Strongman

B Mehta Harish C Mehta Julie

Description

Strongman: The Extraordinary Life of Hun Sen is the biography of the Cambodian leader whose private life has been a closely guarded secret. Fully updated and revised from the authors' first edition (Hun Sen: Strongman of Cambodia, published 1999), this volume is based on recently declassified archival documents and hours of new interviews with Hun Sen, his wife Bun Rany, son Hun Manet, other family members and associates. The book chronicles the life of Hun Sen from obscurity as a pagoda boy to strongman status. It reveals the life of Hun Sen and Bun Rany under the Khmer Rouge regime, their troubled romance as junior Khmer Rouge cadres, his escape to Vietnam, and triumphant return to liberate his country from genocide, and his emergence as the longest-serving leader in Southeast Asia.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique
• Camboya
• 21st century
• Cambodia
• History of Asia

Informations

• Publié par: Marshall Cavendish International
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789814484602
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Written by distinguished journalist Harish C. Mehta and his wife Julie B. Mehta, this book reveals interesting stories, some of them perhaps for the first time, about the long conflict. What makes the book so interesting is that it is not a hagiography but a critical biography of Hun Sen. It is a must-read for Cambodian observers, especially students of Southeast Asian studies, and will be interesting to the public in general. - Jakarta Post
Utilising extensive interviews with Hun Sen, the book succeeds in shedding light on several gray areas of history, including Hun Sen s flight to Vietnam from Pol Pot s internal purges and his role in Vietnam s 1979 invasion of Cambodia. -Philippe Agret, Agence France-Presse
Strongman contains interesting material on Hun Sen s youth and probably the most detailed account yet on his defection to Vietnam in mid-1977 One of the more affecting passages describes the death of Hun Sen s first son, who was dropped at birth by a midwife. The incident sums up tidily the Khmer Rouge s capacity for intrusiveness, inhumanity and downright incompetence. -Dominic Faulder, AsiaWeek
Felicities of style abound: waterways are pregnant , Phnom Penh is a city of silk and open drains ; time, we are told, hung as still as fishing nets put out to dry . The book is fascinating as the first insight we have had into the early and private life of Hun Sen, whose democratic credentials have not been recommended by a tight cloak of personal secrecy. For this reason alone it is required reading. -Simon Johnstone, The Nation (Bangkok)
The book movingly describes how the Khmer Rouge tried to block their marriage, how Bun Rany lost her first child in a Khmer Rouge hospital, and how they were forced to perform hard labour in punishment for her husband s defection from the Khmer Rouge. -Toh Han Shih, The Business Times (Singapore)
STRONGMAN
THE
EXTRAORDINARY LIFE
OF
HUN SEN

From Pagoda Boy
to Prime Minister of Cambodia
H ARISH C. M EHTA J ULIE B. M EHTA
To Maha Kali,
Whom we discovered
In golden spires piercing Khmer skies,
In dried blood at Tuol Sleng,
In overripe fruit and birdsong,
Within wildgrass
Covering old killing fields.
Copyright 2013 Harish C. Mehta and Julie B. Mehta
Published in 2013 by Marshall Cavendish Editions
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196
First published in 1999 by Graham Brash as Hun Sen: Strongman of Cambodia
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Request for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196. Tel: [phone], fax: [phone]. E-mail: [e-mail]
The publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, and shall in no events be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Other Marshall Cavendish Offices:
Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited
National Library Board Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data:
Mehta, Harish C.
Strongman : the extraordinary life of Hun Sen : from pagoda boy to Prime Minister of Cambodia / Harish C. Mehta Julie B. Mehta. - Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Eds., 2013.
p. cm.
eISBN 978 981 4484 60 2
1. H un Saen. 2. Prime ministers - Cambodia - Biography. 3. Cambodia - Politics and government - 20th century. 4. Cambodia - Politics and government - 21st century.
I. Title. II. Mehta, Julie B.
DS554.83
959.604092 - dc23 OCN828884009
Cover: The strongman at a military ceremony in Phnom Penh in 1998 (photograph courtesy of Hun Sen); Angkor Wat temple complex, symbol of Cambodia (photograph by Bj rn Christian T rrissen, from Wikimedia Commons). Back cover: Nineteen-year-old Hun Sen in 1971, a year after joining the Khmer Rouge (courtesy of Hun Sen).
Printed in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd
CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Hun Sen s Life and Times

The Players and their Relationship to Hun Sen

List of Abbreviations Used in the Book

Map of Cambodia and Its Neighbours

Map of Hun Sen s Secret Journeys

Prologue: A Short History of Cambodia
I
Days in the Kompong and the Pagoda: 1952-70
II
Deep Inside the Maquis: 1970-77
III
Escape to Vietnam: 1977-79
IV
Liberation War Against the Khmer Rouge: 1977-89
V
Ascent of a Peasant to Power: 1978-97
VI
U.S. Cold War Policy toward Phnom Penh and Hun Sen: 1982-90
VII
At Crossroads in the Post-Cold War: 1990-93
VIII
The Peasant and the Princes: 1991-97
IX
The Coalition: 1993-97
X
The Huns: 1975-98
XI
Taking Charge: 1995-99
XII
Planning the Royal Succession: 2001-2003
XIII
Embracing Democracy: 2002
XIV
The Widening Clan: 1999-2003
XV
The Grooming of the Manet Generation: 2003
XVI
An Eventual Validation: 1990-2013

Notes

Bibliography

List of Interviews

Index

About the Authors
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T HERE ARE MANY Cambodians to whom we owe a debt of gratitude-Prime Minister Hun Sen, his wife Bun Rany, their son Hun Manet, and Hun Sen s elder brother Hun Neng. We are grateful to the late King Norodom Sihanouk, his sons Norodom Ranariddh and Norodom Chakrapong, Sihanouk s half-brother Norodom Sirivudh, and long-time supporter of the royal family Son Sann-for being generous with their time.
Among others who helped us, Indian Army Colonel A.N. Bahuguna arranged a prized interview with Hun Neng, while Hun Sen s senior advisor, Prak Sokhonn, responded to our endless queries and arranged for us to travel by military helicopter with the prime minister to the provinces. The final touches to the elaborate portrait of Hun Sen were given by his brother-in-law, Nim Chandara, who provided rare insights into the Hun family. At the last minute, when we still had a few unanswered questions, Ros Kosal, a prime ministerial aide, made a request to Hun Sen to give us written answers. We also acknowledge the guidance provided by Nouth Narang, a former minister of culture, who enlightened us on the nuances of Khmer politics and culture.
In 1990, we met a young Cambodian woman, Phalla, who had survived the Khmer Rouge genocide, living through the trauma of witnessing a Khmer Rouge soldier bayonet one of her young family members. Now, as we write, we can almost see her tear-filled eyes, her words still resonating in our ears, and we want her to know that it was her story that inspired us to explore recent Khmer history.
Stephen Troth, publisher and long-time resident of Southeast Asia, made valuable suggestions on an early draft of the manuscript. We also recognise the contribution of the people at Graham Brash Publishing, Chuan Campbell and Evelyn Lee, who brought out the first edition in 1999, and the wonderful people at Marshall Cavendish-publisher Chris Newson and managing editor Lee Mei Lin-who believed it was time to release an updated second edition in 2013. We were fortunate in having Tara Dhar Hasnain and Justin Lau as our editors, who offered thoughtful comments and valuable suggestions. We acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Mary Curry of the National Security Archive in Washington D.C., for her guidance in locating important U.S. historical documents on Hun Sen, which appear in this new edition. When the manuscript was finally coming together, Drs. Anima and Tarun Banerjee offered us hospitality at their home in Calcutta, a haven of calmness where we read the proofs. We thank them all.
INTRODUCTION
T HIS IS THE FIRST full-length biography of Hun Sen, a man of complexity and contradiction, and one whose life, or lives, have been extraordinary in range and diversity- kompong child, pagoda boy, Khmer Rouge soldier, romantic hero, liberator, diplomat, kingmaker, strongman, and patriarch of a new generation of Huns. In the course of this formidable project, the authors had complete editorial independence: Hun Sen cooperated enthusiastically in the interviews, but maintained an arm s length from the writing process. Neither he nor his staff required the authors to show them draft chapters or the manuscript before it was sent to press. They never raised the issue. They cooperated with the authors in a spirit of collegiality to see the project to its conclusion.
When we decided to write a biography of Prime Minister Hun Sen in the early 1990s, there was the obvious hurdle of getting Hun Sen to agree to grant lengthy interviews: this was a crucial matter because he rarely gave interviews. Harish casually broached the subject with an assistant of Hun Sen s, Uch Kiman, who liked the idea. Some five years later, in mid-1997, Harish made a formal request in writing to a senior prime ministerial advisor, Prak Sokhonn: would he kindly arrange several hours of interviews with Hun Sen to enable us to write his biography? Within a week or so Sokhonn got back to us. He had shown our letter of request to Hun Sen, and Hun Sen had agreed.
I N DECEMBER 1997, we arrived at the strongman s sprawling mansion on Boulevard Suramarit, facing the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh. We were to meet Prak Sokhonn there. After being screened by a young guard who seemed relu