Looking back.
Phnom Penh: Samdech Techo HE, Prime Minister of Cambodia, this morning, August 27, 2022, posted on his official Facebook page, a photo of an interesting gesture between Samdech with Samdech Preah Bat Norodom Sihanouk.

Samdech Techo stated in the full text:
"This photo is very valuable for the peace process in Cambodia. This secret meeting between the King Father and me in Jakarta on June 2 and 4, 1991, accelerated the pace of finding a political solution in Cambodia through the Paris Agreement."

Paris Peace Agreement reaches 31st anniversary on October 23
Eng Reachny | Publication date 22 October 2022 | 15:19 ICT

The Paris Peace Accords signed in 1991 will reach their 31st anniversary on October 23, but analysts and politicians harbour different views regarding the historic agreement.

Meas Ny, a social development researcher, said that for over 31 years the Paris Peace Accords have been at the centre of debates between civil society and politicians and also between politicians and politicians.

“After the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved, the October 23 Paris Peace Agreement became a subject of debate among various parties. But just a few years later, the debate seems to have reached a consensus, with the government and civil society both acknowledging that the agreement is still valid, with only smaller points of disagreement,” he said.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... october-23

Cambodia Commemorates 31st Anniversary of Paris Peace Agreement
AKP Phnom Penh, October 23, 2022 --

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HE, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, expressed his congratulations to the 31st anniversary of the Paris Peace Agreement (Oct. 23, 1991-Oct. 23, 2022).
In a short message posted on his social media network this morning, Samdech Techo HE briefed some historical records towards the conclusion of the peace accord.

“This Oct. 23, 2022 is the 31st Anniversary of the Paris Peace Agreement (Oct. 23). 31 years ago, on Oct. 23, 1991, the four parties of Cambodia, including Samdech Techo HE representing the then Cambodian government, the FUNCINPEC movement represented by Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk and Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Rannariddh, the Khmer People’s National Liberation Front by Mr. Son Sann, and the Democratic Kampuchea (Pol Pot) by Mr. Khieu Samphan signed the peace accord in Paris, France in the presence of international witnesses from 18 countries, including the then UN Secretary-General to end the civil war in Cambodia,” wrote the Premier.

Prior to the conclusion of the Paris Peace Agreement on Oct. 23, 1991, there were two meetings between the former King of Cambodia, Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk, and Samdech Techo HE (the Sihanouk-HE negotiations) on Dec. 2-4, 1987 in Fère-en-Tardenois, France, and in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France on Jan. 20-21, 1988.

Despite the Paris Peace Agreement of Oct. 23, 1991, Cambodia continued to face civil war caused by the Democratic Kampuchea (Pol Pot) group.

But, Samdech Techo HE underlined, it was the Win-Win policy (launched in Pailin) that completely ended the civil war in 1998 and since then the whole Cambodia has enjoyed full peace and happiness until now.
- AKP

Long read: https://special.vietnamplus.vn/2023/01/ ... olidarity/

Paris Agreement: Lessons on independence, self-reliance, int’l solidarity

The signing of the Paris Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam on January 27, 1973, was a resounding victory of Vietnam’s revolutionary diplomacy in the Ho Chi Minh era, making important contributions to the common victory of the whole nation and, at the same time, leaving invaluable diplomatic lessons, including those related to national independence and international solidarity.

Vietnam’s anti-American resistance war and national liberation fight as well as negotiations at the Paris Conference took place in a very complicated historical context. It was at a time when the system of the socialist countries had taken shape and grew stronger and stronger, actively helping the world revolutionary movement, including the Vietnamese revolution.

3/19/2023
The Nixon Library's Vietnam Exhibition Obscures the Truth about the War's End
by Brian Robertson
[Brian Robertson holds a Ph.D. in Diplomatic History and studied in Vietnam and Cambodia. His publications have appeared in California History, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and The Washington Post.]

The Nixon Foundation held a 50th Anniversary commemoration for the Paris Peace Accords, signed in 1973 to end American involvement in the Vietnam War, and organized a panel emphasizing Nixon’s “grand strategy” in reaching the agreement. One might question the strategy implemented by Nixon—it led to the disintegration of Cambodia, a war torn Laos, North Vietnamese troops below the DMZ in South Vietnam after the 1972 Easter Offensive—all hallmarks of a failed policy. While the panel consisted of acclaimed historians such as Pierre Asselin, no one on the panel suggested “grand strategy” ended the war. Scholarship by Nixon historians Jeffrey Kimball and Carolyn Eisenberg, moreover, shows that Nixon made major concessions to China and the Soviet Union in several failed attempts to end the war.

The Nixon Foundation’s marketing of the Paris Peace Accords as the result of “grand strategy,” made me curious about how they treat the war in the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. A joint production of the Nixon Foundation and the National Archives and Records Administration, the Vietnam exhibit is one of the first exhibits visitors to the library go through. Other scholars have criticized the exhibit for placing Nixon above the culture wars of the era, but I found Nixon’s voice was nowhere to be found.

At the front of the gallery, a sign invites visitors to come to their own conclusions about Nixon’s life and career. Was Nixon a “warmonger,” the sign asks. The gallery then proceeds into the turmoil of the 1960s and the Vietnam era, with Nixon above the fray, and continues into the war he inherited. The exhibit is heavy on American P.O.W.s, giving the impression that Nixon fought the war to win their release. While there are several placards and photographs, there are significant gaps in the presentation of Nixon’s Vietnam policy.
Full article: https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/185268