A Very Diplomatic Response: The British Government’s Reaction to the Killing Fields of Cambodia

Drawing upon documents from the British National Archives, this article investigates how and why the British government formulated its response to the Khmer Rouge dictatorship in Cambodia. This regime was responsible for some of the worst mass killings in the twentieth century; indeed, in April 1978, President Jimmy Carter referred to it as the “worst violator of human rights in the world today.”1 The British have been portrayed, not least by themselves, as championing the international opposition to human rights abuses in Democratic Kampuchea. The fact that Britain was the first country publicly to condemn the violation of human rights by raising the issue at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in 1978 cannot be denied.2 However, a closer examination of the British reaction to the activities of the Khmer Rouge demonstrates the importance of considerations of Realpolitik both internally and externally. At the same time, this article highlights the fact that British responses were also shaped by other contextual factors,especially the important role played by the British public in pressurizing their government to act as the situation worsened in Democratic Kampuchea. Ultimately, the Vietnamese invasion brought the importance of Cold War geopolitics back to the fore.It was not until December 1979 that the British formally withdrew recognition of the Democratic Kampuchea, but by then the Khmer Rouge were out of power.