Vietnam faces tough job over Cambodia

Vietnam faces tough job over Cambodia

By Serguei Blagov

HANOI (DPA): Vietnam is anxious to avoid a semblance of involvement in the current Cambodian struggles but Hanoi's muted support for Hun Sen fuels rather than helps dismiss speculation, say analysts.

Vietnam really needs to do something now in order not to be viewed by the outside world as, once again, being involved in Cambodia, said a Hanoi-based diplomat.

Obviously this is a tricky task bearing in mind that Cambodia's strongman Hun Sen returned from Vietnam on July 4 and the very next morning ousted his co-premier from power, the diplomat said.

Vietnamese officials insist that Hun Sen's controversial visit to Vietnam in early July was a vacation which just happened to coincide with the subsequent crisis in Cambodia. Hun Sen was also rumored to have been merely visiting his Vietnamese girlfriend in the seaside resort of Vung Tau, 120 kilometers east of Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam's foreign ministry confirmed that Hun Sen took a brief rest in Vietnam earlier this month but insisted that the Cambodian strongman did not have contact with any of the Vietnamese leaders.

It is very difficult to believe that Hun Sen failed to warn his Vietnamese hosts about his intentions, said one veteran observer. Hun Sen, who was appointed Foreign Minister in 1979 and Prime Minister in 1985, made an excellent career within the government installed by Vietnam in Cambodia. It is unlikely that the issue was not discussed during Hun Sen's stay in Vietnam, the observer said.

Vietnam's foreign ministry spokesman referred to "blatant slander" in a statement last week responding to allegations by Khmer Rouge clandestine radio which claimed Hun Sen visited Vietnam in early July to prepare the coup d'etat.

Hun Sen, leader of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), has been labeled by his political opponents as "Vietnam's pawn". In the early 1990s Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge defector, led the Vietnam-supported government, dominated by the CPP.

Vietnam officially urges the Cambodian warring parties to exercise restraint and settle their differences peacefully, but describes the violence as the country's internal affair.

Vietnam wanted to see stability in Cambodia, Vu Khoan was quoted as saying by the Vietnamese press Monday. The statement is seen by the analysts as another sign of muted support to Hun Sen's claims to restore law and order in Cambodia.

Vietnamese officials privately are willing to discuss different scenarios for Cambodia, including the return of Ranarridh to Phnom Penh as first Prime Minister, said a European diplomat. However, it is clear that they would prefer Hun Sen to remain in power, he said.

Cambodia's ousted first Prime Minister Norodom Ranarridh in recent years was repeatedly lashing out at Vietnam and therefore won few friends in Hanoi. In early 1996 Prince Ranarridh claimed Vietnam "invaded" the eastern provinces of Svay Rieng, Prey Veng and Kampong Cham, and said Vietnamese settlers, backed by troops, had encroached on Cambodian territory.

The unexpected visit to China of Vietnam Communist Party General Secretary Do Muoi July 14-18 also fuelled speculation that the Cambodian issue was on the agenda.

Following the 1978 Vietnamese takeover of Cambodia -- where Hanoi's troops ousted the Beijing-supported Khmer Rouge -- China launched a limited invasion of Vietnam's northern border in February 1979 to 'teach a lesson' to Hanoi.

Apart from the border war with China, Hanoi's takeover of Cambodia turned Vietnam into virtually pariah state, isolated it internationally and virtually deprived it of Western lending and aid.

Vietnam now is balancing on a very tight rope, said a diplomat in Hanoi. The alleged involvement in Cambodia's affairs could be a very dangerous gamble for Hanoi, since Vietnam regional and international standings, notably the current normalization with the U.S., could be affected, he said.