Hanoi Wins Diplomatic Coup as Cambodia Joins ASEAN Club
April 28, 1999 - 0:0
HANOI Cambodia's admission to ASEAN is a major diplomatic coup for Hanoi which has lobbied hard to gain international acceptance for its former "puppet," diplomats and observers say. Cambodia will finally join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in a special ceremony on Friday, giving Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, a long-time Hanoi ally, a stamp of regional approval, and by extension, winning tacit endorsement of Vietnam's role in his country's history.
"By getting Hun Sen legimately accepted by all and sundry, they have indirectly legitimatized their actions in 1979," said one Asian ambassador. That year Vietnamese troops drove notorious Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot from Phnom Penh, ending his four-year bloody reign, and installed a Hanoi-backed government, in which Hun Sen was appointed foreign minister. Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia lasted more than a decade, and led to opposition charges against Hun Sen that he was little more than a "puppet" of the Vietnamese. "Cambodia is very important for Vietnam because China has already come into Cambodia in a big way with military aid to Hun Sen's army," said one military attache.
"Unless Vietnam can get Cambodia into ASEAN, she feels she is losing her grip on her most important neighbor. "For Vietnam it's more important for Cambodia joining ASEAN than for Cambodia herself," he added. Vietnam, which in 1995 became the first communist country to join ASEAN, was also the first to endorse Cambodia's admission. Cambodia had originally planned to join ASEAN in July 1997 when Laos and Myanmar came on board, but its plans were scuttled amid international concern after strongman Hun Sen ousted co-premier Norodom Sihanouk amid heavy fighting in Phnom Penh. Its renewed bid to join received enormous backing from Hanoi, which lobbied hard on its behalf during the ASEAN summit here last December. But it faced opposition from some members including, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand who said they wanted more time for Cambodia to fully establish its coalition government and bolster political stability before granting it full membership.
Hanoi achieved a face-saving compromise whereby a "special admission ceremony" would be held in Hanoi at a future date, despite the fact that it no longer occupies the revolving ASEAN chairmanship. "Vietnam is not the chairman, but it got the eight others to agree in Hanoi and not anywhere else, to show it was their victory and their coup and it is being played out on their turf," said the Asian ambassador.
In return, Cambodia owes a debt of gratitude to Hanoi, its long time backer. "Hun Sen cannot but remain grateful to Vietnam for 1979 and 1999," said the Asian ambassador. Indeed, Phnom Penh openly acknowledges the pivotal role played by Hanoi. "We are extremely happy to be finally joining ASEAN, which has been made possible thanks to the tremendous efforts by Hanoi," a Cambodian diplomat told AFP. ASEAN, founded in 1967, was originally created to counter the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, has seen its membership broadened with the admission of Vietnam, as well as laos and Myanmar two years later in 1997. ASEAN's members range from freewheeling democracies like the Philippines and Thailand to army-ruled Myanmar and communist Vietnam. According to some observers, the admission of Cambodia is a victory for the "authoritarian" wing which also includes the Laos People's Democratic Pepublic. ASEAN also groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The ceremony will be held on April 30, exactly 24 years after North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the presidential palace in Saigon in a dramatic ending to the Vietnam war.
(AFP)
"By getting Hun Sen legimately accepted by all and sundry, they have indirectly legitimatized their actions in 1979," said one Asian ambassador. That year Vietnamese troops drove notorious Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot from Phnom Penh, ending his four-year bloody reign, and installed a Hanoi-backed government, in which Hun Sen was appointed foreign minister. Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia lasted more than a decade, and led to opposition charges against Hun Sen that he was little more than a "puppet" of the Vietnamese. "Cambodia is very important for Vietnam because China has already come into Cambodia in a big way with military aid to Hun Sen's army," said one military attache.
"Unless Vietnam can get Cambodia into ASEAN, she feels she is losing her grip on her most important neighbor. "For Vietnam it's more important for Cambodia joining ASEAN than for Cambodia herself," he added. Vietnam, which in 1995 became the first communist country to join ASEAN, was also the first to endorse Cambodia's admission. Cambodia had originally planned to join ASEAN in July 1997 when Laos and Myanmar came on board, but its plans were scuttled amid international concern after strongman Hun Sen ousted co-premier Norodom Sihanouk amid heavy fighting in Phnom Penh. Its renewed bid to join received enormous backing from Hanoi, which lobbied hard on its behalf during the ASEAN summit here last December. But it faced opposition from some members including, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand who said they wanted more time for Cambodia to fully establish its coalition government and bolster political stability before granting it full membership.
Hanoi achieved a face-saving compromise whereby a "special admission ceremony" would be held in Hanoi at a future date, despite the fact that it no longer occupies the revolving ASEAN chairmanship. "Vietnam is not the chairman, but it got the eight others to agree in Hanoi and not anywhere else, to show it was their victory and their coup and it is being played out on their turf," said the Asian ambassador.
In return, Cambodia owes a debt of gratitude to Hanoi, its long time backer. "Hun Sen cannot but remain grateful to Vietnam for 1979 and 1999," said the Asian ambassador. Indeed, Phnom Penh openly acknowledges the pivotal role played by Hanoi. "We are extremely happy to be finally joining ASEAN, which has been made possible thanks to the tremendous efforts by Hanoi," a Cambodian diplomat told AFP. ASEAN, founded in 1967, was originally created to counter the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, has seen its membership broadened with the admission of Vietnam, as well as laos and Myanmar two years later in 1997. ASEAN's members range from freewheeling democracies like the Philippines and Thailand to army-ruled Myanmar and communist Vietnam. According to some observers, the admission of Cambodia is a victory for the "authoritarian" wing which also includes the Laos People's Democratic Pepublic. ASEAN also groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The ceremony will be held on April 30, exactly 24 years after North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the presidential palace in Saigon in a dramatic ending to the Vietnam war.
(AFP)