TNAG-1529-FCO40-2093-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1986 — Page 6

PEOPLE OT LAMD001a.

instead vietnam continues to violate their

fundamental rights and to endanger their culture and national

identity.

The Twelve have no intention of contributing to the

re-establishment of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. We share

the collective abhorrence felt by the world community at the

terrible abuses inflicted by Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge

followers in the past. But this provides no justification for

Vietnam'g illegal occupation of its smaller neighbour for

nearly eight years or its imposition of an illegitimate regime.

The Cambodian Resistance continues to challenge the Vietnamese

forces. The possibility of establishing a free and pluralist

society in Cambodia still exists.

The aim must be to achieve a negotiated settlement of the

Cambodian question, not one imposed by force of arms. For this

reason, the Twelve have supported the efforts of the countries

of the Association of South East Asian Nations and other parties

to find such a solution. It is lamentable that Vietnam has

consistently rejected the peace proposals that have been put to

it: this year, for example, Hanoi and the Government installed

in Phnom Penh turned down out of hand the eight point proposal

put forward by Prince Sihanouk in March. The Twelve have called

upon Vietnam to reconsider this position and we do so again

today. We continue to believe that the Declaration of the

International Conference on Kampuchea offers the best basis for

a settlement. But we have yet to see an indication of any

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