Why Did Hun Sen Write "Cambodia 130 Years?"
Prime Minister Hun Sen Responds to his Translator
By Xing Heping
[Translated from the Chinese by Paul Marks]
"Is this book, Cambodia 130 Years, your most important work?" I asked
Prime Minister Hun Sen.
"To others not necessarily, but to me and to the Cambodian People's
Party it is very important" he answered. "Over eighty percent of the government's
policies and practices implemented since 1991 were based on theories put
forth in this work."
This was how Prime Minister Hun Sen evaluated his own book during a
special interview with me on the afternoon of March 13th, 1999. He sat
at the head of a conference table in his Takhmau office with his works
in front of him: Cambodia 130 Years, Cambodia 10 Years, his Ph.D. thesis,
The Cambodian Revolution's Special Characteristics, and a Vietnamese language
edition of the thesis. Next to his left hand was the outline of interview
questions that I had presented him a week earlier. He wore the deep blue
suit with light blue shirt that he often wears. He did not wear a tie and
did not button his suit coat.
In my interview outline I had listed approximately twenty questions related to the writing of Cambodia 130 Years, certain viewpoints expressed therein, and some family questions. There were some questions that in my opinion he probably would not be very relaxed answering, so I began by saying: "Prime Minister, may I ask all the questions or just a part of them?" He said all of them. Intuition told me that Prime Minister Hun Sen had prepared thoroughly for this interview. He was intrigued by my questions, and he was willing to open up and talk.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said that Cambodia 130 Years was actually two parts of his Ph.D. thesis. He opened the thick thesis whose cover was already starting to turn yellow. Many areas were highlighted in yellow or green. Prime Minister Hun Sen continued, "when I wrote this thesis in 1991, Cambodia had already developed the need to deepen economic and political reform; the Party had to confirm its line and clearly show the way forward. But inside the Party there were many people whose opinion was different than mine on this question important to Cambodia's future. There were conservatives, leftists, rightists, and only a few people who had viewpoints similar to mine. The problem I faced then was that it would waste a lot of time if I waited for the entire party to adopt a unified view. I couldn't wait. I had to use a different method for expressing my viewpoints. I had to put forward a new political line as soon as possible. I chose to write a Ph.D. thesis. Even though I knew that a thesis might not pass a debate within the Party, I decided to take the orals for this thesis. Taking the title of Dr. was not my intent -- my real purpose was to put forward a line that fit Cambodia's new conditions."
Prime Minister Hun Sen revealed that after much consideration he had decided not to include the third part of his thesis, "The Cambodian People's Democratic Revolution Exists Under Conditions of War and Peace," in Cambodia 130 Years, and it has never been openly distributed.
"This thesis provided the theoretical foundation for the resolution of Cambodia's political problems," Prime Minister Hun Sen continued. "It presented two kinds of very opposite policies: one that would realize a political solution and one that would not." Prime Minister Hun Sen held the green-covered Vietnamese edition of his thesis and said: "Right now Vietnam is debating and studying this thesis of mine. They and the former revolutionaries of Eastern Europe are studying my theory of Cambodia's National Democratic Revolution. I put forward this theory. Cambodia has its own characteristics," Prime Minister Hun Sen emphasized. "I don't want to be tied up by conservative thought or some countries theoretical dogma." Raising another work, Cambodia 10 Years, written in 1988, he said: "When I wrote this, there were still 100,000 Vietnamese troops stationed in Cambodia. Vietnam's economic advisers advocated a centralized unified planned economy. I however had already advocated a market economy. Eleven years ago when we put forward the government policy of privatization of industry, transport, construction, and land-use, Vietnam's reforms had not yet started. This means that early on at that time Cambodia and Vietnam were already different."
When Prime Minister Hun Sen wrote Cambodia 130 Years he relied on many of Lenin's works. He straightforwardly acknowledged that Marxism-Leninism and especially Leninism were the theories that had the greatest influence on his product. He said that the bibliography of Cambodia 130 Years only had 21 references, but that the bibliography in his thesis had 57, including Lenin's works, Ho Chi Minh's works, and other documents. When I asked him which one of Lenin's works had the most influence on him, he turned to a page marked in his thesis and answered: "Lenin's 1921 New Economic Policy." Prime Minister Hun Sen read a sentence: "the poverty suffered by the working-class under a capitalist system will be better under a fully developed capitalist system." Prime Minister Hun Sen expounded on his understanding of this sentence: "Lenin's inference here is very important. I do not intend to evaluate other countries, but there are some former socialist nations, including China in past years, Vietnam until recently, and the former Eastern Europe, that thoroughly destroyed the capitalist class. Lenin did not want it this way. I have visited many countries, and I have discovered that capitalist countries have put into practice Lenin's theory better than socialist countries. Many Western countries are practicing Lenin's theories in form but not championing Leninism in name. By contrast, almost all socialist countries have government policies diametrically opposed to Lenin's New Economic Policy, and they have basically exterminated the capitalist class.
I asked Prime Minister Hun Sen whether he had an opinion on the works of foreign Cambodia scholars and experts. He said that his overall impression of them was poor. He mentioned some of the names of western authors: 'Weikang Zuokeluosi,'[?] Elizabeth Becker, and Nayan Chanda. "Even though their works were about concrete realities," he said, "they discuss and analyze problems from a self-serving viewpoint. It is difficult for their opinions to be identical with us Cambodians. Many foreign scholars have discussed the Khmer Rouge, but none answered the question of how to resolve the problem. They usually start from the position of Sino-American or Soviet-American or Sino-Soviet relations, as if Cambodia were just a delicacy at a big dinner table or a bargaining chip to haggle over in their political struggle. This is the universal defect of foreign scholars. I do not want to become the thing on someone's dinner plate. We have our own way to solve problems. I really despise those people who claim to understand Cambodia better than Cambodians. Even if I put forth a direction for Cambodia's development that turns out to be mistaken, at least it will be our mistake. This is better than accepting solutions to our problems imposed over our heads by others."
Although this book completed eight years ago is seen as a very important work for Prime Minister Hun Sen, he does not think that it is perfect. "I'm not completely satisfied with this book because Cambodia and the international situation have already developed into a new era," he said. "When I wrote this book the Cold War was not finished, and the world was in the process of radical changes. Today the Cold War is theoretically finished. I say 'in theory' because it is not really finished. In reality the Cold War is being fiercely waged. It's one side against another and there's a one-sided attack. Even though there is no ideological antagonism, there is still the winning side attacking the ideology of the losing side. We must study the conclusion of the Cold War and the new conditions and new changes that will exist after ideological antagonism is finished. Most of the viewpoints expressed in this book will not change for a very long time, although some of it is dated. For example in this book I wrote of four inequalities in Cambodian society. Now I say that there are seven. I should make the necessary corrections based on new developments and new experiences. If there are mistakes I should make the corrections." Prime Minister Hun Sen laughed and said, "If I'm satisfied with my own work then perhaps I have already become a conservative. I don't want to be a conservative."
Prime Minister Hun Sen truly felt this way. When I asked him very sharp questions about certain viewpoints that he expressed in the book -- views on China, America, and Vietnam, views on contemporary and historical sensitive personalities, views on his ideals and on the conditions for a multi-party system in a liberal democracy, and on a summary of Cambodia's politics -- throughout he frankly and sincerely opened his internal world and answered all questions directly. He persisted in his main points, although he did expound in new ways on some viewpoints and opinions. He was not equivocal, perfunctory, or ambiguous. This is Prime Minister Hun Sen's personality.
Prime Minister Hun Sen spoke to his heart's content, and I was mesmerized. In order to not disturb the interview, halfway through he personally closed a misdirected e-mail. When a phone rang he did not hesitate to let his staff cut the line. As time flowed by, an interview that had started at 4:00 PM ran over three hours. The glass ashtray in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen had more then ten of his 555 brand cigarette butts. Outside the window darkness fell.
On the road after saying goodbye, with the sky above full of glimmering stars, I thought that the author of Cambodia 130 Years, Prime Minister Hun Sen, was very broad-minded in how he faced history. Readers will use the insights of history to follow along and relive the period recalled in this book about the not-so-distant past. Prime Minister Hun Sen, afterall, finished the book at an important historical moment. History will be the judge.
[The writer of this article translated the Chinese edition of Prime Minister Hun Sen's book, Cambodia 130 Years. He resides in Singapore.]