The recent situation in East Asia and Cambodia

A military coup in July 1997 mounted by Hun Sen against his co‐prime minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, derailed plans for Cambodia to join ASEAN, an outcome that was unfortunate not only for Cambodia but for the region as a whole, according to Yukio Imagawa. Ambassador of Japan to Cambodia from 1992 to 1996, Imagawa was closely involved in the Cambodian peace process from the time of the Paris Peace Talks in 1989. In this paper, he examines the factors that caused dissension within the Cambodian government in the years following the success of the 1993 UN‐sponsored election, and throws light on the efforts of the international community to ensure the continuance of peace and of democratic government in Cambodia