ANGKOR and I

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25 Towards Peace in Cambodia The Cambodian crisis was not a mere domestic issue or cold war between east and west camps, an intricately knit Sino-Soviet or Sino-Vietnamese global political affair. The Heng Samrin government was backed by Vietnam and the East European nations close to the Soviet Union, while Japan, China, and the nations of ASEAN espoused the Pol Pot faction, the Sihanouk faction, and the Son Sann faction (the three factions comprising the coalition government). Consequently, the wishes of the local Cambodians, those who were most victimized and who desired the return of peace more than anything else, were ignored. The breakthrough in this situation occurred in 1987, when Japan, Australia, Indonesia and other nations toiled behind the scenes at peace parleys. In December of that year a peace conference involving the Heng Samrin government and the three-party coalition government was realized in Paris, and peace was established in Cambodia in 1993. Since 1987, with Prime Minister Hun Sen and His Royal Highness Sihanouk, Japan had been making active efforts both informally and officially, to smoothen the situation for peace talks in Cambodia. In 1990 the Tokyo talks between Sihanouk and Hun Sen were realized, and in October 1991 the Paris Conference for ‘Peace in Cambodia’ was held. According to this peace agreement, the Heng Samrin regime, which had all along been viewed as a puppet government was freed from a situation of global isolation, and a Supreme National Council (SNC) comprising the four factions, was established the same year. Thereupon, Imagawa Yukio assumed office as Ambassador of Japan, and for the first time in 17 years diplomatic relations were set up with Japan. In 1992, Akashi Yasushi was appointed as the representative of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), and effective peacekeeping operations (PKO) led to general elections under UN surveillance. Also, with regard to the return of the Cambodian refugees to their home countries, we need