ABSTRACT
The Vietnamese military invasion of Cambodia on Christmas Day 1978 precipitated a major international crisis and led to prolonged military stalemate in Cambodia and international confrontation in Southeast Asia and at the United Nations. The Khmer Rouge fighters, strongly backed by China, continued to resist from bases along the Thai-Cambodian border. China, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the West placed restrictions on economic and diplomatic interaction with Vietnam until it withdrew its forces from Cambodia. Vietnam intensified the military conflict in Cambodia with a major offensive in 1984-1985 that succeeded in destroying a number of the resistance forces' bases along the Thai border; and it attempted to seal the border against infiltration. The balance of military, political and other forces affecting the Cambodian situation in the mid-1980s gave little cause for optimism about significant change anytime. Hanoi appeared prepared to continue to endure the negative consequences of war and isolation stemming from the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia.
