Chapter 2 CHAPTER II THE PARIS CONFERENCE ON CAMBODIA

At 7 o'clock in the evening on October 23, 1991, at the Creber International Conference Center in Paris, a grand signing ceremony was being held.People from various parties in Cambodia and foreign ministers from 18 countries, a total of 30 representatives, as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations de Cuellar, represented their respective factions in the five languages ​​of English, Chinese, French, Russian, and Cambodian. And country, signed their names.They are: all 12 members of the Supreme Council headed by Prince Sihanouk, the chairman of the Supreme National Council of Cambodia, Australian Foreign Minister Evans, Brunei Foreign Minister Bolkiah, Canadian Foreign Minister McDougal, French Foreign Minister Dima, India Foreign Minister Solanki, Indonesian Foreign Minister Alatas, Japanese Foreign Minister Nakayama Taro, Laos Foreign Minister Ben Sipasser, Malaysian Foreign Minister Badawi, Philippine Foreign Minister Mangelups, Singaporean Foreign Minister Huang Kancheng, Thai Foreign Minister Asa Sarasin, Soviet Foreign Minister Pan Jin, British Foreign Secretary Hurd, US Secretary of State Baker, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Chin, and Yugoslav Foreign Minister Lonchar.

As foreign minister, on behalf of China, I also signed the document. On that day, what everyone solemnly signed was the Cambodia Peace Agreement reached at the Paris International Conference on Cambodia (Note). The Cambodian issue was a hot issue that affected the international situation in the 1980s and had a great impact on China's foreign relations.The signing of the agreement is a major event of historic significance.As I noted at the press conference following the signing ceremony, it marked the end of the 13-year war in Cambodia.The signing of the peace agreement will allow Cambodia to restore its independence and sovereignty, which is conducive to peace and stability in Southeast Asia, and also creates an international example for the peaceful resolution of regional conflicts.

At 9 o'clock that night, the Palace of Versailles in the southwestern suburbs of Paris was brightly lit. To celebrate the signing of the Cambodian peace agreement, the host, France, held a grand celebration dinner here and invited all the participants to attend. The Palace of Versailles, an ancient palace that has gone through more than 200 years of vicissitudes, has witnessed the historical moment of the end of the First World War.At this moment, the joy of witnessing another war extinguished.The man who was most in high spirits that night was Prince Sihanouk.He delivered a very long speech impromptu, expressing his heartfelt thanks to the host France and all countries that have contributed to the settlement of the Cambodian issue, and expressing the determination and sincerity of solidarity and cooperation on behalf of all parties in Cambodia.The banquet is always full of cheerful and joyful atmosphere.The foreign ministers attending the banquet also delivered impromptu and passionate speeches, expressing their gratification and appreciation for the peaceful resolution of a regional conflict issue through international efforts, and praised Prince Sihanouk for his efforts to achieve peace in Cambodia. contribution.When the banquet came to an end, the participants were not at all tired and did not want to leave.Everyone took photos together, talked enthusiastically, and signed each other's menus in circles as a souvenir.It wasn't until midnight that the dinner ended in a sound of mutual respect.

The signing of the Cambodia peace agreement, as a successful example of peaceful resolution of regional conflicts through international cooperation, has been recorded in the annals of history, but for China, it has more and far-reaching significance. The origin of the Cambodian issue can be traced back to the 1970s. It directly affected Sino-Soviet relations and became one of the "three major obstacles" to the normalization of Sino-Soviet relations. In 1975, after Vietnam won the War of Resistance Against the U.S., the then Vietnamese leaders, with the support of the Soviet Union, made a series of demands to the Democratic Kampuchea government that ignored Cambodia’s independence and sovereignty. armed conflict. On December 25, 1978, Vietnam sent troops to Cambodia and occupied Phnom Penh, the capital, and immediately established the "People's Republic of Cambodia" headed by Han Sanglin. After that, Vietnam sent troops to Cambodia.

Vietnam's actions that violated the norms of international law naturally met with stubborn resistance from the Cambodian people, as well as strong condemnation and firm opposition from the international community.Since then, the Cambodian issue has become a hot issue in international political struggles.In Cambodia, the original Cambodian government, Prince Sihanouk, and Song Shuangsan launched an armed struggle against Vietnam in the northern and western mountainous areas of Cambodia, established a united front, and established the Democratic-Cambodian United Government headed by Prince Sihanouk.Internationally, the vast majority of countries, including ASEAN countries, China, the United States, Japan, and Western European countries, are also on the side of the Cambodian people.Beginning with the 34th session of the UN General Assembly in 1979, all previous UN General Assembly have passed resolutions by an overwhelming majority, demanding that Vietnam unconditionally withdraw its troops from Cambodia.

By the mid-1980s, Cambodia's domestic battlefield entered a stalemate.Although Vietnam and Phnom Penh have an advantage in strength, they cannot defeat and eliminate the resistance.While the two sides continued to wrestle on the battlefield, they also began to test the possibility of a political solution to the Cambodian issue. Vietnam fell into the quagmire of the Cambodian War, which brought a heavy burden to the Vietnamese people and isolated Vietnam from the international community. Vietnamese leaders had to start thinking about a political solution. In 1985, Vietnam first proposed the idea of ​​withdrawing its troops from Cambodia, saying that it would withdraw its troops from Cambodia in 1990. In March 1986, the three parties of the Cambodian resistance forces held a cabinet meeting in Beijing, and put forward an "eight-point proposal" for a political solution to the Cambodian issue, expressing their willingness to form a four-party coalition government headed by Prince Sihanouk.Phnom Penh responded quickly, expressing for the first time its willingness to hold negotiations with the Democratic-Cambodian coalition government.Vietnam also immediately stated that if the Democratic and Cambodian parties negotiate with Phnom Penh and establish a four-party coalition government, Vietnam is willing to negotiate with this government on the issue of troop withdrawal.Although Vietnam's proposal was rejected by the Democratic-Cambodian coalition government and the international community, both sides have begun to make a gesture of willingness to negotiate.

At this time, the Soviet Union, which had been supporting Vietnam behind the scenes, was also overwhelmed by the long-term arms race and had to implement strategic adjustments to seek improvements in relations with the United States and China.Comrade Xiaoping seized this opportunity and made a strategic decision to adjust relations with the Soviet Union, proposing to normalize Sino-Soviet relations on the premise of solving the three major obstacles in Sino-Soviet relations.Afterwards, China and the Soviet Union started consultations between government special envoys at the deputy foreign minister level. The consultations lasted 12 rounds and lasted for six years. The most important issue was asking the Soviet Union to urge Vietnam to withdraw its troops from Cambodia.

After Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, he put forward the slogan of "new thinking" and began to comprehensively adjust the internal and external policies of the Soviet Union. In July 1986, Gorbachev said in a speech in Vladivostok, "The solution to the Cambodian issue depends on the normalization of Sino-Vietnamese relations. Now is a good time, and the whole of Asia needs this."The Soviet Union sent a message that it had no intention of continuing to support Vietnam in its confrontation with China. The evolution of the international situation has brought a glimmer of hope to a political settlement of the Cambodian issue.

After Gorbachev's speech in Vladivostok, the Soviet side no longer avoided discussing the Cambodian issue during the consultations between the special envoys of the Chinese and Soviet governments. In April 1988, representatives of the Soviet Union, the United States, Pakistan and the Afghan Kabul regime signed an agreement in Geneva on a political settlement of the Afghan issue. The Soviet Union announced that it would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by February 15, 1989.The Soviet side publicly stated that the settlement of the Afghan issue was a model for solving the Cambodian issue, and that foreign troops should withdraw from Cambodia.

In June 1988, when I went to New York to attend the third special session of the UN General Assembly on Disarmament, I met with Soviet Foreign Minister Shevardnadze.He took the initiative to talk to me about the Cambodian issue, saying that the Geneva agreement on the Afghan issue was a breakthrough in resolving regional conflicts, which meant that he hoped that the Cambodian issue would be resolved in the same way.I told him that the Soviet Union's decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan was a good thing and should be welcomed, but China was more concerned about the Cambodian issue.In the past, the Soviet side always said that China was looking for the wrong partner when it came to the Soviet Union to discuss the Cambodian issue. After four years of consultations, the Soviet side agreed to discuss this issue.The settlement of the Cambodian issue is beneficial to Cambodia, Vietnam, the Soviet Union, China, Southeast Asia, and ASEAN countries.Shevardnadze said that there has been a trend of national reconciliation in Cambodia, but if the political settlement does not have China's participation, it will not succeed.I replied that China has always held a positive attitude towards resolving the Cambodian issue.On this issue, the Soviet side can play an active role and play an important role.At that time, the twelfth round of consultations between the special envoys of the Chinese and Sudanese governments was about to be held. I told him that I hoped that this round of consultations would make progress on the Cambodian issue, and that he would instruct the Sudanese delegation to seriously discuss this issue.He readily replied that not only would the Soviet Union not evade this issue, but it would also actively participate in the political settlement process of the Cambodian issue.

During the twelfth round of consultations between the special envoys of the Chinese and Sudanese governments, the Soviet side took the initiative to suggest that China and the Soviet Union hold special consultations at the deputy foreign minister level on the Cambodian issue. At the end of August, Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Luo Gaoshou and Vice Foreign Minister Tian Zengpei held consultations on the Cambodian issue in Beijing.Although the two sides still have differences, they both agree that this issue should be resolved politically as soon as possible, and foreign troops must withdraw from Cambodia as soon as possible.The Soviet side also expressed that they are willing to make efforts for this according to their own possibilities. On July 1, 1988, China issued a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, proposing a four-point proposal for a political solution to the Cambodian issue, expressing China's position: resolve the key issue of Vietnam's withdrawal as soon as possible; The four-party interim coalition government; free elections in Cambodia after the establishment of the interim coalition government; effective international monitoring of the above process. At the same time, Vietnam's attitude on the Cambodian issue also changed. In July 1986, Le Duan, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, passed away. In December, Nguyen Van Linh was elected as the new General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam.The new leaders of Vietnam summed up their experience and lessons, began to adjust domestic and foreign policies, and began to seek a political solution to the Cambodian issue. In May 1988, one month after the signing of the Geneva Agreement on Afghanistan, Vietnam made a public commitment that it would withdraw 50,000 troops from Cambodia in 1989 and complete the withdrawal by 1990, and agreed to cooperate with the Cambodian resistance forces, Together with Phnom Penh, they participated in a "cocktail party" on the Cambodian issue held in Jakarta. At that time, ASEAN was happy to see the Cambodian issue resolved as soon as possible, so Indonesia took the lead and held an informal meeting in Jakarta, inviting the Cambodian Quartet, Vietnam and relevant countries to participate.Because it is an informal meeting, all parties can exchange views without restraint, so everyone calls this meeting a "cocktail party".Considering the positions of the mediators, this title is quite expressive. In July 1988, the Cambodian Quartet and Vietnam finally participated in the "cocktail party" held in Jakarta. However, because Vietnam refused to conduct international supervision on the withdrawal of troops and insisted on linking Vietnam's withdrawal of troops with the cessation of "foreign interference" in Cambodia, the Phnom Penh side It also refused to dissolve the Phnom Penh and Cambodian regimes at the same time, and insisted on rejecting the "Khmer Rouge" (Note). The "cocktail party" did not achieve substantive results.However, this is the first time that Vietnam, Phnom Penh and the Cambodian resistance have had the opportunity to discuss a political solution to the Cambodian issue. Since then, in the international negotiations on the Cambodian issue, the position of the "Khmer Rouge" in Cambodia's future power structure has gradually become the focus of contradictions. In view of the failure to reconcile the "cocktail party" in Jakarta, in September 1988, Prince Sihanouk proposed to French President Mitterrand during his participation in the 43rd session of the UN General Assembly that he hoped to hold an international conference on Cambodia in France. Prince Sihanouk's proposal to hold this meeting in France has both historical reasons and practical considerations.Historically speaking, France has a deep historical relationship with the three countries of Indochina. In the late 19th century, France established colonial rule on the Indochina Peninsula, and Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia successively became part of French Indochina.It was not until 1954 that France withdrew from the Indochinese peninsula under the stubborn resistance of the people of Indochina.Realistically speaking, compared with other big countries, France is less involved in the Cambodian issue, and choosing to hold an international conference on the Cambodian issue in France is easily accepted by all parties concerned. This idea of ​​Sihanouk can be said to be in line with the meaning of France. 1989 happened to be the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. President Mitterrand wanted to make a difference. If he could do something on the Cambodian issue, it would be a sign of France on the world stage. This is a good opportunity, and I can also leave my name in the history of France. At this time, as the possibility of a political solution to the Cambodian issue continued to increase, the United States and other Western countries began to hype the so-called "Khmer Rouge" issue.Of course, the Soviet Union and Vietnam always opposed the power of "Hong Gao", while Western countries have always rejected "Hong Gao" in the future power arrangement of Cambodia, advocating that "Hong Gao" should be excluded from the process of political settlement of the Cambodian issue.However, the United States and other Western countries have also seen that the "Hong Gao" is the strongest among the three Cambodian resistance forces. To force Vietnam to withdraw its troops from Cambodia, it is inseparable from the armed struggle of the resistance forces.Therefore, they were relatively low-key at first on the issue of "Red High", but when it came time to prepare for the Paris Conference, excluding "Red High" became their main consideration. The United States began diplomatic activities. In June 1988, when I was in New York to attend the third special session of the United Nations General Assembly on Disarmament, Amacost, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, came to see me and mainly talked about the Cambodian issue.He said that the United States estimates that the pace of diplomatic negotiations on the Cambodian issue may be accelerated in the next year.Now the United States is worried that if Vietnam withdraws its troops too quickly, "Hong Gao" may regain power.Therefore, he suggested that some method must be considered to introduce international troops to disarm the "Khmer Rouge".The United States hopes to have a candid exchange of views with China and Thailand on this issue. On the one hand, Armacost proposed to disarm the "Khmer Rouge", but on the other hand, he had to admit that before the Vietnamese withdrawal, the "Khmer Rouge" was an important force against the Vietnamese army.The United States knows this is a delicate issue that requires balance. I told Amakost that China does not approve of which faction will be in power in Cambodia in the future, nor does it agree to exclude any party.We can only go so far in public speaking.We support the real coalition government headed by Sihanouk to take power. As for how to achieve this, I believe a solution can be found. In February 1989, when US President Bush visited China, he raised the "red high" issue to Comrade Deng Xiaoping.Comrade Xiaoping told Bush that China proposed that all factions in Cambodia should reduce their troops to 10,000, so that no faction would be able to make trouble.Comrade Xiaoping also clearly told Bush that China supports the four-party coalition government headed by Prince Sihanouk, and that all future international aid to Cambodia should go through Prince Sihanouk. In early December 1988, I was invited to visit the Soviet Union.The Cambodian issue was the central topic of the talks.During the meeting with Shevardnadze, I mainly raised three points: China and the Soviet Union should agree on the timetable for Vietnam’s troop withdrawal and should promote its realization; after all Vietnam’s troop withdrawal, all foreign countries should stop Military assistance to various factions in Cambodia, do not support any party to fight civil war; establish a four-party interim coalition government headed by Sihanouk, freeze, reduce or even disband all factions of the army, send international peacekeeping troops to Cambodia, and support the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops and Cambodian national reconciliation The process is subject to strict international supervision and international guarantees. Shevardnadze said that the Soviet side hopes to resolve the Cambodian issue as soon as possible, but there are still certain conditions for the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops. After repeated discussions, we have reached two points of internal understanding: both sides hope and will work hard to urge Vietnam to withdraw all its troops within a short period of time, such as the second half of 1989, or at the end of the year at the latest; and agree that as Vietnam withdraws its troops under international supervision, relevant countries will gradually Reduce or even stop military aid to Cambodian factions.The Sudanese side also offered to propose that when Shevardnadze visits China next year, the foreign ministers of the two countries will issue a joint statement on resolving the Cambodian issue. During this visit, Gorbachev and Shevardnadze also told me that the Soviet side hopes that China will negotiate directly with Vietnam. After this visit, the central government decided to directly negotiate with Vietnam on the Cambodian issue and determined the guidelines for the negotiations. In fact, in 1988, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Ki Shik proposed to visit China twice. At that time, we considered that Vietnam's position on the Cambodian issue had not changed substantially, so we rejected him.At the end of the year, Ruan Jishi wrote again, expressing his hope to visit China again, saying that "the time has come for Vietnam and China to sit together" and hoped that the two sides would cooperate to "reach a proper political settlement on the basis of national reconciliation for all parties in Cambodia." way to create the conditions". After our research, we believe that Vietnam’s position on the Cambodian issue has been loosened, and it is possible to engage with Vietnam on Sino-Vietnamese relations, especially the Cambodian issue.However, considering that the meeting of foreign ministers is an important political move and the time is not yet ripe, we reply to the Vietnamese side that there is still a lot of preparatory work to be done for the meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries. We suggest that the Vietnamese side send a deputy foreign minister to Beijing first, Internal consultations were held to resolve the Cambodian issue politically. The Vietnamese side accepted our proposal. In January 1989, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Dinh Rulian visited Beijing.During the consultation with Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Shuqing, Ding Rulian made it clear that Vietnam would withdraw all its troops from Cambodia.China and Vietnam have also narrowed their differences in terms of stopping external aid to Cambodia, ensuring Cambodia's neutral and non-aligned status, and implementing international supervision and international guarantees.It was just that the Vietnamese side was unwilling to take responsibility for how to ensure domestic peace in Cambodia after the withdrawal of troops. They evaded and said that this was an internal problem in Cambodia, which should be resolved by each faction itself, and should not be discussed by China and Vietnam. Regarding the attitude of the Vietnamese side, in the subsequent meeting with Dinh Rulian, I pointed out that the Cambodian issue should of course be resolved by the Cambodian Quartet without external interference.However, Vietnam, the country concerned with the Cambodian issue, and the Soviet Union, China, and Thailand related to the Cambodian issue should have clear propositions on this issue, that is, after foreign troops withdraw from Cambodia and stop aid to various factions in Cambodia, Cambodia should Realize the unity of the four parties, realize national reconciliation, and no longer have civil wars and turmoil.Relevant countries should take responsibility for this, especially Vietnam. Dinh Ru Lim said that it is Vietnam's long-term strategy to resolve the Cambodian issue as soon as possible, realize the normalization of Sino-Vietnamese relations, and concentrate on economic construction.I said that if some basic aspects of the Cambodian issue are resolved, the improvement and normalization of Sino-Vietnamese relations will be a natural result. Thanks to the active efforts of China and relevant countries, the international conditions for a political settlement of the Cambodian issue were gradually formed. The Paris conference proposed by Sihanouk was confirmed to be held at the end of July 1989. As the host, French Foreign Minister Dumas wrote to me in June 1989, inviting China to participate in the ministerial-level international conference on Cambodia held in Paris. At this time, the political turmoil broke out in Beijing. The governments of western countries took measures to sanction China, and soon there was an even bigger wave of anti-China in the western countries, especially in the media circles. During this period, France performed badly on anti-China issues.At that time, Chinese tourists passing through France were discriminated against at the airport for no reason, and were even restricted from moving. They were not allowed to make phone calls with the embassy, ​​were not given water, and were not allowed to use the bathroom. French Foreign Minister Dumas, who just sent a letter to invite me to attend the Paris meeting, also stated in a high-profile manner in Parliament at this time that he would suspend all visits between China and France, and he would not meet with the Chinese Foreign Minister.As for inviting me to lead the Chinese delegation to participate in the Paris conference on the Cambodian issue, he said that it was an international conference, and his meeting with me was not considered a meeting of foreign ministers. Despite the sudden change and complexity of the situation, we still decided that China must participate in the Paris conference on the Cambodian issue.Among the anti-China voices in the West at that time, there was a kind of public opinion that after the political turmoil in Beijing, China was too busy to take care of itself and could no longer play a role in international affairs.Our presence is just a good time to show China's attitude to the international community.At the same time, the Paris Conference was the only occasion where China maintained open contact with Western countries at that time. Taking advantage of this occasion, more work could be done to break the diplomatic deadlock. On the Cambodian issue, although all relevant parties in the world support the convening of this international conference, they have different ideas, requirements and plans, especially on Cambodian internal issues.The focus of controversy is still the "Khmer Rouge" issue.Vietnam, Phnom Penh and some other countries advocate Sihanouk and Hun Sen (now translated as "Yun Sheng") to join forces to exclude the "Khmer Rouge".The three parties of the Cambodian resistance forces and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations insisted on establishing a four-party interim coalition government headed by Prince Sihanouk.We know that the fight at the meeting will be fierce, and that without China's participation, it will be almost impossible to reach an agreement on a comprehensive settlement. Before the Paris Conference, I arrived in Botswana and started my visit to six countries in Southern Africa.In order to attend this meeting, I deliberately transferred from Botswana to London during my visit, and arrived in Paris at noon on July 30. In the afternoon of the same day, I met with Dimas, the foreign minister of France, the host of the conference.As soon as we met, I asked him seriously: You announced in the parliament that you would not meet the Chinese foreign minister. I am the Chinese foreign minister. Should you not meet me?Then, I pointed out that in this wave of anti-China, France contributed to the flames and played a disgraceful role. Moreover, it was the most uncivilized and least polite.This can be seen in the inhumane treatment of Chinese passengers transiting through France. Dima was a little embarrassed, so he had to apologize, saying that what he said was for the parliament and public opinion, please don't care; "Friendship" because China and France have a very good relationship and the establishment of diplomatic relations was the first, so the reaction was a little bit intense.It is said that "the deeper the love, the heavier the responsibility".Later, Dima fell into the scandal of France selling arms to Taiwan. How would he defend himself? On July 31, 1989, the Ministerial International Conference on Cambodia was held in Paris, France as scheduled. I made a speech on the first day of the Paris conference. The central meaning was that the essence of the Cambodian issue was caused by a country sending troops to invade another sovereign country and implementing a long-term military occupation.The key to solving the Cambodian issue is firstly that foreign troops must be completely withdrawn under international supervision; secondly, after the withdrawal, Cambodia must maintain peace, prevent civil war, and achieve national reconciliation.These two basic issues are closely related and cannot be separated.China does not seek self-interest on the Cambodian issue.If an agreement is reached at the international conference, China will work with relevant countries to undertake the obligation to stop military aid to any faction and respect the results of future free elections in Cambodia. Before the meeting, the US proposed that Secretary of State Baker hope to meet with me during the meeting to discuss bilateral relations and issues related to the Paris meeting.At that time, the United States was stepping up sanctions against China, fearing that the meeting would cause criticism from the domestic media, so it suggested that the meeting be limited to a small area, and that the content should not be leaked to the outside world. In the meeting with Baker, in addition to the bilateral relations between China and the United States, we focused on the Cambodian issue.Baker said that the cooperation between the two sides at the meeting not only shows that the two countries have the same position on the Cambodian issue, but also shows that the United States and China have common political and strategic interests. He hopes that the two countries will play a positive guiding role in the Cambodian issue.He also raised three questions: Can China provide asylum to Pol Pot and others?It is hoped that China will consider stopping military aid to "Hong Gao"; the United States hopes to guarantee the freedom of choice for Cambodian refugees when they are repatriated. My answer to the three questions raised by the United States is that no one from the Democratic and Cambodian side has asked China for asylum; after Vietnam has withdrawn all its troops and the Cambodian issue is resolved, China is willing to undertake the obligation to stop military aid with other countries; The affairs are between the Cambodian parties and Thailand, and have nothing to do with China. During the meeting, I also met with foreign ministers from 11 countries, including British Foreign Secretary Major, Japanese Foreign Minister Hiroshi Mitsuka, and Canadian Foreign Minister Clark.This is the first high-level public contact between China and a Western country since the political turmoil in Beijing.Prior to this, both the European Community Summit and the Western G7 Summit had just announced the suspension of high-level meetings with China at the ministerial level and above.However, the political settlement of the Cambodian issue cannot be achieved without China's participation. In international conferences discussing the Cambodian issue, it is necessary to deal with China.They had no choice but to find reasons to say that this was an international conference, a multilateral exchange, not a bilateral contact.Objectively, the international conference in Paris provides us with an opportunity to break the sanctions imposed by the West. On August 1, the Paris conference ended without results.The next day I flew to Lesotho to continue my trip to Southern Africa.Vice Foreign Minister Liu Shuqing led the Chinese delegation to stay in Paris and continue to participate in substantive discussions on how to resolve the Cambodian issue. On the whole, most of the participating countries have the same basic position on the political settlement of the Cambodian issue.During the meeting, we did a lot of work for the Cambodian and Democratic parties.The Cambodian tripartite delegation headed by Prince Sihanouk often visits the Chinese embassy in France to exchange information and discuss countermeasures.Prince Sihanouk has deep affection and full trust in Chinese leaders.They are optimistic about the progress of the meeting.We also conducted close consultations with the United States, Britain, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Canada and other countries. On important issues, we basically kept pace and dominated the process of the meeting. However, due to the great differences among the parties on the "Khmer Rouge" issue, the meeting failed to reach an agreement in the end.However, the Paris Conference was the first time that all countries related to the Cambodian issue and the Cambodian Quartet sat together to discuss the Cambodian issue, laying a good foundation for the final settlement of the Cambodian issue. Soon, when I was attending the UN General Assembly, I met with French Foreign Minister Dumas.He expressed disappointment at the failure of the Paris meeting, and his mood was somewhat negative.I told him that although the Paris Conference did not reach an agreement, it was still beneficial. Most countries had reached a consensus. The key issue was that Vietnam's attitude was relatively rigid.France should expect a change in Vietnam's attitude.China supports the resumption of the Paris Conference when conditions permit. A few days before meeting with Dima, I once again met with US Secretary of State Baker.Before I left for New York, Baker told Chinese Ambassador to the United States Han Xu that he had a good talk with me during the Paris meeting and hoped to see me again during the UN General Assembly.During this period, almost all my meetings with the foreign ministers of Western countries were on multilateral occasions, but the channels of contact have always been maintained. On the evening of September 28, I held talks with Baker. Baker first talked about Sino-US relations, saying that the relations between the two countries have improved compared with the Paris meeting. The relationship between the two countries should be restored to normal as soon as possible by continuing the dialogue.On the Cambodian issue, Baker said that the United States is satisfied with the cooperation between the two countries at the Paris meeting, but still has great reservations on the "red high" issue.The United States originally held the position of rejecting the "Red High" and advocated a three-party solution in Cambodia. It was only because Prince Sihanouk believed that Cambodia's future power structure must include the "Red High". Although the United States was reluctant, it still reluctantly accepted it. up.What is troubling now, Baker said, is that the Cambodian issue is shifting from a political to a battlefield solution.It is hoped that China will play an important role and press "Hong Gao" to accept a political solution.If "Hong Gao" tries to solve the problem on the battlefield, neither the United States nor ASEAN countries will allow "Hong Gao" to play a role in the future government of Cambodia. I first told Baker that China is also satisfied with the cooperation between China and the United States at the Paris meeting.Then, I reiterated China's principled position on the peaceful settlement of the Cambodian issue.I said that the possibility of the so-called "Honggao" taking power exclusively does not exist, and China does not support this.If the Soviet Union and Vietnam really stopped supplying weapons to Phnom Penh, China would stop supplying weapons to the Democratic-Cambodian resistance forces.The problem now is that Vietnam's announced withdrawal has no international oversight and there are reasons to doubt its authenticity.The international conference on the Cambodian issue should clearly support Prince Sihanouk to preside over the Cambodian quadripartite coalition government. As for details such as the allocation of seats among the various factions, the Cambodian quadripartites should resolve it themselves. Baker said that Soviet Foreign Minister Shevardnadze had told him that if relevant countries stopped supplying arms to Cambodian factions, the Soviet Union could also stop supplying arms to Phnom Penh.The US believes that the Soviet Union and Vietnam should press Hun Sen to accept some kind of power separation arrangement, while China should exert pressure on "Hong Gao" to make its expectations more realistic.Relying on the Cambodian Quartet alone, it will never reach an agreement on the settlement of its internal problems.Therefore, China, the Soviet Union, the United States, and ASEAN should come up with a plan for solving Cambodia's internal problems.He put forward an idea. If Prince Sihanouk is the head of state and Hun Sen is the prime minister, each faction has two ministers. The important ministers of foreign affairs, national defense, and interior affairs can be appointed by Sihanouk and Song Shuangpai. This will ensure that Sihanouk has real power.If the major powers reach an agreement on such an arrangement and get the Cambodian Quartet to agree, Vietnam may also agree. I replied that it depends on whether the various factions in Cambodia accept his suggestion, especially Prince Sihanouk's opinion should be sought first.Prince Sihanouk objected to a big country asking him to be the head of state on the one hand, and at the same time imposing some arrangements made in advance on him. After the Paris Conference in August 1989, the process of politically resolving the Cambodian issue fell for a while. On the domestic battlefield in Cambodia, the contests between various factions also became more intense, and peace was hopeless for a while. In order to break the deadlock on the political settlement of the Cambodian issue, from January to August 1990, the five permanent members of the Security Council held six consultations with deputy foreign ministers in Paris and New York, and formulated a framework document for a comprehensive political settlement of the Cambodian issue.This framework document basically meets the minimum goals and requirements of all parties, and has been recognized by all parties concerned. At this time, Vietnam's attitude on the Cambodian issue has also undergone more positive changes, and China and Vietnam have taken an important step towards the normalization of relations between the two countries. In early September 1990, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Van Linh, Chairman of the Council of Ministers Du Mai, and Advisor to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Pham Van Dong were invited to China to hold internal meetings with General Secretary Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng in Chengdu.Vietnamese leaders expressed their willingness to accept the United Nations' supervision and verification of Vietnam's withdrawal.Both sides agree with the framework documents of the five permanent members of the Security Council, and agreed to work together to promote the acceptance of these documents by relevant parties in Cambodia, so as to promote the process of comprehensively resolving the Cambodian issue. Immediately afterwards, China and Vietnam sent representatives to Jakarta to persuade the Cambodian Quartet, which was holding an informal meeting there.The Cambodian Quartet finally announced its acceptance of the package of five permanent members, and decided to set up a 12-member National Supreme Council composed of the Quartet. In November, the working group of the Paris Conference concretized the framework documents of the five permanent members and completed the drafting of the agreement, annexes and related documents for a comprehensive settlement of the Cambodian issue.At this time, the Phnom Penh side suddenly felt that it was at a disadvantage, and then proposed to amend the framework documents, increase the members of the Phnom Penh side of the National Supreme Council of Cambodia, or appoint someone from Phnom Penh to serve as the vice chairman of the Supreme Council. As a result, the final settlement of the Cambodian issue was delayed again. In order to sign the agreement as soon as possible, China once again played an important role.China, together with relevant countries, has been negotiating with the Cambodian Quartet on the future power arrangement of the Cambodian government. In July 1991, the Supreme Council of Cambodia held a working meeting in Beijing. Phnom Penh agreed to Prince Sihanouk as the chairman of the Supreme Council of Cambodia, and no longer insisted on setting up a vice-chairman and increasing members of the Phnom Penh side. In August, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Yinian visited China and held consultations with Deputy Foreign Minister Xu Dunxin on the Cambodian issue and the normalization of Sino-Vietnamese relations.I met Ruan Yinian.Subsequently, China and Vietnam issued a press communiqué, unanimously stating that the framework document of the five permanent members of the Security Council cannot be changed, and the draft agreement of the Paris meeting working group can be revised, but the content of the framework document cannot be exceeded. In September, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Chin visited China. This was the first meeting between Chinese and Vietnamese foreign ministers in more than ten years.We exchanged views on the Cambodian issue, and both sides agreed that they will continue to work hard for the final settlement of this issue. On September 14, 1991, Prince Sihanouk led a Cambodian delegation composed of four parties to New York for the first time in 12 years to attend the United Nations General Assembly, marking the establishment of a new Cambodian coalition government. During the United Nations General Assembly, the five permanent members of the Security Council, the two chairs of the Paris Conference and the foreign ministers of all participating countries, the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the members of the Cambodian Supreme Council reached a final framework agreement on the political settlement of the Cambodian issue, for October 1991 Conditions were created for the reconvening of an international conference on Cambodia in Paris. On October 23, 1991, the Cambodian peace agreement was finally officially signed in Paris, and the political settlement of the Cambodian issue was finally realized. 在当时非常复杂、动荡的国际形势下，柬埔寨问题能得到和平解决，实属不易。多年来，联合国和国际社会曾不断努力，试图解决全球各地出现的种种地区冲突问题，但失败的多，成功的少。柬埔寨问题之所以能够解决，是因为有关的各国，特别是相关的几个大国，在解决这一地区冲突的问题中，找到了共同的利益。在一个多极的世界中，大国间的共同利益，往往是维持地区稳定和平衡的关键因素。 有意思的是，在柬埔寨和平协议正式签署时，苏联因发生“8·19事件”，政局不稳，一直参与柬埔寨问题谈判的苏联外长谢瓦尔德纳泽已经离任，代表苏联在文件上签字的是当时谁都不太认识的新外长潘金。 和平协议签署后，西哈努克亲王回到了他阔别13年之久的柬埔寨首都金边。联合国也很快向柬埔寨派出了驻柬临时权力机构和2.2万名联合国维和人员。经过各方一年多的努力，1993年5月，柬埔寨举行了20多年来第一次全国大选，西哈努克被各派一致拥戴为国家元首，9月24日，又再次登基为国王。“红高”方面因为拒绝参加大选，于1994年被宣布为非法组织。