the political foundation for the military campaign against Kampuchea, Soviet ships were reported to be unloading military hardware and ammunition in Cam Ranh Bay.^[53] In October 1978, Vietnamese radio broadcast what it claimed were accounts of uprisings against the Khmer Rouge government, urging members of the KRA either to overthrow the "Pol Pot-Ieng Sary clique" or defect to Vietnam.^[55]

In a major turning point in the course of Soviet-Vietnamese and Sino-Vietnamese diplomatic relations, and ultimately the Vietnamese invasion of Kampuchea, a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed between Vietnam and the Soviet Union on 3 November 1978, which guaranteed the former of vital Soviet military aid in the scenario that China intervened in the conflict.^[5] Later, in November 1978, a command and control headquarters was established for the planned invasion of Kampuchea, with Senior General Lê Đức Anh taking full control of PAVN units along the border areas.^[53]

The Vietnamese government drafted 350,000 men into the military to replace earlier losses and augment its units along the border. While the new recruits were completing training, ten divisions were deployed to the border regions of

The final piece of the Vietnamese strategy emerged when Vietnam announced the formation of the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS) in the "liberation zones" of Kampuchea.^[53] Hanoi claimed that KUFNS was an independent Kampuchean communist movement, with members drawn from all walks of life. Heng Samrin, formerly a member of the Khmer Rouge and commander of the KRA 4th Division, was the chairman of the KUFNS Central Committee.^[55] Previously, the KUFNS was known as the Provisional Revolutionary Government of Kampuchea (PRGK), which consisted of 300 former Khmer Rouge cadres who defected to Vietnam. The PRGK regularly sent representatives abroad in search of support, before Vietnam abandoned the "people's war" concept in favour of a conventional military campaign.^[56]

Not to be outdone by the Vietnamese military build-up, the Government of Democratic Kampuchea was busy strengthening its armed forces with Chinese support. In previous years, China had only provided the KRA with a limited quantities of arms and ammunition, but as relations with Vietnam worsened in 1978, Beijing established additional supply routes through Kampuchea and increased the volume of military hardware which travelled down each route.^[53] On the eve of the Vietnamese invasion, Kampuchea had an estimated 73,000 soldiers in the Eastern Military Zone bordering Vietnam.^[53]

At that time, all branches of the Kampuchean armed forces were significantly strengthened by large quantities of Chinese-made military equipment, which included fighter aircraft, patrol boats, heavy artillery, anti-aircraft guns, trucks and tanks. Additionally, there were between 10,000 and 20,000 Chinese advisers in both military and civilian capacities, providing their support to the Khmer Rouge government. Finally, China's PLA stationed a few hundred thousand soldiers on its own border with Vietnam (which would eventually be deployed in the brief Sino-Vietnamese War), as well as nearly two million soldiers in its border with the Soviet Union.^[53]

On 21 December 1978, Kampuchea's new-found strength was tested when a Vietnamese offensive, consisting of two divisions, crossed the border and moved towards the town of Kratie, while other support divisions were deployed along local routes to cut off the logistical tail of Kampuchean units.^[57] Despite enjoying generous support from China, the KRA could not withstand the Vietnamese offensive and suffered heavy casualties.^[58] On 23 December 1978, 10 out of 19 divisions of Khmer Rouge's military divisions opened fire along the shared Southwestern borderline with Vietnam.^[11] On 25 December 1978, Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion using 13 divisions, estimated at 150,000 soldiers well-supported by heavy artillery and air power.^{[citation needed]}

Initially, Kampuchea directly challenged Vietnam's military might through conventional fighting methods, but this tactic resulted in the loss of half of the KRA within two weeks. Heavy defeats on the battlefield prompted much of the Kampuchean leadership to evacuate towards the western region of the country.

Meanwhile, in Phnom Penh, the new Kampuchean government tried to rebuild the country's economic and social life, which was largely destroyed by decades of political upheavals and constant warfare. However, efforts to rebuild the country were severely hampered by the lack of educated and qualified personnel, as most educated people had either fled the country or had been murdered by the Khmer Rouge government during the previous four years. By the end of the year, the new government's attempts at nation-building were further challenged by several anti-Vietnamese resistance groups operating in the western regions of the country.[60]

Shortly after the capture of Phnom Penh, representatives of Democratic Kampuchea called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, so Prince Sihanouk could present the deposed government's case. Despite strong objections from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, the UN Security Council gave Sihanouk this chance.^[61] Although Sihanouk distanced himself from the human rights abuses of the Khmer Rouge, he accused Vietnam of using aggression to violate Kampuchea's sovereignty. As such, he demanded all UN countries suspend aid to Vietnam and not recognise the Vietnamese-installed government.^[61]

Subsequently, seven non-aligned members of the UN Security Council^[d] submitted draft resolution S/13027 calling for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Kampuchea,^[62] which was endorsed by China, France, Norway, Portugal, the United States and the United Kingdom. However, the resolution was not approved due to opposition from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia.^[63]

Between 16 and 19 February 1979, Vietnam and the new Kampuchean government held a summit meeting which concluded with the two countries signing a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation.^[64] Article 2 of the treaty stated that the security of Vietnam and Kampuchea were interrelated; thus they would help defend each other "against schemes and acts of sabotage by the imperialist and international reactionary forces", thereby legitimising the presence of Vietnamese troops on Kampuchean soil.^[61] Soon afterwards, the Soviet Union, the socialist countries of Eastern Europe (except Romania^[65]) and India recognised the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of Kampuchea. The Soviet government praised the PRK's "remarkable victory" and expressed its full support for the government's advance towards socialism. Furthermore, the Soviets harshly criticised the Khmer Rouge government's record of terror, which they implied had been imposed by China.^[61]

At the 34th Session of the UN General Assembly, representatives of the People's Republic of Kampuchea and Democratic Kampuchea both claimed the right to represent their country. The former also notified the member nations of the UN Security Council that it was the sole legitimate representative of Kampuchea and its people.^[64] In response, the UN Credentials Committee decided to recognise Democratic Kampuchea by a vote of six to three, despite the Khmer Rouge's blood-stained record while in power. Accordingly, representatives of Democratic Kampuchea were allowed to be seated in the General Assembly, with strong support from China.^[66]

By January 1980, 29 countries had established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of Kampuchea, yet nearly 80 countries still recognised the legitimacy of the deposed Democratic Kampuchea. At the same time, the Western powers and the member countries of the

The United States called for "two withdrawals."[67] It argued that Vietnam should withdraw from Cambodia and that China should withdraw from Vietnam, which it had invaded on 17 February 1979 in the Sino-Vietnamese war.^[67]

Thailand, which shared an 800-kilometre (500 mile) border with Kampuchea and has historically feared Vietnam's expansionism, demanded that Vietnam immediately remove its troops from Kampuchea so its people could elect a government free from foreign intervention. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore showed their support for Thailand's position.^[61] Furthermore, ASEAN viewed Vietnam's invasion and subsequent occupation of Kampuchea, which received strong Soviet support, as an intolerable threat to the region's security and stability.^[68] That view was shared by China, which went as far as accusing Vietnam of forcing Kampuchea into an Indochinese federation to serve as an outpost of Soviet global hegemony. The United States, which never maintained any form of diplomatic ties with the Khmer Rouge's Democratic Kampuchea, showed strong support for the membership of their former enemy in the UN General Assembly, and echoed ASEAN's call for an immediate withdrawal of Vietnamese military forces from Kampuchea.^[61]

In addition, North Korea, whose leader Kim Il Sung had offered Sihanouk sanctuary after he was ousted by Lon Nol in 1970, also refused to recognize the People's Republic of Kampuchea.^[69][70]

Romania was the only country in the Eastern Bloc that supported the Khmer Rouge and did not recognize the newly installed People's Republic of Kampuchea.^[65] Before the war broke out, Nicolae Ceaușescu warned Lê Duẩn that Vietnam would lose its international support the moment they invaded Cambodia.^[71] The invasion that followed set an uncomfortable precedent for the Romanian leadership.^[72]

China invaded Vietnam on 17 February 1979, aiming to capture the capitals of its border provinces in order to force a Vietnamese withdrawal from Cambodia.^[73] The invasion was bogged down by resistance from local militias and some regular army reinforcements; nevertheless, the Chinese army captured Cao Bằng and Lào Cai after three weeks and Lạng Sơn after a month. The following day, China announced that it would not move deeper into Vietnam, apparently after meeting unexpectedly harsh resistance by well-trained Vietnamese forces equipped with Soviet and captured American weapons. Furthermore, Vietnam's politburo had ordered a general mobilization and begun planning for full conscription. The Chinese subsequently withdrew their forces.^[74] However, some Western intelligence analysts assessed the result of the war from another angle, in their view, Vietnam's forces and supplies had been depleted beyond the point where Hanoi could offer significant resistance or even pursue the retreating Chinese.^[75]

Although China failed either to decisively win the 27-day conflict or to force a withdrawal of Vietnamese forces in Cambodia, the diversion of troops from Kampuchea facilitated a resurgence in Khmer Rouge insurgent operations, making it unavoidable for the young PRK government in Kampuchea to implement conscription.^[76]

When the Khmer Rouge government was removed from power in January 1979, the Kampuchean people hoped that peace and liberty would return to their country. This was reinforced by the Constitution of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, proclaimed in 1981, which specifically stated that Kampuchea was an independent, peaceful state where power belonged to the people.^[77] However, there was a deep contrast between what was written in the constitution and reality, because the Kampuchean people began to despair at what they viewed as the Vietnamese occupation of their country, rather than a liberation that had freed them from the brutality of Democratic Kampuchea.^[78]

That perception was reinforced by the presence of Vietnamese advisers who worked at every level of Heng Samrin's Kampuchean Government. In 1986, for example, there was one Vietnamese adviser for every Kampuchean cabinet minister and one adviser for each one of their three deputy ministers. Furthermore, it was reported that final decisions made by a Kampuchean minister had to receive final approval from the Vietnamese adviser, who usually dictated policies.^[78]

Opposition to the Vietnamese was further fomented by human rights abuses committed by the Vietnamese and their allies. To fulfill its

To resist the Vietnamese occupation of Kampuchea and the government which they installed, the Khmer Rouge called on the Kampuchean people to unite and fight the Vietnamese. However, due to the brutality which they had experienced under the deposed government, many Kampucheans believed that any political movement aimed at restoring national freedom must oppose both the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese.[81] In response to such preconditions, two non-communist movements were formed to fight the Vietnamese occupation.^[82]

The first group, a right-wing and pro-Western organisation, was formed in October 1979 by former prime minister Son Sann and was called the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF). The KPNLF operated from several refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border, where it controlled thousands of civilians.^[82] At its peak, the armed branch of the KPNLF were estimated to have between 12,000 and 15,000 fighters, but a third of that number were lost through fighting and desertions during the Vietnamese dry season offensive of 1984–1985. Nonetheless, the KPNLF continued to operate in small groups, harassing the Vietnamese and their Kampuchean allies using guerrilla tactics.^[83]

The other non-communist organisation was the National United Front for an Independent, Peaceful, Neutral, and Cooperative Cambodia, formed by Sihanouk and known by its French acronym FUNCINPEC.^[84] The organization was formed after Sihanouk had severed ties with the Khmer Rouge following his representation on its behalf at the UN Security Council. As the leader of FUNCINPEC, Sihanouk called on the UN General Assembly to expel Khmer Rouge representatives for their crimes while in power and to keep Kampuchea's seat at the UN vacant on the basis that neither the Khmer Rouge nor the Vietnamese-installed PRK had the mandate to represent the Kampuchean people.^[85]

He also criticised ASEAN for its continued recognition of the Khmer Rouge, and specifically Thailand for enabling Chinese arms shipments to travel through its territory to supply the notorious communist group. The KPNLF and the FUNCINPEC were plagued by internal divisions caused by the lack of unity, leadership struggles, corruption and alleged abuses of human rights.^[86]

In the early days of the Vietnamese occupation, Kampuchean resistance groups had limited contact with each other due to their differences. Even though the Khmer Rouge enjoyed widespread international recognition, by 1980 the organization was under pressure from the international community to reform itself. ASEAN, which had backed the Khmer Rouge throughout their diplomatic confrontations with the PRK government at the UN General Assembly in 1979, urged the Khmer Rouge leadership to put its blood-stained image behind it in order to join forces with other non-communist movements.^[87] The idea of forming an alliance with the Khmer Rouge initially caused a certain degree of uneasiness within the leadership circles of the FUNCINPEC and the KPNLF, because both groups were leery about joining with a communist organization well known for its brutality. Nonetheless, early in 1981, Sihanouk and Son Sann began engaging in talks with Khieu Samphan, President of the deposed Democratic Kampuchea, to discuss the prospect of forming an alliance.^[87]

In August 1981, unity talks between the three organizations appeared to have collapsed as a result of conflicting interests. Sihanouk, who feared the resurgence of the Khmer Rouge, proposed that all resistance groups disarm themselves following the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Kampuchea. Meanwhile, Son Sann demanded that the KPNLF be the lead organization within the proposed alliance, and the leaders of the Khmer Rouge "most compromised" by the atrocities in Kampuchea be exiled to China.^[87] Against these preconditions, Khieu Samphan reminded his rivals that the autonomy of the Khmer Rouge and Democratic Kampuchea should not be undermined.^[88]

On 22 November 1981, Singapore, with the backing of ASEAN, proposed that three organizations form a coalition government with equal decision-making powers within the alliance. Singapore's proposal was welcomed by Sihanouk, who believed it was a fair deal for the non-communist movements.^[88] Khieu Samphan, on the other hand, rejected that idea, viewing it as an attempt by Sihanouk and Son Sann to isolate the Khmer Rouge. However, Sihanouk knew that Chinese support would not be made available to the FUNCINPEC unless he made some compromises and joined the Khmer Rouge on their terms.^[87]

So, in February 1982, Sihanouk met with Khieu Samphan in Beijing to work out their differences. In what he described as "another concession", Khieu Samphan proposed forming a coalition government without integrating the other resistance groups into institutions associated with Democratic Kampuchea. However, he emphasized that all parties must defend the legal status of Democratic Kampuchea as the legitimate state representing Kampuchea on the world stage.^[88] In May 1982, with the urging of Sihanouk, Son Sann decided to form a coalition government with the Khmer Rouge.^[87]

On 22 June 1982, leaders of the three organizations formalised the formation of their coalition government by signing a Thai-sponsored agreement which established the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK). Accordingly, the CGDK's Inner Cabinet consisted of Sihanouk as the President of Democratic Kampuchea, Khieu Samphan as the vice-president in charge of foreign affairs and Son Sann as prime minister. Below the Inner Cabinet were six separate committees responsible for national defence, economy and finance, social affairs and public health, military affairs and the media.^[89]

During a meeting between Kim Il Sung and Sihanouk on 10 April 1986, in Pyongyang, Kim Il Sung reassured Sihanouk that North Korea would continue to regard him as the legitimate head of state of Kampuchea.^[69] By 1987, Democratic Kampuchea still held its membership at the UN General Assembly, even though it lacked four criteria of statehood: people, territory, government, and supreme authority within the borders of a country.^[85] In spite of those limitations, forces of the three armed factions within the CGDK continued to fight the Vietnamese to achieve their objective of "bring[ing] about the implementation of the International Conference on Cambodia and other relevant UN General Assembly resolutions".^[89]

When the Vietnamese leaders launched their invasion of Kampuchea to remove the Khmer Rouge government in 1978, they did not expect a negative reaction from the international community. However, the events that followed the invasion showed that they had severely miscalculated international sympathies toward their cause. Instead of backing Vietnam, most United Nations member countries, including their fellow communist states in Asia like China and North Korea, denounced the Vietnamese use of force against Kampuchea, and even moved to revive the battered Khmer Rouge organisation that had once governed the country with such brutality.[90]

Thus, Kampuchea became more than just a military problem for Vietnam, quickly evolving into an economic and diplomatic problem in the international arena. Throughout the decade in which Vietnam occupied neighbouring Kampuchea, the Vietnamese Government, and the PRK government which it installed, were placed on the periphery of the international community.^[91]

The international community's political stance towards Kampuchea had a severe impact on the Vietnamese economy, which was already wrecked by decades of continuous conflicts. The United States, which already had sanctions in place against Vietnam, convinced other countries of the United Nations to deprive Vietnam and the People's Republic of Kampuchea of much-needed funds by denying them membership to major international organisations such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.^[92]

In 1979, Japan stepped up the pressure by suspending all economic aid to Vietnam, and warned Vietnamese leaders that economic aid would only resume when Vietnam amended its policies towards Kampuchea, the Sino-Soviet rivalry and the problem of the

In response to international pressure, and to avoid engaging in a debilitating conflict with various local armed resistance groups, Vietnam began withdrawing its military forces from Kampuchea as early as 1982. But the withdrawal process lacked international verification, so foreign observers simply dismissed Vietnam's movement of troops as mere rotations.[97] In 1984, in order to disengage from Kampuchea, Vietnam unveiled a five-phase strategy known as the K5 Plan. The plan was authored by General Le Duc Anh, who had led the Vietnamese campaign in Kampuchea.^[90]

The first phase required the Vietnamese military to capture the bases of armed groups in western Kampuchea and along the border with Thailand. The following phases included sealing off the border with Thailand, destroying local resistance groups, providing security for the population, and building up the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces.^[90] Foreign observers believed that the Vietnamese Army completed the first phase of the K5 Plan during the dry season offensive of 1984–85, when the base camps of several anti-Vietnamese resistance groups were overrun. Afterwards, the majority of ten Vietnamese divisions were assigned to operations on the frontiers, with the remainder staying in major provinces to protect the local population and to train the Kampuchean armed forces.^[90]

By 1985, international isolation and economic hardships had forced Vietnam to rely more and more on the Soviet Union for help. During the Chinese invasion in February 1979, the Soviet Union provided US$1.4 billion worth of military aid to Vietnam, a figure that peaked at US$1.7 billion in the period between 1981 and 1985.^[98] Then, to help Vietnam implement its third Five Year Plan (1981–1985), the Soviet Union provided a sum of US$5.4 billion to the Vietnamese Government for its expenditures; economic aid ultimately reached US$1.8 billion annually. The Soviet Union also provided 90% of Vietnam's demand for raw materials and 70% of its grain imports.^[98]

Even though the figures suggest the Soviet Union was a reliable ally, privately Soviet leaders were dissatisfied with Hanoi's handling of the stalemate in Kampuchea and resented the burden of their aid program to Vietnam as their own country was undergoing economic reforms.^[98] In 1986, the Soviet Government announced that it would reduce aid to friendly nations; for Vietnam, those reductions meant the loss of 20% of its economic aid and one-third of its military aid.^[99]

To reengage with the international community, and to deal with the economic challenges brought by the changes in the Soviet Union and

Subsequently, in June 1987, the Vietnamese Politburo adopted a new defence strategy in Resolution No. 2, calling for the complete withdrawal of Vietnamese soldiers from international duties, a reduction in the size of the army through a discharge of 600,000 soldiers and the establishment of a set ratio for military expenditures.[102]

Then, on 13 May 1988, the Vietnamese Politburo adopted Resolution No. 13 on foreign policy, which aimed to achieve diversification and multilateralisation of Vietnam's foreign relations. Its main objectives were to end the embargoes imposed by UN members, integrate Vietnam with the regional and international community, and ultimately attract foreign investment and development aid.^[101] As part of this change, Vietnam ceased to regard the United States as a long-term foe and China as an imminent and dangerous enemy. In addition, official Vietnamese propaganda stopped labeling ASEAN as a "NATO-type" organisation.^[100]

To implement the new reforms, Vietnam, with support from the Soviet Union, started transferring several years' worth of military equipment to the KPRAF, which numbered more than 70,000 soldiers. The Vietnamese Ministry of Defense's International Relations Department then advised its Kampuchean counterparts to only use the available equipment to maintain their current level of operations, and not to engage in major operations which could exhaust those supplies.^[97]

In 1988, Vietnam was estimated to have about 100,000 troops in Kampuchea, but, sensing that a diplomatic settlement was within reach, the Vietnamese Government began withdrawing forces in earnest. Between April and July 1989, 24,000 Vietnamese soldiers returned home. Then, between 21 and 26 September 1989, after suffering 15,000 soldiers killed and another 30,000 wounded during the 10-year occupation,^[90] Vietnam's commitment to Kampuchea was officially over, when the remaining 26,000 Vietnamese soldiers were pulled out.^[97]

However, armed resistance groups opposed to the Vietnamese-installed PRK government claimed that Vietnamese troops were still operating on Kampuchean soil long after September 1989. For example, non-communist groups engaging in land-grab operations in western Kampuchea after the withdrawal reported clashes with elite Vietnamese Special Forces near Tamar Puok along Route 69.

On 14 January 1985, Hun Sen was appointed Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Kampuchea and began peace talks with the factions of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea. Between 2–4 December 1987, Hun Sen met with Sihanouk at Fère-en-Tardenois in France to discuss the future of Kampuchea. Further talks occurred between 20 and 21 January 1988, and Hun Sen offered Sihanouk a position within the Kampuchean Government on the condition that he returned to Kampuchea straight away.^[104] However, Sihanouk did not accept the offer, even as preparations were made in Phnom Penh to receive him.^[104]

Despite that failure, Hun Sen's Kampuchean Government was able to persuade Cheng Heng and In Tam, both ministers in Lon Nol's government, to return to Kampuchea.^[104] In the first major step towards restoring peace in Kampuchea, representatives of the CGDK and the PRK met for the first time at the First Jakarta Informal Meeting on 25 July 1988. In that meeting, Sihanouk proposed a three-stage plan, which called for a cease-fire, a UN peacekeeping force to supervise the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops and the integration of all Kampuchean armed factions into a single army.^[105]

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach urged all parties involved to separate Kampuchean problems into internal and external aspects. Therefore, to begin the process of restoring peace, the Vietnamese delegation proposed a two-stage plan that began with internal discussions among the Kampuchean factions, followed by a roundtable discussion with all involved countries. The Vietnamese proposal won out at the meeting, but no agreements were reached.^[105]

At the Second Jakarta Meeting, on 19 February 1989, Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans forwarded the Cambodian Peace Plan to bring about a ceasefire, a peacekeeping force and the establishment of a national unity government to maintain Kampuchea's sovereignty until elections were held.^[104] To facilitate a peace agreement on the eve of the Vietnamese withdrawal, between 29 and 30 April 1989, Hun Sen convened a meeting of the National Assembly to adopt a new constitution, and the country was renamed the State of Cambodia to reflect the state of ambiguity of the country's sovereignty.^[106] Furthermore, Buddhism was re-established as the state religion, and citizens were guaranteed the right to hold private property.^[106]

In the meantime, however, peace talks between the warring factions continued, with the First Paris Peace Conference on Cambodia held in Paris in 1989. On 26 February 1990, following the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops, the Third Jakarta Informal Meeting was held, at which the Supreme National Council was established to safeguard Cambodian sovereignty. Initially, the Supreme National Council was to have 12 members, with three seats allocated to each faction of the CGDK, and three to the pro-Vietnam Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party.^[106]

However, Hun Sen objected to the proposed arrangement, calling instead for each faction of the CGDK to be given two seats for a total of six, and the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party to have six seats. In 1991 the Supreme National Council began representing Cambodia at the UN General Assembly. Then, in a bold move, Hun Sen renamed the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party as the Cambodian People's Party in an effort to portray his party as a democratic institution and renounce its revolutionary struggle.^[107]

On 23 October 1991, the Cambodian factions of the Supreme National Council, along with Vietnam and 15 member nations of the International Peace Conference on Cambodia, signed the

As a result, Hun Sen criticised the Paris Agreement as being far from perfect, as it failed to remind the Cambodian people of the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge government.[108] Nonetheless, the Paris Agreement established the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), in accordance with the UN Security Council's Resolution 745,^[109] and gave UNTAC a broad mandate to supervise main policies and administration works until a Cambodian government was democratically elected.^[110]

On 14 November 1991, Sihanouk returned to Cambodia to participate in the elections, followed by

As soon as he arrived at his office, Khieu Samphan entered and immediately telephoned the Chinese Government to save him. Shortly afterwards, an angry mob forced its way into the building, chased Khieu Samphan up the second floor and tried to hang him from a ceiling fan. Eventually, Khieu Samphan was able to escape from the building by a ladder with his face bloodied, and was immediately taken to Pochentong Airport, where he flew out of Cambodia. With the departure of Khieu Samphan, the Khmer Rouge's participation in the election seemed doubtful.[112]

In March 1992, the start of the UNTAC mission in Cambodia was marked by the arrival of 22,000 UN peacekeepers, which included troops from 22 countries, 6,000 officials, 3,500 police and 1,700 civilian employees and electoral volunteers.^[109] The mission was led by Yasushi Akashi.^[113] In June 1992, the Khmer Rouge formally established the National Union Party of Kampuchea, and announced that it would not register to participate in the upcoming elections. Furthermore, the Khmer Rouge also refused to disarm its forces in accordance with the Paris agreement.^[114]

To prevent ethnic Vietnamese from taking part in the elections, the Khmer Rouge started massacring Vietnamese civilian communities, causing hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese to flee Cambodia.

Despite ongoing threats from the Khmer Rouge during the elections, on 28 May 1993, FUNCINPEC won 45.47 percent of the vote, against 38.23 percent for the Cambodian People's Party.[117] Though clearly defeated, Hun Sen refused to accept the results of the election, so his Defense Minister, Sin Song, announced the secession of the eastern provinces of Cambodia, which had supported the Cambodian People's Party. Prince Norodom Ranariddh, leader of FUNCINPEC and son of Sihanouk, agreed to form a coalition government with the Cambodian People's Party so Cambodia would not break up. On 21 September 1993, the Cambodian Constituent Assembly approved a new Constitution and Ranariddh became First Prime Minister. He appointed Hun Sen as the Second Prime Minister.^[118]

On 23 September 1993, the constitutional monarchy was restored with Norodom Sihanouk as the head of state.^[119] In July 1994, the Cambodian Government outlawed the Khmer Rouge for its continuous violations of the Paris Agreement. Most significantly, the Cambodian Government also specifically recognised the genocide and atrocities which occurred under Democratic Kampuchea.^[120] By 1998, the Khmer Rouge was completely dissolved.^[121]

The military occupation of Kampuchea had profound consequences for Vietnamese foreign policy. Since gaining independence in 1954, the Vietnamese communist perspective on foreign policy had been dominated by the need to maintain a world order of two camps, communist and non-communist.^[122] Indeed, the treaties of friendship that Vietnam signed with the Soviet Union, Laos and the People's Republic of Kampuchea were consistent with that view. Despite being the only country willing to put an end to the Khmer Rouge's genocide, Vietnam found itself vilified by most Western countries.^[123]

In the years that followed, the Vietnamese Government was left isolated from the world and its efforts to rebuild the country were hindered by the lack of aid from the capitalist Western nations. Furthermore, the presence of Vietnamese military forces in Cambodia became an obstacle which prevented the normalisation of diplomatic ties with China, the United States and the member nations of ASEAN.^[122]

In light of the decline experienced by the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, the Vietnamese Government began repairing diplomatic relations with neighbouring countries as part of a greater effort to rejuvenate Vietnam's shattered economy. Since its invasion in 1979, China had placed sustained pressure on the northern borders of Vietnam, with the province of Ha Tuyen regularly shelled by Chinese artillery. In September 1985, Chinese bombardment of Ha Tuyen reached a peak when 2,000 rounds were fired.^[124]

To reduce the state of hostility along the border region, and ultimately normalise relations with China, the Vietnamese Government dropped all hostile references to China at the 6th National Party Congress in December 1986, and also adopted the Đổi Mới policy.^[125] In August 1990, as the Cambodian Peace Plan, authored by Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans, was being endorsed by the UN Security Council, both China and Vietnam moved towards accommodation.^[126]

Early in September 1990, Vietnamese Prime Minister Đỗ Mười, General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh and former prime minister Pham Van Dong travelled to Chengdu, China, where they held a secret meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin.^[126] On 17 September 1990, General Võ Nguyên Giáp also made a trip to China and thanked the Chinese Government for its past assistance.^[126] Despite outward signs of improvement in Vietnam's diplomatic relations with China, Vietnamese leaders were reluctant to endorse any peace plan which could weaken their client government in Phnom Penh.^[127]

However, as the four Cambodian factions reached an agreement on the power-sharing arrangement outlined at the Third Jakarta Informal Meeting in February 1990, Vietnam and China rapidly moved to re-establish formal diplomatic relations. In November 1991, newly elected Vietnamese Prime Minister Võ Văn Kiệt travelled to Beijing and met his Chinese counterpart, Li Peng, and they issued an 11-point communiqué re-establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries after 10 years without formal relations.^[127]

The end of the Cambodian conflict also brought an end to the ASEAN-imposed trade and aid embargo which had been in place since 1979. In January 1990, Thai Prime Minister

Aside from the obvious economic benefits, ASEAN also provided a peaceful environment that guaranteed Vietnam's national security against foreign threats in the post-Cold War era, when Soviet aid was no longer available.^[130] Thus, on 28 July 1995, Vietnam officially became the seventh member of ASEAN, after leading ASEAN officials invited Vietnam to join at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok in 1994.^[131] Then, in August 1995, the U.S. Liaison Office in Hanoi was upgraded to Embassy status, after U.S. President Bill Clinton announced a formal normalisation of diplomatic relations with Vietnam on 11 July 1995, thereby ending Vietnam's isolation from the United States.^[131]

Cambodia and Vietnam's forest cover underwent drastic reductions following the end of the Khmer Rouge government.^[132] The fall of Khmer Rouge was attributed to Vietnamese troops overthrowing the government and the occupation of Phnom Penh, establishing the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) in 1978.^[133] With lack of international support by the end of the Cold War, the Khmer Rouge struggled to rebuild itself.^[132] In an attempt to increase revenue and regain power, they established themselves along the Thailand–Cambodia border in northwestern Cambodia to focus on exploiting Cambodia's natural resources including timber and rubies.^[132] With 15% of total global tropical forests, Southeast Asia is a leader in timber production.^[134] This initiative quickly became a race between political factions, as the PRK adopted Khmer Rouge extraction efforts.^[132]

From 1969 to 1995, Cambodia's forest cover shrank from 73% to 30–35%.^[132] Similarly, Vietnam lost nearly three million hectares of forest cover from 1976 to 1995.^[135] In 1992, Khmer Rouge became internationally isolated.^[132] The United Nations Security Council banned all exports of Cambodian timber in November of that year.^[136] Efforts to create a neutral electoral environment led to the establishment of the United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAC) in Cambodia.^[137] The move was implemented in January 1993.^[138] In the same year, the Vietnamese issued a logging ban, driving the Khmer Rouge to logging illegally.^[135] Illicit exports from Cambodia to Vietnam was worth US$130 million each year.^[135]

Thailand was the largest violator of UNTAC.^[136] The Thai government at the time insisted that Cambodian imported timber must have a certificate of origin approved by the governmental authorities in Phnom Penh.^[132] These certificates cost US$35 for each cubic metre of timber from Khmer Rouge operating areas.^[132] This forced the Khmer Rouge to increase prices. They learned to speak Thai and sold timber illegally to Thai timber operators, earning them over US$10 million monthly.^[136]

Global Witness, an international human rights and environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) based in London,^[139] recognized these timber guerrillas when they identified mass Cambodian exports.^[136] They subsequently lobbied for an amendment to the US Foreign Operations Act.^[132] The act was passed. It stated that US assistance would no longer be given to any country cooperating militarily with the Khmer Rouge.^[132] Thailand closed its borders with Cambodia the next day.^[132]

Japan was the second largest offender of UNTAC, purchasing 8,000 cubic metres of timber from Cambodia.^[136] There were 46 other identified offenders^[136] including the Koreas, Singapore, and Taiwan.^[138] After timber is produced by Cambodia or the greater Southeast Asia region, these "offender" countries re-process the logs which are subsequently transferred to North America, the Middle East, and Africa for sale.^[138]

PRK eventually offered the Khmer Rouge re-integration into Cambodia's national armed forces as well as reconciliation between the two parties.^[136] In August 1996, the regional command of Khmer Rouge travelled back to Phnom Penh.^[132] Pol Pot, the former prime minister of the Democratic Kampuchea,^[140] and his lieutenants stayed in the northern region to continue attempts at generating revenue from the extraction of natural resources.^[132] However, the group became irrelevant due to a lack of support.^[135] By 1998, Khmer Rouge had dissolved completely.^[132]

In 2010, the Royal Government of Cambodia set out a forest management plan called the National Forest Programme (NFP) in order to manage Cambodia's forest industry effectively in the long-term.

The Department of Forestry and Wildlife and the Cambodia Tree Seed Project was in collaborative support of developing the Royal Government of Cambodia's NFP.[147] NFP's objective is to contribute optimally to poverty alleviation and macro-economic growth through sustainable forest management and conservation with active stakeholder participation, particularly in rural areas.^[141]

Cambodian people continue to have diverse opinions of the outcome of the war.

The rampant rise of anti-Vietnamese sentiment in Cambodia was fostered by historical grievances that existed before the 1978 war. For Cambodian nationalists, the trauma of previous Vietnamese incursions and occupation since the 17th century gave impetus to their increasing hostility against the Vietnamese.[152] On the other hand, and ironically, China, the previous backer of the Khmer Rouge, was venerated as a new ally, which strengthened Cambodia–China relations in response to fears of possible Vietnamese intervention.^[153]

On the Vietnamese side, both the communist government and anti-communists regarded the war as a righteous liberation of Cambodia from genocide, though some objected due to the previous alliance between the Khmer Rouge and the

The reaction to the war in Cambodia also varied across the world. While strong opposition to the Vietnamese occupation in the 1980s resulted in sanctions against Vietnam, since 2000, views sympathetic to Vietnam's cause have increased dramatically in number. This has been attributed to growing Vietnamese relations with the Western world and its good reputation abroad, including among former adversaries (except China and a number of Cambodian nationalist groups), with more acknowledgement of Vietnam's goodwill towards Cambodians, though not without controversies and opposition.[10]

Vietnam's relations with fellow communist countries China and North Korea were also severely hurt due to Beijing and Pyongyang's support for the Khmer Rouge. As both nations have never acknowledged their support for Pol Pot, relations between Vietnam and the two nations have always been difficult in spite of the end of the war. During the time of the Vietnamese invasion, North Korea had supported China invading Vietnam in 1979, as well as openly endorsed China's territorial claims in the South China Sea against Vietnam.^[155] Since the end of the war in Cambodia, Vietnam has refused to support North Korea against South Korea, and has remained deeply resentful of North Korean support for the Khmer Rouge. It was not until 2007 that a Vietnamese President, Nông Đức Mạnh, finally paid a visit to North Korea, the first high-ranking visit since 1957, which was followed later by Kim Jong Un's visit to Vietnam during the 2019 Trump–Kim Summit, with the aim to repair the previously damaged relations.^[156] Nonetheless, Vietnam has openly opposed North Korea's missile tests, which were rumoured to be a testament to the old hostility.^[157]

Documents by the Khmer Rouge government also claimed that Vietnam failed to create an Indochinese federation under their leadership, as Ho Chi Minh envisioned.^[158]

• Allegations of United States support for the Khmer Rouge
• Ba Chúc massacre
• Khmer Krom
• Nong Chan Refugee Camp
• Nong Samet Refugee Camp
• Sino-Vietnamese War
• Nam tiến
• Vietnamese border raids in Thailand
• Vietnamese invasions of Cambodia
• Vietnam–Cambodia relations

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cambodian-Vietnamese War (1975-7).

• Grandolini, Albert; Tom Cooper; Troung (January 25, 2004). "Cambodia, 1954–1999; Part 1". Air Combat Information Group (ACIG). Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
• Grandolini, Albert; Tom Cooper; Troung (January 25, 2004). "Cambodia, 1954–1999; Part 2". Air Combat Information Group (ACIG). Archived from the original on March 17, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
• The Khmer Rouge National Army: Order of Battle, January 1976
• The Fall of the Khmer Rouge
• 1979: Vietnam forces Khmer Rouge retreat
• Meanwhile: When the Khmer Rouge came to kill in Vietnam Archived 2005-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
• Second Life, Second Death: The Khmer Rouge After 1978