Democratic Kampuchea as a Non-Aligned State

When the Khmer Rouge stood victorious on the streets of Phnom Penh in April 1975 they constituted neither a centralised, efficient political party nor a military force.^[890] Their victory was the haphazard by-product of the culmi­nation of a series of concurrent revolutions, armed conflicts and geopolitical machinations.

Once in power the Khmer Rouge never achieved or received widespread support. They did however enjoy, initially, a certain level of backing, if only because the populace hoped for an end to conflict and a return to normalcy - something the Khmer Rouge in fact promised. What they ultimately deliv­ered was anything but salvation. On paper Democratic Kampuchea was a ‘People's State', meaning that all men and women over the age of 18 were to participate freely in democratic governance. In practice, power was monopolised by a few key individuals who formed the Standing Committee of the CPK - dominated by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary.1^[892] Over the next three years, eight months and twenty days the CPK subjected the people of Cambodia to forced labour, starvation wages, horrendous living condi­tions and widespread terror.

On 14 December 1975 a constitution was drafted for Democratic Kampuchea; to the world, this event signalled the arrival of the Communist Party of Kampuchea on the world stage. Administratively, the constitution declared that Democratic Kampuchea was ‘an independent, united, peaceful, neutral, non-aligned, sovereign and democratic state with territorial integrity'.^[893] From the outset, therefore, it was clear that, at least rhetorically, the CPK adhered to the position advocated by other interna­tional members of the Non-Alignment Movement.

In the early years of the Cold War representatives of former colonial powers sought to forge an independent path, free from the dictates of either American capitalism or Soviet socialism.^[894] Known as the Non-Aligned Movement, this became a powerful political force that proclaimed a commitment to nationalism, the preservation of national dignity and the realization of national power.^[895] More precisely, the Non-Aligned Movement connoted an alliance with the forces of regionalism, national independence, the struggle for a new economic order, social and economic progress, and self-reliance.^[896]

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the aims of the Non-Aligned Movement broadened considerably. Participants at the 1974 Conference held in Algeria for example called for efforts to create a new economic world order. This attempt was predicated on a crucial distinction that was made between ‘anti­colonialism' and ‘anti-imperialism'. As Singham explains,

Until the end of World War II, the political form of imperialist exploitation was colonialism in that it sought outright control over the subject peoples of Asia, Africa, and the Americas... World War II, however, resulted in the great awakening of colonial powers who proceeded to demand and obtain political independence for their countries...

Thus, for many members of the Non-Aligned Movement, it was necessary to identify a path towards development that did not result in a form of neo­colonialism. This meant that states were to avoid becoming entangled in asymmetric foreign and trade relations.

In August 1976 the Fifth Summit Conference of Non-Aligned Countries was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In attendance were representatives of Democratic Kampuchea. The context of the Fifth Summit is important in understanding subsequent CPK policy. Throughout the early to mid 1970s many liberal economic strategists and financial institutions advocated the view that developing countries could and should pay for essential imports by borrowing extensively from private banks; in turn, numerous developing countries borrowed sizable amounts to engage in the importation of indus­trial goods.^[898] High levels of indiscriminate borrowing contributed to a world­wide debt crisis - a problem that was compounded by the decision of OPEC to raise the price of oil.^[899] It is no surprise, therefore, that participants at the Colombo Conference, including representatives of the CPK, debated at length alternative paths to economic growth.

The attitudes and positions of the CPK in response to the Fifth Summit are revealed in a text later published by the Embassy of Democratic Kampuchea in Berlin, East Germany.^[900] According to this document, the Summit had ‘achieved brilliant victories', including the adoption of a number of policies:

which reinforce the principles of non-alignment, enhance the role of this Movement and confirm the resolute solidarity of the non-aligned countries in the common struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism and against the interferences, interventions, aggressions and against the expansionism of the rich great powers, for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right of each people to determine the destiny of its nation by itself in full independence and sovereignty.^[901]

The text continues that:

The people of Kampuchea warmly hails the victories of the Fifth Summit Conference of Non-Aligned Countries which consolidate the non-aligned principles, enhance the non-aligned movement and strengthen the solidarity within its ranks... In contributing to the revolutionary struggle of the peoples of the world, to the liberation struggle of the brotherly countries of the Third World and to the strengthening of the cause of the great non­aligned family, the people of Kampuchea is determined to carry out the revolution successfully in its own country, to build up its economy and edify its country according to the principles of independence, sovereignty and self- 28

reliance.

Two months later Ieng Sary, deputy prime minister in charge of foreign affairs, spoke before the 31st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Following an opening welcome statement, Ieng Sary explained that:

The 31st Regular Session of our General Assembly takes place at a time when all the peoples of the world and especially the peoples of the non-aligned countries and of the Third World are waging a victorious struggle every­where against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, Zionism and all forms of foreign interference, aggression, expansionism and exploitation, for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, for the right to determine their own destiny and for the establishment of a new international economic order on the basis of justice and equality.^[902]

He continued that:

Dozens of new independent states are arising from the ruins of colonialism, determined to engage in the struggle to defend and consolidate their political and economic independence, their sovereignty and territorial integrity against all acts of domination, exploitation, interference and aggression on the part of the rich great powers... They call forcefully for the establishment of new relations between the peoples and nations, in accordance with the significant changes which have taken place in the world, and based on the principles of mutual respect of independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, equality, mutual advantage, non-interference in the internal affairs of other states and the right of every people to manage its own affairs.³⁰

Democratic Kampuchea, Ieng Sary explained, stood by these principles. Moreover, the people of Kampuchea had participated actively in the struggle against colonialism and foreign aggression. ‘Together with all the other peoples', he declared, Democratic Kampuchea ‘has actively taken part in the common struggle against imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism in order to liberate itself from all forms of domination, oppression and exploitation'.

Ieng Sary presented Democratic Kampuchea as not so much an isolated, autarkic society, but rather an independent, sovereign state that would interact on the global stage on its own terms. Viewed from this vantage point, the repeated phrases of ‘self-reliance' and ‘self-mastery' that appear throughout CPK documents take on a new interpretation. As Ieng Sary explained:

Democratic Kampuchea will always continue to follow a policy of indepen­dence, peace, neutrality and non-alignment... As a non-aligned country, Democratic Kampuchea respects and conscientiously practises the principles of non-alignment... Democratic Kampuchea neither participates in any alliance nor in any regional association. She resists the establishment of any foreign military bases on her territory and all forms of intervention and interference with her internal affairs. Our people resolutely defends its independence, national sovereignty, territorial integrity and its inalienable right to determine its own destiny, for which it has fought so hard and sacrificed so much. At the same time, Democratic Kampuchea continues her efforts to establish and maintain close relations with her neighbours and with all the other countries of the world, based on the strict mutual respect for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, of the principle of equality and mutual advantages.^[903]

Democratic Kampuchea's allegiance to self-reliance and self-mastery would extend to its participation in the global economy. Ieng Sary clarified that

Problems of economic development remain the major preoccupation of our world... [The] present international economic order [is] based on relations of domination, exploitation and dependence [and has] enabled the developed countries to enrich themselves very rapidly and to live in superfluity and wastage, whereas the developing countries get poorer from day to day, and having acquired their political independence, still remain confronted with the dramatic problems of misery, malnutrition, hunger, sickness and illiteracy.^[904]

Moreover,

The terms of trade continue to deteriorate for these developing countries, because the basic products and raw materials they possess are constantly devaluated. Their indebtment with all the resulting financial implications is growing in a tragic manner... [and] these unequal and unjust relations have led to the importation of the economic and financial crisis of the capitalist world with all its consequences, especially inflation, rising prices, devalua­tion of currency and a sinking standard of living for the population.^[905]