Kampuchea (1978–1981)

Following a series of attacks by the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea (the military force of the Khmer Rouge regime) on Vietnamese border towns, Vietnamese forces invaded Kampuchea (now Cambodia) in 1978. In a matter of a few weeks, Vietnamese forces had taken control of the country and established a pro-Vietnamese Government, the People’s Republic of Kampuchea. In January 1979, at the request of the Democratic Kampuchea Government (the Khmer Rouge regime), the SC considered the situation in the country and ultimately voted on a draft resolution that would have reinforced the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other States, and called for the cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of foreign (Vietnamese) forces from the country (S/13027).¹ This resolution was vetoed by the USSR.²

Shortly afterwards, in February 1979, China launched a brief but intense invasion of northern Vietnam, which was interpreted as a signal of its opposition to Vietnamese actions in Kampuchea. Once again, upon request by the Government of Kampuchea, the SC debated the issue but remained deadlocked due to divisions between the US, the USSR and China.³ On 17 August 1979, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand (the ASEAN States) requested that the topic of “The situation in Kampuchea” be added as a supplementary item in the agenda of the 34th session (A/34/191). In its ensuing resolution 34/22, the GA called for the “immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces from Kampuchea”, and for all Member States to “refrain from all acts or threats of aggression and all forms of interference in the internal affairs of States in South-east Asia” (A/RES/34/22, para. 9). It further resolved that the Cambodian people “should be enabled to choose democratically their own government, without outside interference, subversion or coercion”, and supported the Secretary-General to “exercise his good offices” to resolve the situation (ibid., paras. 10, 11).