Vietnamese Occupation

Following the defeat of the Khmer Rouge by forces of the Vietnamese government, Buddhism initially remained officially suppressed within Cambodia.^[17] Following challenges to the legitimacy of the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea, policies towards Buddhism began to liberalize starting in the summer of 1979.^[21] A group of monks who had been exiled and re-ordained in Vietnam during the Khmer Rouge period were sent to Cambodia,^[22] and in 1981 one of their number, Venerable Tep Vong, was elected the first sangharaja of a new unified Cambodia sangha, officially abolishing the division between the Thommayut order and the Mohanikay.^[21] The ordination of new monks was sponsored by the government as a public show of piety and lifted restrictions on ordination.^[19]