What this lesson teaches
I can judge how ASEAN responded to the Cold War in Southeast Asia, and why.
Syllabus 8838, Theme III, Learning Outcomes. evaluate ASEAN's responses to the development of the Cold War in Southeast Asia
Make a guess
Vietnam invaded Cambodia in December 1978. How do you think ASEAN responded?
- It accepted the new government as legitimate.
- It led a diplomatic campaign at the UN against the occupation.
- It sent an army to drive Vietnam out of Cambodia.
Show the answer
It led a diplomatic campaign at the UN against the occupation.
ASEAN condemned the use of force and kept Cambodia's UN seat away from the Vietnamese-backed government.
ASEAN led the diplomatic campaign against Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia, which was its greatest Cold War success, though members differed.
When Vietnam invaded Cambodia in December 1978, ASEAN condemned the use of force against a sovereign state. Thailand became a frontline state, with Vietnamese troops on its border and hundreds of thousands of refugees.
ASEAN led an annual campaign at the United Nations calling for the withdrawal of foreign forces. It organised the International Conference on Kampuchea in 1981 and helped form the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea in 1982, which kept Cambodia's UN seat.
Members did not fully agree. Thailand and Singapore took a hard line. Indonesia and Malaysia feared that China, not Vietnam, was the greater long-term threat, as their 1980 Kuantan Principle showed. ASEAN kept unity by compromise.
From 1988, Indonesia hosted the Jakarta Informal Meetings, bringing the Cambodian parties together. The final settlement, the Paris Agreements of 1991, followed changes in great-power relations, but ASEAN had kept the issue alive and shaped the terms.
- UN campaign
- Annual resolutions calling for withdrawal from 1979.
- International Conference on Kampuchea
- 1981.
- CGDK
- 1982.
- Jakarta Informal Meetings
- 1988 and 1989.
Real examples to use
UN vote, 14 November 1979
ASEAN's resolution calling for foreign forces to leave Cambodia passed 91 to 21, with 29 abstentions. Similar resolutions passed every year through the 1980s.
Kuantan, March 1980
Suharto and Malaysia's Hussein Onn met in Kuantan and sought a settlement that would also limit Chinese influence, showing that members did not see the threat the same way.
Jakarta Informal Meeting, July 1988
Indonesia brought the Cambodian parties and Vietnam together for the first time at Bogor, opening the talks that led to the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1991.
Worked example: Assessing ASEAN's role in resolving the war
How constructive was ASEAN's role?
- Success: kept Vietnam isolated diplomatically; built the resistance coalition.
- Success: hosted talks through the Jakarta Informal Meetings.
- Limit: depended on China and the USA for pressure on Vietnam.
- Limit: the settlement came after Soviet and Chinese policies changed.
Watch out for this
ASEAN fought a war to remove Vietnam from Cambodia.
ASEAN used diplomacy, not force. Its tools were UN votes, conferences and support for a resistance coalition.
Check your understanding
What was the Kuantan Principle of 1980?
- A plan for an ASEAN army to drive Vietnamese forces out of Cambodia
- An agreement to admit Vietnam into ASEAN once it left Cambodia
- A sign that Indonesia and Malaysia saw China as the bigger long-term threat
Show the answer
A sign that Indonesia and Malaysia saw China as the bigger long-term threat
Right. It showed differences within ASEAN.