The Return of the Khmer Rouge

Abstract

a large united front against the invaders, and to make use of the international prestige and domestic popularity of Prince Sihanouk. China also decided to immediately allocate US$5 million to Democratic Kampuchea, to use as it pleased. Ieng Sary suggested that the money should be sent to the Chinese embassy in Bangkok. Deng Xiaoping promised to replenish funds as needed and insisted on the importance of good radio contacts between Beijing and the Khmer Rouge leadership.1 According to Khmer Rouge sources, Chinese military advisers urged their Cambo dian communist comrades to avoid large-scale frontal assaults against the Vietnamese army, emphasizing the fact that men were more precious than territory. For much of 1979 and 1980, the Khmer Rouge were busy regrouping the remnants of their forces, organizing a cluster of small villages along the Thai border and conducting small raids, mostly in Western Cambodia, against isolated Vietnamese units. Many of these raids had as its main purpose the capture of light weapons, ammunition and food, since our situation was very fragile, living conditions extremely harsh and we had almost no supplies, said a Khmer Rouge defector.2 Vietnamese officers operating in Cambodia in the years following the initial invasion have said that although they knew they had the might to defeat the Khmer Rouge they felt frus trated that they could not cross the Thai border in order to, in the words of a colonel, finish the job. They also said that they and their men deployed in Western Cambodia lived in constant insecurity. In response to pressures from China and others, the Khmer Rouge abolished the