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WORLD

Time for peace ;

in S.E. Asia

By WILLIAM POMEROY

The most promising move to-
ward resolving tensions in South

East Asia was blocked by impos-
sible conditions raised by mem-
bers of the Association of South
East Asian Nations.

A tentative agreement on peace
talks to settle the Kampuchean
question had been reached be-
tween Vietnam, Kampuchea,
Laos and the ASEAN states of
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines and Singapore.

It has been U.S. policy to pre-
vent friendship, trade and non-
aggression pacts between the two
sides. For this purpose a bandit
war is sponsored against Kam-
puchea, to cast doubt on the
legitimacy of Kampuchea’s
government and to condemn
Vietnam as an ‘‘invader”’ for help-
ing Kampuchea help repel the
bandits.

ASEAN nations hold varying
attitudes toward normalizing rela-
tions with the Indochinese states.
ASEAN has condemned the pre-
sence of Vietnamese troops in
Kampuchea and supported the
three-part exile group of Pol Pot,
Son Sann and Norodom
Sihanouk. But some _ principal
ASEAN members seem ready to
develop relations with Vietnam.

Indonesia, the biggest ASEAN
state and one that has kept free of
military ties with the U.S. or other
Western powers, has opened the
door-to negotiations -with—Viet-.
nam most vigorously.

In July Indonesia’s foreign min-
ister, Dr. Mochtar Kasumaat-
madja, went to Vietnam, where
he negotiated an agreement for

The hopes and aspirations

peace talks to settle the Kam-
puchean issue. It called for talks
between Kampuchea’s Heng
Samrin government and the coali-
tion of exiles headed by
Sihanouk. In short, the Kam-
puchean groups were to settle
their conflict themselves. This
agreement did not sit well with the
aS.

To let the Kampucheans settle
their affairs would negate the
claim that Western § and
Chinese-backed military actions
are a struggle against the Viet-
namese aggressor and not a civil
war. The settlement would also
precede withdrawal of Vietnam’s

troops. The U.S. wants to put |

Vietnam on the spot, with negoti-
ations for a withdrawal of its
troops to precede any settlement.
The Vietnamese-Indonesia
proposal calls for elections under
UN supervision of a new Kam-
puchean government. The U.S.-
backed demand is for unsuper-
vised elections, which would give
free reign to Khmer Rouge terror.
When Indonesia’s foreign min-
ister presented the agreement to
ASEAN’ foreign minister, it was
rejected. Instead, it was de-
manded that Vietnam withdraw
all its troops as a precondition for
talks and that unsupervised elec-
tions be held. As in the past, this
was rejected by Vietnam and the
Heng Samrin government. _.
Thailand and Singapore, in ef-

_fect, torpedoed the move toward
Both countries .

peace - talks.
closely follow imperialist policy.
Thailand provides bases for the
Pol Pot-Sann-Sihanouk armed
forces to operate along the Kam-

A factory worker in Vietnam. A time for peace and reconstruction. For now peace moves have been thwart

but there is hope for the future.

puchean border. It is a conduit for
Western and Chinese military and
other aid to those forces. Thai
armed forces have been used in
the bandit war, too.

Thailand is increasingly mov-
ing toward military alliance with
the U.S. The U.S. was permitted
bases in Thailand during the Viet-
nam War. These were abolished
in 1976, but U.S. bases have re-
turned in new forms. In October
1975 the U.S. and Thailand signed
an agreement providing for the
U.S. to supply the Thai armed
forces with arms and for the U.S.
to have a network of stockpile
bases in Thailand, for both small
arms and heavy arms.

For now, peace moves have
been thwarted. But several fac-
tors support the peace trend in

South East Asia. One is the de-
cline of the Kampuchean anti-
government group based in Thai-
land, which have been wholly
driven out of Kampuchea. Today
the coalition is deeply split.
Sihanouk, who seems most ready
to talk with the Heng Samrin
government, quit his post as head

of the coalition to protest Khmer ~

Rouge violations of human rights
and attacks on his own forces. Al-
though China has tried to heal this
breach, the disintegrating coali-

tion is in no shape for talks on its"

own with the Kampuchean
government. The more it is
discredited, the more legitimacy
accrues to that government.

The political stance of the
ASEAN nations is being under-
mined by growing pressures for

thing

trade with Vietnam. Again, I
donesia is taking the lead. In la
August a Vietnamese trade mi
sion was in Jakarta for talks.
considerable boost in trade -w
reportedly agreed on. Indonesi:
exports to Vietnam, valued
$4.9 million in 1985, went up
$24.3 million in 1986 and w
now increase further. .
Although ASEAN officially hi
an economic embargo again
Vietnam, this has been breakil
down among virtually all ASEA
“members. An ASEAN summ
meeting, scheduled to be held
__Manila in December; is-believ
to have trade with Vietnam hit
on its agenda. With that kind |
door-opening, the gateway |
peaceful settlements cannot fr
main tightly closed.

lifelong Muscovite. ‘“We have every

we need,’ says Masha, “‘but wi

deserve more.”’
And what would she like to see
‘More stockings in the shops. All kind!
of them,’’ she answers.
I think it’s very important for Cana
dians to understand the context of

| contal;

cag

*

A young Soviet couple strolls down Arbat square in Moscow. Young Soviets are now

d in ‘‘Perestroika’’

comparing themselves with the most prosperous sections of the advanced Western

countries.

MOSCOW — ‘“‘Perestroika’’ is the
word that is on everybody’s lips these
days, from the leaders of the USSR to
chairmen of collective farms and factory
managers, from the commentator on the
nightly news — who recently used the
word 19 times in the course of a single
broadcase (I counted) — to the clerk at
my local vegetable store.

Perestroika means “restructuring,”

8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 21, 1987

but that hardly does justice to the breadth
and diversity of the concept. In answer to
the question, ‘‘What is it?’’, you are apt
to be handed a stack of documents from
the 27th Congress of the Soviet Commu-
nist Party, and subsequent Central
Committee plenums, or the draft texts of
some 20 new laws now working their way
through the legislative system. Just
about every aspect of Soviet citizens’

From

Moscow
Fee Rss ose tae eee ol

Fred Weir

relations with their state and economic
system is slated for radical change.

Everybody has been reading the press
and following the economic debates of
recent months, as well as various other
political and historical controversies that
have cropped up. Circulation of most
major publications has skyrocketed —
some have even doubled — while shar-
ply political new TV_ shows like
‘spotlight on Perestroika’’ seem to
command most of the adult population at
evening time.

Cynics are not hard to find — in truth,
they are everywhere — yet the expecta-
tions of most people appear set upon a
rapid transformation of everyday life.
Everyone has hopes.

Absolutely the sharpest and most con-
cise thought that I have heard on the
subject — and I play no favorites here —
comes from my wife, Masha, a

this. The fact that Soviets have becom!
highly critical of late, and their aspira
tions are exploding into the open, doe:
not mean that those sad old cliches abou
Soviet life, in which drab, faceles
crowds queue for stale bread and rotte!
eggs, have any truth in them. I have bee!
to many, many places in my life, and by)
world standards Soviets are very well 0
indeed.

No one in the USSR is homeless,
though most still live in apartments tha!
are far too crowded and some 20 per cen
continue to inhabit communal flats. OV
the past year I have visited a great man)
Soviet homes and found some of the
small and cloistered, but I also notice
that somehow people prettify them am
make them liveable. I have never see?
squalid or filthy living conditions in thé
Soviet Union, or met tenants who wel
slovenly or uncaring, though I have seen
such things in other lands and eve:
occasionally, in the heart of downtow!
Toronto.

No one in the USSR is hungry, ak
though shopping for food often feels lik¢
a full-time job. Whenever you vis!
someone’s apartment here, even if you
arrive unexpectedly, a feast quic
materializes on the table. Variety may