Quora Answer: Does the World Owe Vietnam an Apology for Saving Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge despite UN Embargo?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Does the world owe Vietnam an apology, since Vietnam fought bravely, and heroically to save the Cambodians from Khmer Rouge, while being unfairly condemned, and embargoed by the UN?”

The various countries acted in their national interest, as did Vietnam.  It was the national interest of ASEAN, then, to prevent the expansion of the Vietnamese sphere of influence, and Communism.  It was the national interest of China to prevent Vietnam turning Cambodia into a satellite state in the Russian sphere of influence.  It was the American interest to stymie Vietnam, which was a Soviet proxy then.  It was the Vietnamese interest to depose the Khmer Rouge once it became apparent that they were in the Sinosphere, and were hostile to Vietnamese influence.  It was the Soviet interest to occupy China far away from their mutual border.

Nobody owes Vietnam any apology.  It is naive for anyone to think that hurt feelings are more important than the national interest.  Decades from now, the conflict has been cast in Vietnam as an effort to depose a murderous regime to save Cambodians.  This is a vestige of Communist party propaganda.  Vietnam did not care for dead Cambodians.  At one time, they even hosted Pol Pot and called him a friend.  When he was a threat to their national interest, the genocide was an excellent pretext for the invasion.