Quora Answer: What is Public Opinion in Singapore on Lee Hsien Loong’s Controversial Remarks about the Khmer Rouge?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How was public opinion in Singapore to Lee Hsien Loong’s controversial remarks about the Khmer Rouge?”

What the Prime Minister of Singapore has said is historical fact.  There is no controversy.  ASEAN’s diplomatic, and military, confrontation with Vietnam occurred in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.  It began in 1977, more than 40 years ago, and ended in 1991, almost 30 years ago.  The Singapore public does not care about it.

The remarks are an issue in Vietnam because the Vietnamese government has, over the years, recoloured the conflict as a liberation of the Cambodian people from the Khmer Rouge, which is not the whole truth.  This was a proxy war between the Soviet-sponsored Vietnamese, and the Chinese-sponsored Khmer Rouge, and an extension of the split in the Communist bloc.  The removal of the Khmer Rouge from power was a fortunate consequence, not the primary intent of the invasion.

They are an issue in Cambodia, because the current Cambodian government did not come to power by legitimate means.  Hun Sen, the current Prime Minister, was formerly with the Khmer Rouge before defecting.  He came to power, in a coup, in 1997, and ousted the democratically elected premier, Norodom Ranariddh.  Norodom Ranariddh was associated with the resistance that fought the Khmer Rouge, and spent time in prison for his politics.