55. The delegation of the Kingdom of Cambodia, which, in accordance with established tradition, is participating in the work of the General Assembly as it does every year, is called upon today to set forth its country’s views on the problems facing it and on those problems that concern all of us. We do so with the equanimity that results from the enjoyment of absolute political independence and with the sole desire to serve the ideals that justify the existence of the United Nations.
56. First of all, I should like to draw your attention to the situation of Cambodia and the 7 million Khmers that make up its population. As you know, we are one of the few nations that became States at the beginning of the history of mankind, and we created one of the most resplendent civilizations of Asia. Over the course of 16 centuries, we have learnt a good deal about the development of societies, and I believe that our past experience, our present situation, and our open-hearted nature entitle us to speak frankly about the burning questions of the time.
57. The threat hanging over Cambodia has not lessened; on the contrary, it has increased during the course of the past year. The propaganda of the United States and some of its allies still refuses to recognize the reality of Cambodian neutrality.. Thus, we are accused of being a secret ally of the Viet-Namese resistance and the party mainly responsible for the set-backs experienced by the invading American troops in South Viet-Nam. Despite our protests and notwithstanding all the contrary reports of the International Supervisory and Control Commission it is alleged, both orally and in writing, that Cambodia is the privileged sanctuary and the great logistical base of the Viet-Namese popular forces. We must therefore emphasize that the United States is resorting to falsification in order to justify the aggression of its armed forces against our country.
58. I would remind you that the civilian population of Cambodian frontier villages is still being subjected to terrorist attacks by the American Air Force, to artillery bombardments and to the fire of infiltrated American and South Viet-Namese units. Yet the American command has never been able to produce any evidence of damage to Viet-Namese troops allegedly stationed on Khmer territory, and in every case the victims of these attacks have been Cambodian peasants, women and children.
59. The American Government’s refusal to acknowledge its full responsibility for these attacks and to accept the normal consequences seems to us to be a grave matter in international law. For instance, following the massacre of fourteen Khmer peasants by two American helicopters on 29 June 1968, a massacre that was officially reported to the United Nations, the United States rejected the Cambodian protest which it described as unfounded. Such an attitude on the part of a country that has subscribed to the United Nations Charter should by rights be denounced by those who oppose a return to the practices that led to the Second World War.
60. In order to put a stop to the territorial ambitions of Thailand and the Saigon régime, Cambodia asked all countries for a declaration acknowledging its present frontiers. Those frontiers are certainly not favourable to us either geographically or ethnically, nor do they correspond any better to our juridical and historical rights, but they do have the merit that they exist, that in the case of the Khmer-Thailand frontier they have been fixed by an international treaty confirmed by the International Court of Justice, and that in the case of the frontier separating Cambodia from Viet-Nam and Laos they were delimited by France. Thus it would be sensible of both sides to accept the situation as it is and to put an end to those continual frontier changes that for centuries have accompanied the ups and downs of history.
61. Most of the countries interested in Asian problems have finally recognized the justice and logic of the Cambodian position and have made the declaration we asked for. But the Saigon régime still persists in its senseless territorial demands on Cambodia, while Thailand still declines our proposal to sign a joint declaration of respect for our common frontier. The American Government, in turn, lends unequivocal support to its allies in Saigon and Bangkok by refusing to recognize the permanent character of Cambodia’s frontiers. So I must remind them now that Cambodia, already reduced to its simplest geographical terms, will never yield an inch of its national territory, and will never under any pretext whatsoever enter into discussions on so-called frontier rectifications.
62. Unqualified recognition of Cambodia’s present frontiers is and will continue to be the primary condition for the establishment or the maintenance of normal diplomatic relations with any foreign State. In the letter and in the spirit of our policy of neutrality, we are most anxious to create bonds of friendship with all the countries of the world, but it is obvious that we cannot regard as friends those who directly or by implication support the expansionist policy of our neighbours. For us Cambodians, independence and territorial integrity form a single whole upon which our survival depends, and they are not therefore negotiable.
63. In the introduction to his annual report to the General Assembly the Secretary-General of the United Nations notes that the world is faced with a marked decline in international morality and that States are coming to rely ta an increasing extent on force and violence in settling their international disputes. On the basis of that admirably lucid analysis of the current situation, His Excellency U Thant goes on to say that “...if the principle of non-intervention in the free destiny of nations is not re-established, the future of international peace and security itself is indeed a very dark one” [A/7201/Add.1, para. 174].
64. The Cambodian delegation shares that view and would like to point out that ten years ago, from this very platform [756th meeting], the Cambodian Head of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, drew the attention of the United Nations to the serious consequences of intervention by the great Powers in the affairs of other countries. Alas, we are compelled to observe that intervention, not only political and economic but also military, has become so common that it provokes nothing more than purely formal protests, either in the United Nations or by international public opinion. Indeed, it would appear that violations of a country’s sovereignty today inspire nothing more than disillusioned reactions that amount to an acknowledgement that might is right.
65. Like His Excellency U Thant, we are convinced that, if a great Power only has to claim that its security is being threatened in order to arrogate to itself the right to invade another country, the outlook for the world is black indeed. This habit of talking about security is getting more and more absurd and offers only a very flimsy disguise for colonialist ambitions. Do we not hear the United States claim that its security is threatened by Viet-Nam and, following that eminent example, do we not hear Thailand, protected by its powerful army and by the American occupation forces, assert that 35,000 poorly equipped Cambodian soldiers are a formidable threat to it?
66. Faithful to its policy of peace and true independence, Cambodia has never ceased to condemn foreign intervention in the affairs of others. We believe that every country has the right to full sovereignty, that every people is free to adopt the institutions and the régime of its choice, and that no one is entitled to interfere — especially by armed force - in the domestic affairs of an independent nation. We are told that the United Nations was founded in order that never again would one country impose its will on another, weaker country; well, today we have to recognize that that fundamental principle is being deliberately ignored.
67. The division of the world into two ideological camps, into zones of influence for the super Powers, remains the drama of our age and a tragedy for countries which, like Cambodia and many other non-aligned countries, cannot accept any restriction on their independence. Nationalism is undoubtedly, and will be for a long time to come, the basis on which all countries, large and small, must develop. To deny that, or to attempt to break it by force or any other means can only provoke interminable disputes, or even that third world war that threatens us. Consequently, we believe that the great Powers must have the wisdom to understand that they have neither a monopoly of pride and national dignity nor the right to interfere in the affairs of another country on any pretext whatsoever.
68. This problem of non-intervention leads the Cambodian delegation to denounce once again the invasion of South Viet-Nam by United States armed forces and the war, unprecedented in history, that is being waged against the Viet-Namese people. The representative of the United States has stood on this platform [1677th meeting] and proclaimed his country’s peaceful intentions. But that was only words; the reality, in all its horror and brutality, is the destruction of a country and the genocide of a people by a foreign army.
69. There is no justification for American aggression against South Viet-Nam. There is no justification for the so-called limited bombings of North Viet-Nam by the American Air Force. There is no justification for the so-called reciprocal de-escalation measures demanded from the Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam by the American Government. And we would add that it is quite wrong that United States representatives should claim the right to speak for the Viet-Namese people.
70. The American argument that North Viet-Nam is the aggressor against South Viet-Nam is not only mistaken, it is contrary to real facts. It must be remembered that the origin of the Viet-Nam war was the legitimate revolt of the South Viet-Namese people against the dictatorship of Ngo Dinh Diem and the illegal intervention by the American armed forces in that domestic dispute. It is the United States that deliberately transformed the civil war in South Viet-Nam into a war of independence by the Viet-Namese people against a foreign invader. The representatives of the United States assure us that they have no colonial ambitions and that their only aim is the welfare of Viet-Nam and the Viet-Namese. Unfortunately, these fine sentiments are reflected in the wholesale murder of the civilian population, in untold sufferings inflicted on a people, and in the methodical destruction of a country under the pretence of helping it.
71. Cambodia lends its total moral, political and diplomatic support to the national Viet-Namese resistance represented by the National Front for the Liberation of South Viet-Nam and the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. For us, this is a question of principle and of respect for the United Nations Charter, which recognizes that all countries, without distinction as to political régime, possess the sacred right to independence. It is for the Viet-Namese, and the Viet-Namese only, to settle their domestic affairs as they choose, and any foreign intervention in those affairs is and must be condemned.
72. The only solution to the Viet-Nam war is the withdrawal of American troops and bases from the southern part of the country and, of course, the cessation of the bombings and other acts of war against the North. We consider that the political programme of the National Liberation Front and the four points of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam constitute the only basis on which it will be possible to put an end to the conflict. It must be added that the Viet-Namese position is the same as any country in the world would adopt in similar circumstances.
73. The opening of the American-Viet-Namese negotiations in Paris raised hopes in every kind of people and in every kind of country. Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that no agreement is in sight and that none will come in sight so long as the United States continues to demand reciprocal concessions in exchange for halting its aggression and a limitation of South Viet-Nam’s independence.
74. The United States tries to justify its invasion of South Viet-Nam by maintaining that the so-called “Government” of Saigon requested its assistance. Now, every journalist and international observer, including the Americans, has seen for himself that that Government has no popular backing and no legitimacy, and that it exists only by the will of the United States and thanks to the protection of the American armed forces. The truth is that, if left to itself, the Saigon police régime would be blown away like a straw in the wind, as was every régime imposed on occupied Europe during the Second World War.
75. It is obvious that the United States must sooner or later acknowledge the fact that it is powerless against Viet-Namese patriotism and that the fiction of the representative character of the Saigon Government must be abandoned. We are already hearing suggestions here and there that a coalition government should be imposed on South Viet-Nam in which the principal role would be played by men pledged to America. However, those suggestions are completely unrealistic, for the form and composition of the future South Viet-Namese régime cannot be decided from outside. Under infinitely more favourable conditions, an international conference encouraged the three Laotian parties to set up a similar kind of fictitious coalition government, and even ratified their agreement. We know today what happened to it.
76. Let us repeat it once again: the domestic political solution to the Viet-Namese affair is a matter for the Viet-Namese people alone, who must be left free to settle their differences by negotiation or by force of arms. Lamentable as they may be, there have always been civil wars, and the Viet-Namese have as much right to have a civil war in 1968 as the Americans had from 1861 to 1865. It must, however, be observed that civil wars are shorter and generally less bloody when foreign countries adopt a position of strict neutrality vis-a-vis the parties involved.
77. Indeed, the sole aspect of the Viet-Nam war that concerns the United Nations and other international organizations is the ill-considered interference of half a million American soldiers in South Viet-Nam. But the General Assembly, at its present session, could play a useful role if it required the United States, in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the Charter, to terminate immediately its aggression and to negotiate with the National Liberation Front over arrangements for withdrawing its troops.
78. The United Nations should also devote some attention to the Korean question. Korea was divided up by the great Powers just like Viet-Nam, not because it was a conquered country being punished for having taken part in the Second World War on the side of the dictators, but because it was a victim of the spirit of Yalta.
79. Cambodia is asking the Assembly to reflect on the injustice caused by the artificially maintained division of the Korean nation—with the agreement of the United Nations. Now, the United Nations has no political jurisdiction whatsoever in this matter, which is the responsibility of the Korean people, and the Commission which claims to be dealing with it, but has no legal basis, should be dissolved at once. Today the only obstacle to Korean unification is the presence of the army of occupation and American military bases in the southern part of the country. It is not for us to say how this reunification would be achieved, but we have good reason to believe that it would be by essentially peaceful means.
80. To perpetuate the division of Korea by the American occupation of South Korea is a clear violation of the national rights of the Korean people. If the United Nations is truly faithful to its ideals, it must straight away ask the United States to end this prolonged occupation and allow this free country to decide as it wishes.
81. A further important question is the restoration to the People’s Republic of China of its seat in the United Nations, and in all United Nations bodies. It is incongruous and even scandalous — as every delegate here will agree — that the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek should be held to be the authentic representatives of 800 million Chinese. We believe it is time to put an end to that farce, which has gone on far too long.
82. Once again this year, the United States and its dependents are bringing out their usual arguments to oppose China’s presence in the United Nations. Powers and countries, which use their armed might to impose a political and economic domination on others, set up military bases everywhere and send their navies into the seven seas, now accuse China of threatening world peace. Yet we know that there is not a single Chinese soldier and not a single Chinese military base outside China. Is it not the height of absurdity to maintain that China is a warmonger and that the United States is pacifist?
83. American imperialism, increasingly arrogant and brutal, is the only danger at the present time. Everyone knows that the United States has the hypocrisy to invoke freedom and democracy to justify its foreign aggressions, its interventions, its interferences. China spreads its revolutionary ideas, but no foreign country is forced to accept them and every country can reject them, as Cambodia does, without being subjected to military or other pressures. It would be entirely normal, therefore, that our General Assembly should judge these matters more equitably, according to the real facts.
84. The truth — and we trust it is a truth that will finally prevail — is that the People’s Republic of China, a nation of 800 million people, are being kept out of the United Nations in flagrant violation of the principles upon which the United Nations was founded. We must ponder a fact often quoted by the Cambodian Head of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, that “the United Nations needs China far more than China needs a seat in the United Nations". The United States must, however, restore to China without delay the Chinese province of Taiwan which they are occupying in violation of every right, in collusion with the Chiang Kai-shek administration.
85. The Cambodian delegation wishes to express its deep concern at the increasing difficulties encountered by the developing countries. We are grieved to note that the abyss that divides the third world from. the highly developed countries grows wider every year. There is no point in quoting figures and statistics; everyone is familiar with them.
86. Of course, political and ideological antagonisms justifiably give rise to concern for the maintenance of world peace. But the increasingly sharp division between over-developed and under-developed countries is infinitely more tragic, since, at the present rate, by the end of the century we shall have a world of six thousand million inhabitants, 80 per cent of them under-developed, underfed, even starving, and 20 per cent living in extraordinary affluence. Obviously, any peaceful coexistence between those two groups will be impossible.
87. For its part, Cambodia enjoys an enviable position; it is free from and will continue free from famine or poverty, and keeps progressing in excellent conditions. In addition, our Buddhist society has the wisdom not to aspire to material wealth beyond its reach. But as a third-world country, we must draw the attention of the United Nations to the heart-rending problems of under-development, for as our Head of State pointed out, “the peace of the world and the future of mankind depend on how those problems are solved".
88. We do not intend to propose any solutions, but merely to note that the development revolution has yet to come. That revolution will come with or in spite of the great developed Powers, which we must refer to as imperialists so long as they regard the third world as a source of wealth for themselves and for themselves alone, or so long as they isolate themselves within a selfish indifference. Those Powers must have the wisdom to realize that a world divided into rich always growing richer and poor always growing poorer is doomed to annihilation.
89. The failure of the second session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was due to political disputes and even more to the desire of the highly developed countries to evade the essential questions such as third-world industrialization, stabilization or re-evaluation of the price of tropical produce, ocean freight rates, and so on. It is revealing, too, that on that occasion the great Powers confirmed the reduction in their assistance to developing countries.
90. Cambodia, which has chosen to help itself and rely on its own strength, has no illusions about so-called disinterested foreign assistance, and little belief in international solidarity for progress. It is content to emphasize the illogical and immoral character of the gigantic efforts expended by some on the conquest of outer space or the establishment of nuclear arsenals, while hundreds of millions of men lack the minimum required to sustain life or are suffering from endemic diseases that should be a thing of the past.
91. A general and complete disarmament would free vast resources for development. But that disarmament is further away than ever, despite the endless palaver and declarations of intent that no one believes.
92. Being fully alive to the facts of a world in which a very precarious peace is maintained only by the balance of the forces of destruction, the Cambodian delegation has submitted to this session a limited proposal [A/7183 and Add.1] the adoption of which would offer a gleam of hope for the future. It asks, briefly, that every country in the world should set aside for peace the amount of one day’s expenditure on war or preparations for war. The funds thus released could be administered by the United Nations and devoted to emergency relief in countries suffering from the scourge of war, famine, epidemics, and so on. We earnestly hope that this modest proposal will attract the support of all delegations since that would show that the United Nations retains the hope of realizing the ideals it proclaims. In present circumstances, a gesture of international solidarity would have a special significance and would restore to the United Nations some of the confidence once reposed in it.
93. In conclusion, may I say that we welcome the election to the Presidency of the General Assembly of His Excellency Mr. Arenales. The Cambodian delegation extends to him its congratulations and expresses its best wishes for the success of the work of the present session.