Hun Sen asks UN for help on Vietnam problem

Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to provide original, constitutionally mandated maps of Cambodia's disputed border with Vietnam.

School of Vice: This is about the least sensible thing this regime can do - on the face of it! Why bother to have your country's map deposited at the UN in the first place when you are inclined to entrust the entire demarcation process to the use of a map [or maps] duplicated on the original and printed in a country with whom your country shares this border line of over a thousand kilometers? It wouldn't be shocking if all the stone border markers [eagerly paid for by Vietnam to speed up the process] planted so far will have been verified to have all located at some hundreds of meters or even kilometers deep inside Cambodian territory on the basis of the original map. 

Mind you, the UN along with other signatories to the PPA have not been quite principled or scrupulous themselves either in terms of offering a helping hand to a much maligned state sandwiched between powerful ones in Thailand and Vietnam - they all have been quick to act in condemnation of the Cambodian Opposition's otherwise legitimate role in questioning the all too cosy conducts and arrangements between Hanoi and Phnom Penh, or at any rate, suspecting them [Opposition] of causing turmoil for own political capital making. 

This dubious stance even extends to the use of the term "Yuon" [a word that is otherwise as neutral and casual as the term "Khmer" in the Cambodian tongue] by some opposition politicians [and frequently by supporters, apologists and ruling figures of the CPP itself] through the misplaced perception that the term's usage carries "derogatory" connotations towards Vietnam and the Vietnamese whilst Hanoi's and its satellite regime's atrocities and grievous rights abuses have frequently drawn no more than lip-service from the outside world. Thus, complaining of this general unhelpful attitude, the deputy leader of the CNRP - Kem Sokha - recently remarked on his overseas trip: 'We are not even allowed to use the word "yuon" ' - to refer to the yuon!  

Actually, this is about doing the right thing for the nation and people of Cambodia, and not about national prejudice, racial incitement, extremism or any thing else one could think of. For the right things to be done in all matters of public substance or relevance, there must be transparency and accountability, and thus far we have not been satisfied that this has been demonstrated to be the case. To the contrary, the entire demarcation procedure is shrouded in utter secrecy, reeking of foul play and national betrayal. It has now transpired that prior to the recent public admission by Hor Nam Hong [Foreign Affairs Minister] Phnom Penh had in fact lodged a number of complaints via its embassy in Hanoi in recent years over Vietnam's territorial infringements, and one would imagine that these amicable [but completely ineffective] diplomatic notes - whilst your nation's territorial integrity is being violated in broad daylight - would have continued to be lodged had it not been for the brave and conscientious effort and persistence of a handful of ordinary Cambodian citizens and opposition activists now portrayed and condemned yet again as "extremists" and "trouble-makers". 

Any of us who have been following Vietnam's tussle with China over territorial disputes in the SCS would have noted the former's open and public statement of grievances and practical intents towards Beijing that also entail the widely reported resolve/threat of the Vietnamese to bring the Chinese government before an internal arbitration tribunal of some sort. Surely, this kind of response is only appropriate and befitting of any nation or country confronted with similar woes? Well, no, according to Mr Hong and Co: You are weak and vulnerable to the threats and abuses posed by your more powerful neighbours, so all that you could do would be to lodge only polite, quiet complaints and hope the rest of the outside world learn nothing of your grievances and at the same while pray that your tormentors will eventually acquire enlightenment, attain grace, reform their conduct and act civilised towards you in contravention of all their known behavioural patterns shown in the past and present! At least, that would appear to be the underlying reasoning. 

NB: Hopefully, the original map now held at the UN is 'digitalised' and safely archived somewhere before or if it is to be handed over to the Phnom Penh regime. Just in case! 

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Mon, 6 July 2015

Shaun Turton ppp

Prime Minister Hun Sen has written to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, requesting access to the original, constitutionally mandated maps of Cambodia’s borders, following weeks of tension with Vietnam over the eastern frontier.

In a letter dated July 6, the prime minister requests to borrow the original Bonne map, scale 1/100,000, which was developed between 1933 and 1955 by French colonial authorities and deposited by late King Norodom Sihanouk with the UN in 1964.

Noting that Sihanouk’s efforts to ensure the Kingdom’s border was respected, Hun Sun tells Ban Ki-moon the government needs the maps to “verify” its ongoing demarcation process and “end the incitement of extreme nationalism” by “some quarters” in Cambodia that “may lead to catastrophe” for Cambodia, a reference to the opposition’s recent push to highlight alleged encroachment by Vietnam.

The request is made "with the intention to clearly confirm about the scrupulous and righteousness of the Royal Government of Cambodia’s determination and implementation of the delimitation and demarcation of borders between the Kingdom of Cambodia and her neighboring countries as well as with the objective to avoid and to end the incitement of extreme nationalism and ill-intention to cause confusion within national and international public opinions in order to make political gains by some quarters in Cambodia that may lead to catastrophe to the whole Cambodian national," Hun Sen writes.

He continues: “I strongly believe that for the cause of peace and stability in the region as well as with the high consideration on (sic) the well being of Cambodia and her people, who is a member of the United Nations, Your Excellency Secretary General would render cooperation with his request”.

The opposition has long accused the government of using maps developed with Vietnam in the 1980s to demarcate the border, which they say cedes Cambodian territory, instead of the French-developed ones, which are cited in Article 2 of the Kingdom's constitution.

Last week, senior official in charge of border affairs Var Kimhong presented a number of maps used for the ongoing demarcation, stating that while developed in concert with Vietnam following a 2005 border treaty, the maps matched the constitutionally mandated version, held by the UN.

Over the past month, the Cambodia National Rescue Party has fuelled a heightening of tensions over the border with Vietnam by highlighting examples of alleged Vietnamese encroachment into Ratanakkiri, Kandal and Svay Rieng provinces.

On Saturday, a Cambodian man was detained and allegedly beaten by Vietnamese authorities for leading students to inspect a disputed area in Svay Rieng’s Kampong Ro province.

On June 28, in the same area, a brawl erupted between an opposition-led group and Vietnamese authorities, prompting a fierce rebuke from Vietnam, which will form a joint committee with Cambodia to investigate the violence.