Last May's anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia sounded the alarm that new ethnic massacres could erupt in that part of the world. Largely overlooked by the international community, ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia fear that they, too, will become scapegoats of political unrest as the country continues its experiment withdemocracy. PNS correspondent Joshua Phillips lived and traveled widely in Cambodia in the mid-1990s and recently returned from a one month trip there.

PHNOM PENH-- Weeks of violent protests over Cambodia's elections last July have finally ended with the promise of peace talks between government and opposition leaders. For distant observers, the country's long-delayed transition to peace and stability is back on track.

But for Cambodia's ethnic Vietnamese, Cambodia's experiment with democracy has once again stoked the embers of racial hatred. The peace talks offer no guarantee these passions won't flare up and become consuming in a new round of ethnic massacres.

Opposition politicians "blame the Vietnamese living here for all of Cambodia's social problems," said Ngieng Thy Tiet, 46. "They always use the word 'yuon'," a derogatory term for ethnic Vietnamese.

Only a few months ago, Tiet's daughter was murdered in a pre-election attack on his village by Khmer Rouge. The attackers shouted "Kill yuon! Kill yuon!" as they slaughtered 24 villagers, according to local survivors. But Tiet fears "there will be more attacks and hatred in the future."

"Believe me, this could by a real time bomb," predicted Kao Kim Hourn, director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace. Kim Hourn called on Cambodian leaders to resolve political tensions and halt racial scapegoating before the situation becomes explosive.

Late in August, thousands of Cambodians poured into the streets to protest the outcome of elections which gave ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) a majority of parliamentary seats.

The elections were approved as fair by international observers. But the country's self-described "democratic opposition" denounced the election as a fraud and Hun Sen as "a puppet dictator of the yuon" -- invoking memories of his rise to power after the Vietnamese army defeated the Khmer Rouge in 1978. Street demonstrators chanted anti-Vietnamese slogans against the CPP.

In early September, as passions escalated, some protesters attacked a Vietnamese solidarity monument with hammers and set it on fire with gasoline. A mob beat four Vietnamese merchants to death as rumors spread through the city that they sold poisoned rice wine which killed a dozen residents.

Human Rights Watch issued a statement September 9, condemning the violence and calling on all political parties to "avoid fueling ethnic violence." Opposition leaders deny playing a race card to whip up popular political support.

Today, some five percent of Cambodia's 11 million people are ethnic Vietnamese -- many of them small merchants or fisherman who have lived here for generations. Others migrated to the country during the 1980s -- some seeking jobs as skilled workers, or taking advantage of empty plots of land or fishing areas. Many settled near the border with Vietnam, seeking to thrive on trade.

During those same years, Cambodian resistance forces, aligned with the Khmer Rouge, and backed by the United States, China, and Thailand, launched a war against the Vietnamese-installed government. That war ended with peace accords and elections, and an uneasy coalition government, orchestrated by the U.N., was set up in the early 1990s. The Vietnamese installed government was transformed into the Cambodian People's Party -- now the target of anti-Vietnamese sloganeers.

The street protests may be part of a democratic process, but there are many who worry that the opposition will continue to "stoke dormant fires," said Kao Mong Hay, director of the Khmer Institute for Democracy. He conceded that there are problems of illegal immigration and border disputes involving Vietnamese, but says politicians are scapegoating them to gain support.

"I've been living here 74 years and my great-grandparents lived here, too," said one Vietnamese, a fisherman, who fears being driven from the country. "In Vietnam, I wouldn't know what to do."

Like many whose families have lived here for several generations, he lacks proper documentation verifying his status as a legal resident.

A mother of three, who asked not to be named, denied there were problems between Khmers and ethnic Vietnamese in her village, but trembled as she spoke. Later she admitted, "I am afraid of living in this area."

"If future attacks on my villagers happen, they will not only kill Vietnamese, but also Cambodians," predicted Commune Chief Chann Hoeun. "It will happen in the future if politicians...make people more angry."