World: Indochina's Crumbling Frontiers

THE exodus of Communist diplomats began suddenly. Early in the week nearly a dozen women and children from the Soviet embassy hurriedly left Cambodia. Some North Korean aid technicians soon followed. Later, a special transport plane flew into Phnom-Penh's Pochentong Airport from China, and when it left, it was filled with Chinese technicians and members of Peking's big diplomatic community. At week's end, North Viet Nam and the Viet Cong announced that they were closing their Cambodian embassies. "These are the first storm warnings," a Western diplomat said. "When they begin to leave, the rest of us had better watch out. It could be rocket time."

That time may be rapidly approaching. At Poi Meau, a scant 28 miles from the Cambodian capital, government troops clashed with an estimated 300 Viet Cong guerrillas. Farther east, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, intent on protecting their sanctuaries and supply lines, fought pitched battles with Cambodian regulars. In neighboring Laos and South Viet Nam, such clashes have raged for the better part of a decade—and continued to rage last week. Now Cambodia, too, is fast becoming a full-fledged participant in the Indochina conflict. "There is no need for us to declare war," said Premier Lon Nol, the general who helped depose Prince Norodom Sihanouk as Chief of State last month. "It is already a fait accompli. This is war."

The conflict is at its height along the crumbling eastern border. In Svay Rieng province, which forms the "parrot's beak" that juts into South Viet Nam and has served as one of the most important of all Communist sanctuaries, government troops were driven from Chi Phou. That gave the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong control of five of Svay Rieng province's six districts. They already dominate much of the eastern border provinces of Kratie and Kompong Cham. Some Cambodians fear, in fact, that the Communists are determined to control all the territory east of the Mekong River, which amounts to roughly one-third of the country's real estate.

In the four weeks since Sihanouk's fall, more than 100 Cambodian troops have been killed in action. At Chi Phou alone, more than 30 men were slain. At Svay Rieng Ville, the province capital, the government seemed intent on making a stand, and thousands of reinforcements were reported to be pouring in. But the situation remained fluid and extremely confused. By week's end at least eight foreign newsmen reportedly had fallen into Communist hands (see PRESS).

Shredded Bodies. To mobilize popular sentiment against the Communists, the Cambodian government intensified a hate campaign against all ethnic Vietnamese, who account for 400,000 of Cambodia's nearly 7,000,000 people. To avoid being identified, many Vietnamese women abandoned their distinctive aodai dresses for long Cambodian skirts.