U.S. Aide Sees Viet Image Loss in Cambodia

PEKING —  Vietnam has suffered a “substantial propaganda defeat” as the result of its recent military offensive against Cambodian rebels near the Cambodia-Thailand border, a high-ranking U.S. diplomat told reporters here Wednesday.

Paul D. Wolfowitz, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said that although the drive by Vietnamese forces has deprived the resistance groups of their territorial foothold inside Cambodia, the action has been a propaganda defeat for Vietnam because it undercut Hanoi’s assertions that its troops are in Cambodia only to prevent the Khmer Rouge from regaining power.

The Khmer Rouge, a Communist faction that governed Cambodia under Pol Pot from 1975 until 1979, was ousted from Phnom Penh shortly after Vietnamese forces invaded in late 1978 and set up a puppet regime.

Blamed for widespread atrocities during its time in power, the Khmer Rouge is one of three groups in the present coalition of Cambodian resistance forces. A second faction is headed by Prince Norodom Sihanouk, and the third is the Khmer People’s National Liberation Front.

No U.S. Arms Aid

Wolfowitz said Vietnam’s military action near the Thailand border has demonstrated that its purpose was not merely to counter the Khmer Rouge but also to prevent the development of the other two factions, which he termed the “non-Communist resistance.”

“It was never the aim of the resistance to hold fixed positions against Vietnamese tanks.”

He added that the United States is not providing weapons of any kind to the resistance groups. Furthermore, he said, “We do not provide any assistance of any kind to the Khmer Rouge, whose atrocities we abhor.”

He said that in order to carry out the recent offensive, Vietnam was required to bring two additional army divisions into Cambodia. “After six years in Cambodia, they are still facing enormous problems there,” he asserted.

The assistant secretary met with reporters here after holding two days of meetings with high-ranking Chinese policy-makers, including Foreign Minister Wu Xueqian.

On Jan. 29, Wu held out the possibility that China might take military action against Vietnam, as it did in 1979, and Wolfowitz was asked what the U.S. attitude would be if China did so.

He said the United States would take no position. “That’s a matter between China and Vietnam.”