This Week In Cambodian History: August 20-26
On August 20, 1957, Official diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Cambodia were established.
On August 20, 1970. President Nixon wrote a personal letter to Prime Minister Lon Nol:
Dear Mr. Prime Minister:
It was with the greatest pleasure that I read your letter of July 21,2 with its assessment of the dynamic forces your country can bring to bear against the Communist aggression to which it has been subjected. The strong and effective defense already presented by the Cambodian armed forces against this aggression and in support of Cambodia’s independence, neutrality, and territorial integrity, has inspired my own admiration and that of the American people. The fact that United States assistance has played some part in this defense is a source of deep personal satisfaction to me.…. FULL LETTER HERE
On August 20, 1971, FANK troops of the Khmer Republic launched Operation Chenla II, aimed at driving out North Vietnamese and Communist allies from Road 6.
On August 20, 1996, The Law on Nationality which was adopted by the National Assembly during the Extra-Ordinary Session of its 1st Legislature, which has its full substance as follows: READ FULL
On August 20, 2018, land rights activist Ms. Tep Vanny was freed from jail after she received a royal pardon.
On August 20, 1996, a breakaway faction of the Khmer Rouge, based in Pailin and led by Pol Pot’s former deputy Ieng Sary, and the Cambodian army agreed to a ceasefire in territories under the rebels’ control. After some political maneuvering, the king signed a royal degree granting amnesty to the Ieng Sary, on September 16.
On August 21, 2006, widespread flooding across the kingdom was captured by a NASA satellite.
On August 22, 1997, the FUNCINPEC stronghold of O’Smach in Banteay Meanchey was attacked by CPP forces- where they had retreated to after July’s fighting.
“Hun Sen soldiers, get down from the hill and go back to your wife in one piece,” a royalist soldier yelled at his rivals over a two-way receiver radio, which was monitored on the Thai border.
“You coward, lay down your arms before your head gets cut off,” one of Hun Sen’s soldiers shot back over the field radio from a strategic hill they occupied about three miles from O’Smach.
“Both sides are firing to the sky, like boys kidding around with their toys. I don’t think they are serious,” said a Thai army source to CNN, who was closely monitoring the fighting.
The same day, politician Pen Sovann, who was feared dead after the fighting, emerged from hiding in the capital, Phnom Penh, and left on a flight for Malaysia. He was escorted onto the plane by U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Quinn.
On 22 August, 2017, plans to reintroduce wild tigers were announced at the Cambodia National Forum on Protection and Conservation of Natural Resources.
On August 23, 2017, Cambodia ordered the U.S.-funded National Democratic Institute to stop activities and remove foreign staff from the country.
On August 24, 1970, a Cambodian military spokesman claimed air strikes had killed 500 North Vietnamese and Vietcong soldiers in a sanctuary along the border with South Vietnam.
The spokesman said that the missions were flown Aug. 9, Aug. 10 and Aug. 11 but that the results were not known to the Cambodian command until the 23rd. He added that the information had been reported by villagers and Cambodian troops operating near Kom pong Trach, 67 miles southeast of the capital.
The spokesman declined to identify the planes involved in the air strikes. He said that they had been “just air strikes, that’s all.”
The raids also destroyed a Communist command post and a weapons factory, the spokesman said.
The day before United States B‐52 bombers based in South Vietnam broke a four‐day lull and crossed into Cambodia to raid North Vietnamese infiltration routes.
On August 24, 1997, CPP aligned troops finally overran FUNCINPEC positions at O’Smach.
On August 24, 2017, in Moscow, in the framework of the 10th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission, talks were held between the heads of the MFAs of Russia and Cambodia, at which the Plan of Inter-MFA Consultations for 2018-2020 was signed.
On August 25, 1970, Admiral TH Moorer informed Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird that he had worked out a plan with Admiral John McCain and General Creighton W. Abrams, which provided for helicopters to be operated and maintained by the VNAF but located in Phnom Penh where they would bear Cambodian Air Force markings and be used in support of the FANK until Cambodian pilots could be trained to fly them. Moorer added that the Department of Defense Office of General Counsel had approved the plan.
On August 26, 1991, the Supreme National Council- chaired by Sihanouk, and made up of 6 members from the State of Cambodia and 2 members from the Royalist, Republican ad Communist factions met for a conference in Pattaya, Thailand.
