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September 3, 1997 |
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Dith Pran |
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| Dear Dith: | ||||
| Thank you for contracting me
regarding the tragedy of the July 1997 coup in Cambodia. |
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| Clearly, the Cambodia coup d’etat stage by second Prime Minister Hun Sen is a terrible setback. | ||||
| The peace process in Cambodia symbolizes by the 1991 Paris peace accords and the 1993 irrevocably, reversed. The international community’s $3 billion United States alone, evidently failed to eliminate violence violent as a tool of Cambodia politics, to the detriment of both the khmer people and the foreign governments who worked diligently to foster democracy and human rights in a land better known for its notorious "killing Field". | ||||
| I am a strong supporter of facilitating normal political and economic relations with our former adversaries in Asia. | ||||
| I supported the opening of diplomatic relation with Vietnam, and the extension of most favored nation (MFN) trade status to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. With many other members of congress, I have invested considerable time and effort in helping to secure a peace full and prosperous future for a region that has know decades of war unimaginable to most Americans. The American public remains extraordinarily wary of any further involvement in Southeast Asia. Such sentiment is understandable given our history there as well as memories of the years of Khmer rouge terror in democratic Kampuchea. The United States, however, can not turn its back on a region of critical strategic importance to the entire Far East. We must continue to work to bring peace and stability to Southeast Asia in order to deter great power intervention in the region and to fuel its citizens’ expressed aspirations, for tangible progress in economic development and democratization. | ||||
| Given my deep concern about the downfall of Cambodia democracy and the broader strategic | ||||
| ramifications of instability in southeast Asia, I successfully co-sponsored an amendment to the senate’s defense authorization bill suspending financial assistance to Cambodia until concrete steps are taken toward restoring democracy; calling on the united states it work closely with ASEAN allies to adopt measures designed t restore democracy session of the united nation security council be convened to address ways of restoring the 1991 Paris peace accords. I also met with price Ranarith to convey my condemnation of his violent overthrow, express my opposition to his reported negotiations with him and others in an international effort to help resolve the Cambodia crisis. | ||||
| I continue to monitor events in Cambodia closely and was heartened by ASEAN'S decision not to admit | ||||
| Cambodia as a member on the basic of Hun Sen’s overthrow of the elected government. While I question ASEAN'S concurrent decision to grant membership to Burma, where the ruling military junta simply ignored the results of 1990’s democratic elections and continues to violently stifle all political dissent, I believe ASEAN'S decision to deny Cambodia membership in the southeast Asian club suggests that the countries of the region, like the united states and the European union, recognize the importance of returning democracy and peace to Cambodia. | ||||
| Thank you again for contacting me regarding the situation in Cambodia. I hope that we will soon see | ||||
| the day when the unites states ca once again focus its energies on promoting development and fostering the rule of law in Cambodia, rather than trying to defend the very principle of democracy against those who would disdain it. | ||||
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