Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XXII, Southeast Asia and the Pacific

37. Telegram From the Department of State to the White House¹

Washington, January 7, 1979, 2231Z

4504. From Secretary, for the President. Subject: (S) Vietnam-Kampuchea Conflict.

1. (S–Entire text).

2. Hanoi Radio and Hanoi’s Kampuchean front organization claim that the front has seized control of Phnom Penh. Although our intelligence cannot confirm this claim, Phnom Penh Radio of the Pol Pot regime is off the air and previous intelligence pointed to the likelihood of Phnom Penh’s fall. According to press reports, Pol Pot regime leaders have moved into the countryside to conduct guerrilla operations as they previously planned.

3. Former Chief of State Sihanouk and former Premier Penn Nouth who have been inactive in Kampuchean politics since 1976 are currently in Peking but we are uncertain if any of the other Pol Pot regime leaders have left the country. Sihanouk and Penn Nouth have been entertained at a banquet hosted by Vice Premier Teng. Teng condemned the Vietnamese, made little mention of the Pol Pot/Ieng Sary leadership, but paid tribute to both Sihanouk and Penn Nouth as world-known statesmen and outstanding patriots. In his banquet statement, Sihanouk also condemned the Vietnamese but he cited the achievements made by the Kampuchean Communist Party led by Pol Pot in its war of liberation earlier. Sihanouk is scheduled to make a major statement to the public on January 8 in the Great Hall of the People before he comes to New York as head of the Pol Pot government’s delegation to the Security Council.

4. We are reiterating to the press the message I sent yesterday to Huang Hua and Gromyko expressing our interest in peace and stability and an independent state system in Southeast Asia and calling upon all like-minded countries to urge restraint, work toward a withdrawal of foreign forces from Kampuchea, and act to ensure the integrity of all frontiers in the East Asian region. We are stressing our concern about any expansion of the geographical area of the conflict.²

Vance

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P840125–1127. Secret; Niact Immediate; Nodis. Drafted by Dennis G. Harter (EA/VLC); cleared by Roger Sullivan (EA), Stephen R. Lyne (EA/VLC), Leo Wollemborg (S/S), George H. Mitchell (S), and Donald C. Tice (P); approved by Evelyn Colbert (EA).
2. The messages to Gromyko and Huang Hua were transmitted in telegram 4489 to Moscow, January 7, and telegram 4490 to Beijing, January 7. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P840171–0316 and P840171–0427)