Cambodians and the Occupation: Responses to and Perceptions of the Vietnamese Occupation, 1979–89

Abstract

This article examines Cambodian responses to and perceptions of the Vietnamese occupation between 1979 and 1989. While some Cambodians resisted the occupation from refugee camps on the Thai border, many who remained in the country co-operated with the Vietnamese as functionaries in the People's Republic of Kampuchea. Based on interviews with Cambodians in government service during the occupation, this article illuminates the nuances of co-operation. While some Cambodians followed the Vietnamese willingly out of a sense of ideological fraternity, others collaborated in expectation of wealth or power. Yet others, dedicated to national reconstruction in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge regime but paralysed by national and international constraints, pragmatically accepted Vietnamese leadership.