Combodia-Post

Grilled food stall in Vientiane that sells aqua-cultured Tilapia fish (Photo: VOA - D Schearf)Vientiane 11 January 2010Daniel SchearfVoice of America
Plans to build a series of hydropower dams on the Mekong River could threaten already endangered species in the waterway.The Mekong River is the lifeblood of Southeast Asia, with the largest inland fisheries in the world.About 40 million people depend to some degree on the fisheries, worth about $2.5 billion a year.But fisheries experts say plans by Cambodia, Laos and Thailand to build hydropower dams on the Mekong would block fish migration, threatening already endangered species.Environmental activists say plans by Laos to build a dam in the Don Sahong area near the Cambodian border could doom the nearly extinct Irrawaddy dolphin.Soung Ma earns money taking tourists for a rare glimpse of the dolphins. "Local people normally work in dolphin tourism. Everyone has a small boat and can pick up tourists and get money from tourists every day or every month depending on the season," Ma said.The Mekong River Commission works to manage river resources among Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.Jeremy Bird heads the commission and says balancing the pros and cons of hydropower dams is the biggest challenge facing the Mekong basin. "We're talking about the livelihoods of millions of people but we're also talking about a huge potential resource of hydropower which can not only provide foreign revenues to the countries, but can those revenues can then be used to finance other development programs and help countries meet their targets on poverty alleviation and millenium development goals," Bird said.Some dams on rivers feeding the Mekong have disrupted fish populations.Fishermen may have to turn to aquaculture like this tilapia farm in Vientiane to make up for the lost wild catch.Suchart Ingthamjitr, a program officer at the MRC's fishery program, says fish farms help meet demand. "The price of wild fish is higher than cultured fish. But, the problem of wild fish is seasonality," Ingthamjitr said. "Yeah, you can catch and have the wild fish depend on the time of year. But, for tilapia all year round you can buy it in the market."As the sun sets on the Mekong, fishermen try their luck.Environmental and fisheries experts say damming the Mekong will change some of their traditional ways.

12/01/2010Wassana NanuamBangkok Post
The armed forces have defended the involvement of South Korea in the Cobra Gold military exercises for the first time this year.Gen Ratchakrit Kanchanawat, the joint chief of staff of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, said the exercises were designed for peace-keeping purposes and had nothing to do with the "balance of global power".South Korea, which will send 411 soldiers with their own weapons, has been given permission to play an active part in the annual Cobra Gold exercises with the backing of co-hosts Thailand and the US, Gen Ratchakrit said yesterday.South Korea had been an observer at the exercises for many years and shared similar military doctrines with Thailand and the US, so their participation was welcomed, he said."Don't be concerned about the balance of global or regional powers because of the inclusion of South Korea," he said. "Our aim is to hold a military exercise, keep peace and promote humanitarian aid."Korea is the sixth country to take part in Cobra Gold, launched in 1982, joining Thailand, the US, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore. Under a Thai-US agreement, up to 10 countries could become involved in the exercises.An army source said the US took an active role in backing Korea's participation after reports of joint military cooperation between North Korea and Burma.It could be the first step for South Korea to have a more active role in Southeast Asia, the source said.More than 11,600 soldiers, mostly from the US with 6,217 troops, will gather in provinces such as Rayong, Phetchaburi and Lop Buri from Feb 1 to 11.Meanwhile, the US is also planning joint exercises with Cambodia, but Thai military officials are unconcerned even though Thailand has been at odds with its neighbour on overlapping boundaries."We understand the US. It is a drill for peace-keeping," Gen Ratchakrit said.

January 12, 2010The Nation
The Supreme Court today is holding its second-last hearing in the Bt76-billion assets case against convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders has scheduled sessions for today and Friday before ruling on whether the assets should be devolved to the state.Due to testify today are representatives from the Stock Exchange of Thailand, National Telecommunications Commission, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry and Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).Former ICT minister Sitthichai Pokaiudom and TDRI researcher Somkiart Tangkijvanit will be among the witnesses today.

Officials Argue Two Sides of Divisive DayBy Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer Washington11 January 2010
A senior Cambodian People’s Party official defended the government’s celebrating of the contentious Jan. 7 holiday on Thursday, claiming it was a day of victory and arguing against criticism that the day merely marks the beginning of an occupation.Vietnamese forces ousted the Khmer Rouge from Phnom Penh on Jan. 7, 1979, beginning a decade-long occupation that saw years of civil war between government forces and the guerrillas.CPP lawmaker Cheam Yiep said the day was one the ruling party was thankful for, because it augured peace and led to victories in future general elections for the party. The day marked one of survival for Cambodia, he said by phone Thursday,as a guest on “Hello VOA.”However, a second guest on the show, Thach Setha, a senior member of the Sam Rainsy Party, who joined in the Phnom Penh studio, said the day marked only a change from one communist regime to another.Were the Vietnamese intentions benevolent, the country would have done more before 1979, he said. The Vietnamese retained an embassy until 1977, he said, when Phnom Penh was “a ghost city,” and waited until the Cambodians were nearly “extinguished,” before bringing in troops two years later.“So Cambodia suffered by others’ politics,” he said. “They killed us to become ghosts, and then they rose up, wanting us to thank them. So Cambodia, please, understand this history.

Left to right: Joseph Cao (R-LA), Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa) and Mike Honda (D-CA) (Photo: Sok Serey, RFA)By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh07 January 2010
Prime Minister Hun Sen and three US congressmen discussed an extension of trade relations between the two countries on Thursday, while raising the possibility of debt reduction.The congressmen—Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa; Mike Honda, a Democratic from California; and Joseph Cao, a Republican from Louisiana—met with Hun Sen, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh“We did touch on the issue of debt obligations, also on questions of trade and tariffs in trying to bring Cambodia’s trade and economic needs [and] better status especially in trade with the United States,” Faleomavaega told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport Thursday afternoon.The US delegation is scheduled to travel to Laos, having already visited Vietnam. The tour will conclude in Japan.Cambodia owes the US more than $300 million from the Lon Nol period, a debt Cambodian officials maintain should be erased. Faleomavaega said he told Hun Sen he would take the matter to discuss with other US lawmakers.Debt forgiveness could help Cambodia, he said. Faleomavaega said he wanted to play a role in bettering the relationship between Cambodia and the US.Eang Sophaleth, an adviser to Hun Sen, told reporters the premier had thanked the men for continued economic support from the US and was happy to promote a relationship between the two countries.

By Chun Sakada, VOA KhmerOriginal report from Phnom Penh11 January 2010
Local authorities and military commanders joined a weekly meeting of ministers Friday through video conferencing in Phnom Penh that officials say will strengthen communication between central government and outlying authorities.Governors, council chiefs and other officials from 24 municipalities and provinces joined in discussions at the weekly Council of Ministers meeting, along with six commanders from military zones, in what Prime Minister Hun Sen called a historic moment.The meeting was meant to “speed up” human resources development in technology to provincial and city governors and others, according to a statement from the Council of Ministers. Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, said the opposition supported the measure, “to help promote the prevention of corruption, deforestation, road reparation, project development and the protection of people’s security and safety.”However, while an effort to strengthen its effectiveness through technology was positive, he said, “the government should additionally increase its willingness to respect and fairly implement the law.”Land-grabbing and other “injustices” continue to plague the populace, he said.Ny Chakrya, a lead investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said the video conferencing would provide an element of transparency to the government, while “providing urgent information to local government’s to fulfill their work and to agree on the goals of the government.”The video conferencing could be shown on television networks for people to watch, he said, “because people sometimes want to know what the cabinet decides and whether the local government fully implements the decisions of the cabinet.”

Monday, 11 January 2010Meas SokcheaThe Phnom Penh Post
Observers will want to know whether or not the trial will give justice.SVAY Rieng provincial court has summoned opposition leader Sam Rainsy and five villagers to appear in court on January 27 to face charges stemming from the removal of wooden markers near the border with Vietnam.Choung Choungy, Sam Rainsy’s lawyer, said Sunday that he received a court summons signed by court prosecutor Keo Thea on Friday and would appear to defend his client, who is currently overseas.“I maintain my stance that this story is not a criminal case, and that [Sam Rainsy] is not wrong because he did what he did as a representative of the people,” he said.“This is not a criminal case, but a political story.”Sam Rainsy has been charged with racial incitement and purposely destroying border-demarcation poles after a Buddhist ceremony in Svay Rieng province’s Chantrea district on October 25. Villagers claimed the markers were placed in their fields by Vietnamese authorities, prompting opposition concerns that Cambodian authorities are turning a blind eye to border encroachments.A warrant was issued for Sam Rainsy’s arrest after he failed to appear in court on December 28 for questioning in relation to the incident.Five local villagers – Meas Srey, 39, Prom Chea, 41, Prak Koeun, 38, Prak Chea, 28, and Neang Phally, 39 – were also charged with destroying the border markers and have been summoned to appear in court on the same day.Two of those named, Meas Srey and Prom Chea, have been detained by local authorities, and the other three remain on the run after failing to appear in court last month.Nget Nara, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, said the trial of Sam Rainsy and the villagers would draw the attention of many national and international human rights observers.“This story is very important because it is related to the border issue and the lifting of Sam Rainsy’s [parliamentary] immunity. Observers will want to know whether or not the trial will give justice to Sam Rainsy and those people,” he said.Judge Koam Chhean, who is handling the case, could not be reached on Sunday.

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong will attend a series of ASEAN meetings to be held in Da Nam, Vietnam, on Jan. 13 to 14, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.Foreign ministers from 10 member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will discuss measures to move forward community building process and external relations, especially for the year 2010, according to the release.Hor Namhong will also attend the 4th Foreign Ministerial Meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) due to be held from Jan. 16 to 17 in Tokyo, Japan.On the sideline of the meeting, Hor Namhong and Hugo Martinez, minister of foreign affairs of El Salvador, will sign the joint communique on establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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1 comments:
Anonymous said...
Gov't needs to find ways to work together as a team. Life is not always about you or me, its about "us", if we keep on fighting, we will lose everything. All gov't need to focus on what else need to be done? avoid personal conflict at all cost! if khmer don't love khmer no one in the world will!. Alot of us who are living abroad have faced with all sort of challenges in their lives, like struggling with English as second language, racism and other intimidation like even you have completed a degree they would still favour their citizen over you which is normal because they love their people more than you. So, if you don't love each other you will allow other to abuse you. One other thing is no other place like home, so gov't need to act now and act fast to have a system in place to help the poor. Gov't need to focus on generating income from race, fish, oil, gold etc. It would be great if gov't build 1000s of factories around the country, each factory, e.g. specialised in different goods, like dried fish packaging factory etc and than sign a contract with buyers oversea etc. Don't let other nation buy cheap from you and then they will make millions of it while you earn almost nothing!!!!. Be smarter! People come first or else it will be like pol pot where he kept all the money in swiz and now all gone for nothing where all of these monies used to belong to the death. Now swis have it all. k. Intelligent

Police said thousands hiked up a mountain to Surayud's home but he was not in [Reuters]Monday, January 11, 2010 Al Jazeera
Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters have rallied against a royal adviser they blame for masterminding the 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra from office.Members of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) gathered outside the rural home of Surayud Chulanont located at Khao Yai Thiang, about 175km northeast of the capital Bangkok.Police said some 5,000 protesters hiked up a mountain to Surayud's home on Monday demanding he give up the house, which they say was illegally built in a state-run forest preserve.They also want him charged with trespassing on public land.Police Colonel Direk Plangdee said the protest was peaceful and there were no arrests, adding that Surayud was not home at that time.No intentionLast week, prosecutors agreed that Surayud was not the rightful owner of the plot of land, which he will have to return to the state.
"This area was meant to be allocated to the landless. What is this if not unlawful privilege?" - Jatuporn Phromphan, UDD protest leaderTanapit Moonprauk, a spokesman for the attorney-general's office, said prosecutors would not press charges against Surayud because he had not intended to break the law.Surayud sits on the Privy Council and the UDD says members of this body orchestrated the bloodless military coup that ousted Thaksin in September 2006.A former army chief, Surayud became interim prime minister one month later and served until elections in December 2007.Since the coup, supporters and opponents of Thaksin have repeatedly taken to the streets to spar over who has the right to rule the country, sometimes sparking violence.Double standardsThe UDD, which draws its support largely from the rural poor who helped Thaksin twice win election landslides, accuse Surayud and Thailand's powerful elite of hypocrisy."We want to tell the international community that a double standard exists in the country," Jatuporn Phromphan, a protest leader, told the rally.He said Surayud was able to escape charges "while ordinary people have been sued by the state for trespassing and encroaching on the forest reserve"."This area was meant to be allocated to the landless. What is this if not unlawful privilege?" added Jatuporn.The protest by the so-called "red shirts" is seen as a prelude to a bid later this month to bring down the embattled coalition government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Thai prime minister.Political crisisThe UDD has planned a prolonged anti-government rally while the pro-Thaksin Puea Thai party prepares for a censure debate, probably in February, to exploit cracks in Abhisit's coalition.It comes ahead of a court verdict on whether to confiscate $2.3bn of assets belonging to the Shinawatra family.Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Thai political scientist, said it was unlikely Monday's demonstration or rallies later this month would succeed in toppling the government.He said Abhisit's best hope of easing Thailand's polarising five-year political crisis was to engage with the UDD, which he says cannot succeed "without powerful backers"."Yes, there is much hypocrisy and double standard. They can protest and cause rumblings, but it is unlikely to derail the government," Thitinan said."Right now, it appears the government is winning, but they would be making a mistake if they don't address [UDD] grievances, setting the stage for more frustration and anger."

Jan 12, 2010 By Sebastian StrangioAsia Times (Hong Kong)
PHNOM PENH - A day after Cambodian authorities spirited 20 ethnic Uighur asylum seekers out of the country on an unmarked charter flight, China's Vice President Xi Jinping touched down at Siem Reap International Airport. During his three-day visit in late December, the Chinese leader signed an unprecedented US$1.2 billion in economic aid agreements with the Phnom Penh government, while rights groups and Western governments howled condemnation over the sudden deportations.The deported Uighurs hailed from China's restive northwest Xinjiang province and were part of a group of 22 who had drifted into Cambodia with the aid of Christian missionary networks in November after braving the long and arduous overland journey from China. Uighur rights groups said that the group fled China after witnessing bloody clashes between Chinese security forces and Uighur demonstrators on July 5 in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital. Two of the group remain on the run. A Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Koy Kuong, said that the Uighurs - who had applied for political asylum through the local office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) - were deported for breaching Cambodia's immigration laws. "We have not specifically targeted these people - we do this in general for all foreign nationals who enter Cambodia illegally," he said at the time.Despite the Cambodian denials, the nature and timing of the seemingly hurried deportations are a vivid illustration of the new bonds of patronage and political accommodation now linking Beijing and Phnom Penh. In recent years, China's global sales pitch - hefty amounts of economic aid disentangled from human rights or good governance conditions - has found a willing recipient in Phnom Penh."China respects the political decisions of Cambodia," said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in September, during a ceremony marking the construction of a $128 million Chinese-funded bridge. "[T]hey build bridges and roads and there are no complicated conditions," he added.The newly promised $1.2 billion in economic assistance comes in addition to the $880 million in loans and grants Cambodia has received from Beijing since 2006, including finance for the $280 million Kamchay hydropower dam in Kampot province and the monolithic $30 million Council of Ministers building in Phnom Penh, given as a "gift" from the Chinese government.The arrival of the Uighurs was an unprecedented test for Hun Sen's regime, forcing it to choose between acquiescing to the apparent demands of its top regional patron and its conflicting obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. To some international observers, China's intent to secure the deportation of the Uighurs from Cambodia was clear from the outset."China takes a very hard line on Uighurs who seek out shelter in other countries, as China does not admit that there are conditions in Xinjiang, where most Uighurs live, that can be oppressive and might cause Uighurs to flee the country," said Josh Kurlantzick, a fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington.The Uighur American Association, a US-based Uighur exile group, claims that in late 2001 and early 2002, Nepal forcibly returned at least two Uighurs to Chinese authorities in Xinjiang, one of whom was executed in 2003 despite having registered with the UNHCR office in Kathmandu. Kurlantzick said the Chinese government has pushed hard to have Uighurs sent back to China from Central Asia and protested aggressively against the transfer of Uighurs held by the US government at Guantanamo Bay to third countries.That includes a strong Chinese Foreign Ministry statement issued on Friday warning Switzerland against accepting Uighur detainees that Beijing says it considers terrorists and a threat to its national security.Overlooked obligationsRights activists and UNHCR officials have demonstrated increasing faith in Cambodia's willingness to abide by the Refugee Convention's protocols in processing asylum cases. In an article published by UNHCR in October 2008, Cambodia was hailed as an emerging "refugee model" for Southeast Asia.The article followed the signing of an agreement between UNHCR and the Cambodian government that month that began the transfer of all asylum cases - except ethnic Montagnards from Vietnam - to a new Cambodian Refugee Office housed at the Department of Immigration. The article described the change of location as "an important move - symbolic of this country's determination to take on new responsibilities in protecting refugees' human rights".The transfer of powers was completed by a government sub-decree signed by Hun Sen on December 17 - just two days before the Uighurs' deportation. Rights activists familiar with the case said that on the previous day, UNHCR vehicles were used to round up the 20 Uighurs and take them to a safe house under joint government-UNHCR administration. On the night of December 18, the Uighurs were then allegedly forced at gunpoint to board Cambodian police vehicles and flown out the following night to an unknown destination in China.Andrew Swan, a project coordinator at the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, described the deportation as a "bolt from the blue" that reversed an earlier apparent willingness to process fairly the Uighur asylum cases. "Prior to the extradition ... there were few indications that the Cambodian government would interfere in the cases of the 22 Uighurs," he said. "Our confidence has been proved tragically wrong, and I believe it will take many, many years for Cambodia to regain both its regional and its international stature."Denise Coughlan, director of Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), which was involved with the Uighur cases, said she was "shocked" at the Cambodian government's actions after formally requesting UNHCR assistance to determine the status of the Uighur group and offering to provide a safe house while their applications were pending. "Like sheep going to the slaughter, the people went to the safe house clearly believing they were going to be protected," she said.The deportation also prompted a storm of diplomatic condemnation. A statement issued by acting US State Department spokesman Gordon Daguid on December 21 said the US "strongly opposed" the deportation, warning it would "affect Cambodia's relationship with the US and its international standing". Graham Watson, a British member of the European Parliament, issued a statement on January 7 decrying the deportation and calling for a fair accounting of the two Uighurs remaining in the country."Cambodia's sneaky decision to extradite 20 Uighurs to China is a disgrace," he said in the statement. "The Cambodian government should give a proper account of why it chose to act in this way."Yet it was perhaps unsurprising that Beijing's $1.2 billion economic aid carrot would trump Cambodia's loose legal obligations under the Refugee Convention. Meanwhile, criticism has also been directed at UNHCR's Cambodia-based office for putting so much trust in the government's claims.Sara Colm, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, said it was "astonishingly poor timing and a gross error in judgment" for the UNHCR to hand control of refugee-processing - and the Uighur cases in particular - to the Cambodian government. "The bottom line is that Cambodia flagrantly violated its obligations under the Refugee Convention, which ended tragically for the 20 Uighurs," she said.Following the deportation, Cambodian officials also vented their frustration at the UNHCR for putting them in a compromised position with the Uighurs. They openly derided UNHCR officials for dragging their feet in processing the asylum applications."[The] UNHCR is the laziest office in Cambodia," said government spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith on December 21. "If they [granted refugee status] within a few days, those people would have been moved to other places, but they were slow and kept them for about a month." He also accused the agency of leaking the story to the press in order to "beat a drum" against the government, forcing it to begin investigations into the whereabouts of the 22 asylum seekers.Kitty McKinsey, the UNCHR's spokesperson in Asia, said that despite the "aberration" of the deportations, which she claims the UNHCR took extraordinary steps to prevent, the essence of the problem is that only states have the power to provide protection to asylum seekers. "We work very diligently and sincerely to assist the government and provide protection, but if a state has signed the Refugee Convention, it's up to the state itself to provide protection," she said.Sebastian Strangio is a reporter at the Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia.

January 12, 2010The Nation
Since Cambodia was to propose the administration and conservation plan for Preah Vihear on February 1, PM Abhisit Vejjajiva should express Thailand's stance that Thailand has never agreed and joined in the plan making, an academic said Monday.ML Wanwipa Charoonroj of Thammasat University's Thai Studies Institute said the Cambodian plan would be submitted to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris to seek the World Heritage Committee approval in the 34th general meeting in Brazil's Brasilia City.She urged Abhisit to notify the World Heritage Center in Paris about the Administrative Court ruling that evoked the PM Samak Sundaravej's cabinet resolution on June 17, 2008 to assign former foreign minister Noppadol Pattama to sign a Thai-Cambodian statement over the matter.

January 11, 2010By ROGER COHENThe New York Times
BEIJING — A U.S. official here told me he was “getting a little nervous about 2010” when it comes to Chinese-American relations. I’d say there’s plenty of cause for that. I’m not optimistic about the world’s most important relationship in the short term.The Obama administration came in with a deeply held philosophical view about making the Chinese stakeholders, and partners, in an interconnected world. Human rights complaints were muted, the Dalai Lama put on hold, and President Obama swung into town in November with arms outstretched to the rising behemoth.The Chinese were polite enough, if less so at the Copenhagen climate talks a month later, but they’re not buying this touchy-feely interconnection thing. When you’re sitting on sums north of $2 trillion in reserves, riding three decades of near double-digit growth, and just trucked past the United States to become the world’s largest auto market, nationalism trumps globalism.Think of the headiest moments of U.S. expansion — the Gilded Age or the Roaring Twenties — to get some idea of Chinese swagger and possibility.It’s been a rough two months since that November visit. China has snubbed Obama.Top of Obama’s human rights list when he met President Hu Jintao was the case of Liu Xiaobo, the principal author of a pro-democracy manifesto. Liu’s since been sentenced, on Christmas Day, to 11 years in prison. Take that.Top of Obama’s nonproliferation list was Iran and the need for a united front on its nuclear program. China has since said “sanctions themselves are not an end” as the United States tries to harness support for them. Take that, too.Top of Obama’s trade list was the need for China to allow its currency, the renminbi, to appreciate rather than pegging it at an artificially low rate that spurs Chinese exports and, in effect, keeps jobs in Guangzhou as it kills them in Ohio. But a basic rule in China is that it looks inward before it looks outward. Its cheap-currency job-hoarding is about Chinese social stability, which is Job One for Hu and his cohorts, so there’s no sign of any movement.Take that, for good measure, Mr. President — and in a year with a U.S. mid-term election where disappearing jobs are going to haunt Obama and the Democrats.Then there was Copenhagen, of course, where Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s treatment of Obama left a bad taste in Washington; and the forced repatriation of Uighurs who’d fled to Cambodia from China, which infuriated Washington; and the execution of a U.K. citizen with mental problems, which dismayed Washington (and left British leaders seething). Well, you get the idea.“Things are much tougher than I thought possible a couple of months ago,” William McCahill, a former U.S. diplomat who heads a Beijing research company, told me. “With the mid-terms and the Chinese inching toward their succession in 2012, a period when hard-line positions get staked, you can expect the rhetoric to pitch up.”It already has. Since I arrived in China, newspapers have been awash in Chinese outrage at reports of the Obama administration’s approval of a sale by Lockheed Martin of advanced Patriot air defense missiles to Taiwan, the self-governing island that China views as a renegade province. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spoke of “severe consequences” from the sale, part of a $6.5 billion arms package for Taiwan approved under the Bush administration.I have a double reaction to this Taiwan arms contract. On the one hand, Obama’s been stiffed, the United States is obliged under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 to provide arms of a defensive nature to Taiwan, and China responds better to resolve than all that interconnected globe stuff. On the other, come on! Relations between Taipei and Beijing have never been as good, you’re never ever going to get a Chinese buy-in to real cooperation as long as it views Washington as meddling with its core strategic interests in this way, and “one country, three systems” looks a thousand times more likely to me within the next half-century than a Taiwan war that would shred Chinese stability.Of these reactions, the latter is stronger because Obama is accepting a core antagonism of interest in the Chinese relationship even as he’s talked up cooperation. Perhaps that’s inevitable between the world’s superpower and its ultimate likely successor; but the Taipei deal guarantees it.“The arms sales are stupid,” Chu Shulong, a political scientist often critical of the Chinese government, told me. “Yes, Taiwan and its democracy are important for your credibility in Asia, but what’s more important, that or the mainland? As long as America does this, it will be perceived as wanting to check China, divide China and challenge China’s fundamental national interests.”The painful condition of the United States and China is that they are codependent, through trade and debt, but antagonistic. As elsewhere, Obama has changed language but not reality. I see a 2010 of rising protectionism, suspended military dialogue, Iranian discord, human rights disappointments and wars of words.It could be worse. I don’t see outright confrontation now or any time. China wouldn’t risk its rise with that.

1/11/2010 Source: World Bank
Meas Sokhunthea, a shy 8th grade student at Preah An Kosa secondary school in Siem Reap town, has wanted to be a teacher since she was a little girl. “With the scholarship that I’ve been given and my mom’s strong support for my studies, I believe I will reach my goal,” she said.Sokhunthea is one of 36,000 lower-secondary and primary students who received scholarships through a component of the Education Sector Support Project (ESSP), which is financed by the World Bank in Cambodia. Under the program, students will receive scholarships ranging from US$45 to US$60 per year to support their study. Sokhunthea got US$45, which she used to buy her uniform, books, pen and her school bag. Sokhunthea thanks the program because it helps to reduce her mother’s financial burden of buying her school materials.Her schoolmate, Cheng Sopheap, who received US$60, said the money is helping him to concentrate on his studies. He said it makes him less worried about finding money to buy school materials. Sopheap has three brothers and a sister; all of them are in school. “If there is no support, I won’t be here because my parents are very poor,” he said.In a classroom at Borkeo secondary school in Borkeo district, around 25 km from Ratanakiri provincial town, another 9th grade scholarship recipient, Pov Theary, has been given a scholarship for grades 7, 8 and 9. Each school year she gets $60. Like most of other scholarship students, Theary uses the scholarship money to buy books, uniforms, and a bicycle, and the rest she gives to her mom for buying food for the family.Theary had been asked by her mom to quit school when she finished grade 6 because her family could not support her continuing schooling.

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia, plunged to a new low late last year when Phnom Penh appointed the fugitive billionaire Thaksin (above) as an economics guru. -- PHOTO: ReutersJan 11, 2010 AFP
PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA refused on Monday to revoke the appointment of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an adviser and said it was up to Bangkok to resolve the diplomatic row between the two countries.Relations between Thailand and Cambodia, which have fought a string of deadly gunbattles on their border, plunged to a new low late last year when Phnom Penh appointed the fugitive billionaire Thaksin as an economics guru.Both recalled their ambassadors in November and expelled senior diplomats, while diplomatic tensions soared further when Phnom Penh refused to extradite Thaksin during his first visit to Cambodia.'It (the appointment of Thaksin) is the sovereign right of Cambodia. Thailand has no right to interfere in this issue,' Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told AFP in an interview. 'The appointment was made by the king's royal decree, we cannot revoke as (Thai Foreign Minister) Kasit Piromya has demanded.''It is not a childish game.'Thailand's Kasit said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Monday that the two countries could not normalise relations until Cambodia revoked Thaksin's appointment.

January 11, 2010The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Cambodia's government on Monday returned management of the country's air traffic control company to its Thai owners, a small concession in a dispute over its overtures to ousted former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.Control of Cambodia Traffic Air Services, or CATS, was seized in November after Cambodia arrested a Thai employee, Siwarak Chutipong, on a spying charge. He allegedly stole the flight schedule of Thaksin -- who is a fugitive from Thai justice but who was visiting Cambodia as a VIP guest -- and gave it to a Thai diplomat.Other Thai employees of the company were barred from coming to its offices, but not otherwise penalized.Samart Corp., the parent firm of CATS, said Cambodia's Cabinet returned control of the company on Monday.In 2008, a Thai court sentenced Thaksin in absentia to two years in prison for violating a conflict of interest law, but he fled into exile before the verdict. He was ousted by a 2006 military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power.In early November, Cambodia named Thaksin as an adviser to the government on economic affairs. The appointment, and a subsequent visit by Thaksin, set off a diplomatic imbroglio in which the two countries recalled their ambassadors. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thaksin had been unfairly convicted for political reasons.Siwarak was convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail by a Cambodian court but was pardoned soon afterward and allowed to leave for Thailand.The statement by Samart quoted its president, Watchai Vilailuck, as expressing appreciation for the handover and saying that it signaled "that Kingdom of Cambodia is open and fair to the foreign businesses and shall win investor's confidence in the long-term."It said that Samart in 2001 won a concession to operate CATS for 32 years.

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong will attend a series of ASEAN meetings to be held in Da Nam, Vietnam, on Jan. 13 to 14, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.Foreign ministers from 10 member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will discuss measures to move forward community building process and external relations, especially for the year 2010, according to the release.Hor Namhong will also attend the 4th Foreign Ministerial Meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) due to be held from Jan. 16 to 17 in Tokyo, Japan.On the sideline of the meeting, Hor Namhong and Hugo Martinez, minister of foreign affairs of El Salvador, will sign the joint communique on establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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Anonymous said...
Gov't needs to find ways to work together as a team. Life is not always about you or me, its about "us", if we keep on fighting, we will lose everything. All gov't need to focus on what else need to be done? avoid personal conflict at all cost! if khmer don't love khmer no one in the world will!. Alot of us who are living abroad have faced with all sort of challenges in their lives, like struggling with English as second language, racism and other intimidation like even you have completed a degree they would still favour their citizen over you which is normal because they love their people more than you. So, if you don't love each other you will allow other to abuse you. One other thing is no other place like home, so gov't need to act now and act fast to have a system in place to help the poor. Gov't need to focus on generating income from race, fish, oil, gold etc. It would be great if gov't build 1000s of factories around the country, each factory, e.g. specialised in different goods, like dried fish packaging factory etc and than sign a contract with buyers oversea etc. Don't let other nation buy cheap from you and then they will make millions of it while you earn almost nothing!!!!. Be smarter! People come first or else it will be like pol pot where he kept all the money in swiz and now all gone for nothing where all of these monies used to belong to the death. Now swis have it all. k. Intelligent

Jan 12, 2010 By Sebastian StrangioAsia Times (Hong Kong)
PHNOM PENH - A day after Cambodian authorities spirited 20 ethnic Uighur asylum seekers out of the country on an unmarked charter flight, China's Vice President Xi Jinping touched down at Siem Reap International Airport. During his three-day visit in late December, the Chinese leader signed an unprecedented US$1.2 billion in economic aid agreements with the Phnom Penh government, while rights groups and Western governments howled condemnation over the sudden deportations.The deported Uighurs hailed from China's restive northwest Xinjiang province and were part of a group of 22 who had drifted into Cambodia with the aid of Christian missionary networks in November after braving the long and arduous overland journey from China. Uighur rights groups said that the group fled China after witnessing bloody clashes between Chinese security forces and Uighur demonstrators on July 5 in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital. Two of the group remain on the run. A Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Koy Kuong, said that the Uighurs - who had applied for political asylum through the local office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) - were deported for breaching Cambodia's immigration laws. "We have not specifically targeted these people - we do this in general for all foreign nationals who enter Cambodia illegally," he said at the time.Despite the Cambodian denials, the nature and timing of the seemingly hurried deportations are a vivid illustration of the new bonds of patronage and political accommodation now linking Beijing and Phnom Penh. In recent years, China's global sales pitch - hefty amounts of economic aid disentangled from human rights or good governance conditions - has found a willing recipient in Phnom Penh."China respects the political decisions of Cambodia," said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in September, during a ceremony marking the construction of a $128 million Chinese-funded bridge. "[T]hey build bridges and roads and there are no complicated conditions," he added.The newly promised $1.2 billion in economic assistance comes in addition to the $880 million in loans and grants Cambodia has received from Beijing since 2006, including finance for the $280 million Kamchay hydropower dam in Kampot province and the monolithic $30 million Council of Ministers building in Phnom Penh, given as a "gift" from the Chinese government.The arrival of the Uighurs was an unprecedented test for Hun Sen's regime, forcing it to choose between acquiescing to the apparent demands of its top regional patron and its conflicting obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. To some international observers, China's intent to secure the deportation of the Uighurs from Cambodia was clear from the outset."China takes a very hard line on Uighurs who seek out shelter in other countries, as China does not admit that there are conditions in Xinjiang, where most Uighurs live, that can be oppressive and might cause Uighurs to flee the country," said Josh Kurlantzick, a fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington.The Uighur American Association, a US-based Uighur exile group, claims that in late 2001 and early 2002, Nepal forcibly returned at least two Uighurs to Chinese authorities in Xinjiang, one of whom was executed in 2003 despite having registered with the UNHCR office in Kathmandu. Kurlantzick said the Chinese government has pushed hard to have Uighurs sent back to China from Central Asia and protested aggressively against the transfer of Uighurs held by the US government at Guantanamo Bay to third countries.That includes a strong Chinese Foreign Ministry statement issued on Friday warning Switzerland against accepting Uighur detainees that Beijing says it considers terrorists and a threat to its national security.Overlooked obligationsRights activists and UNHCR officials have demonstrated increasing faith in Cambodia's willingness to abide by the Refugee Convention's protocols in processing asylum cases. In an article published by UNHCR in October 2008, Cambodia was hailed as an emerging "refugee model" for Southeast Asia.The article followed the signing of an agreement between UNHCR and the Cambodian government that month that began the transfer of all asylum cases - except ethnic Montagnards from Vietnam - to a new Cambodian Refugee Office housed at the Department of Immigration. The article described the change of location as "an important move - symbolic of this country's determination to take on new responsibilities in protecting refugees' human rights".The transfer of powers was completed by a government sub-decree signed by Hun Sen on December 17 - just two days before the Uighurs' deportation. Rights activists familiar with the case said that on the previous day, UNHCR vehicles were used to round up the 20 Uighurs and take them to a safe house under joint government-UNHCR administration. On the night of December 18, the Uighurs were then allegedly forced at gunpoint to board Cambodian police vehicles and flown out the following night to an unknown destination in China.Andrew Swan, a project coordinator at the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, described the deportation as a "bolt from the blue" that reversed an earlier apparent willingness to process fairly the Uighur asylum cases. "Prior to the extradition ... there were few indications that the Cambodian government would interfere in the cases of the 22 Uighurs," he said. "Our confidence has been proved tragically wrong, and I believe it will take many, many years for Cambodia to regain both its regional and its international stature."Denise Coughlan, director of Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), which was involved with the Uighur cases, said she was "shocked" at the Cambodian government's actions after formally requesting UNHCR assistance to determine the status of the Uighur group and offering to provide a safe house while their applications were pending. "Like sheep going to the slaughter, the people went to the safe house clearly believing they were going to be protected," she said.The deportation also prompted a storm of diplomatic condemnation. A statement issued by acting US State Department spokesman Gordon Daguid on December 21 said the US "strongly opposed" the deportation, warning it would "affect Cambodia's relationship with the US and its international standing". Graham Watson, a British member of the European Parliament, issued a statement on January 7 decrying the deportation and calling for a fair accounting of the two Uighurs remaining in the country."Cambodia's sneaky decision to extradite 20 Uighurs to China is a disgrace," he said in the statement. "The Cambodian government should give a proper account of why it chose to act in this way."Yet it was perhaps unsurprising that Beijing's $1.2 billion economic aid carrot would trump Cambodia's loose legal obligations under the Refugee Convention. Meanwhile, criticism has also been directed at UNHCR's Cambodia-based office for putting so much trust in the government's claims.Sara Colm, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, said it was "astonishingly poor timing and a gross error in judgment" for the UNHCR to hand control of refugee-processing - and the Uighur cases in particular - to the Cambodian government. "The bottom line is that Cambodia flagrantly violated its obligations under the Refugee Convention, which ended tragically for the 20 Uighurs," she said.Following the deportation, Cambodian officials also vented their frustration at the UNHCR for putting them in a compromised position with the Uighurs. They openly derided UNHCR officials for dragging their feet in processing the asylum applications."[The] UNHCR is the laziest office in Cambodia," said government spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith on December 21. "If they [granted refugee status] within a few days, those people would have been moved to other places, but they were slow and kept them for about a month." He also accused the agency of leaking the story to the press in order to "beat a drum" against the government, forcing it to begin investigations into the whereabouts of the 22 asylum seekers.Kitty McKinsey, the UNCHR's spokesperson in Asia, said that despite the "aberration" of the deportations, which she claims the UNHCR took extraordinary steps to prevent, the essence of the problem is that only states have the power to provide protection to asylum seekers. "We work very diligently and sincerely to assist the government and provide protection, but if a state has signed the Refugee Convention, it's up to the state itself to provide protection," she said.Sebastian Strangio is a reporter at the Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia.

Police said thousands hiked up a mountain to Surayud's home but he was not in [Reuters]Monday, January 11, 2010 Al Jazeera
Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters have rallied against a royal adviser they blame for masterminding the 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra from office.Members of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) gathered outside the rural home of Surayud Chulanont located at Khao Yai Thiang, about 175km northeast of the capital Bangkok.Police said some 5,000 protesters hiked up a mountain to Surayud's home on Monday demanding he give up the house, which they say was illegally built in a state-run forest preserve.They also want him charged with trespassing on public land.Police Colonel Direk Plangdee said the protest was peaceful and there were no arrests, adding that Surayud was not home at that time.No intentionLast week, prosecutors agreed that Surayud was not the rightful owner of the plot of land, which he will have to return to the state.
"This area was meant to be allocated to the landless. What is this if not unlawful privilege?" - Jatuporn Phromphan, UDD protest leaderTanapit Moonprauk, a spokesman for the attorney-general's office, said prosecutors would not press charges against Surayud because he had not intended to break the law.Surayud sits on the Privy Council and the UDD says members of this body orchestrated the bloodless military coup that ousted Thaksin in September 2006.A former army chief, Surayud became interim prime minister one month later and served until elections in December 2007.Since the coup, supporters and opponents of Thaksin have repeatedly taken to the streets to spar over who has the right to rule the country, sometimes sparking violence.Double standardsThe UDD, which draws its support largely from the rural poor who helped Thaksin twice win election landslides, accuse Surayud and Thailand's powerful elite of hypocrisy."We want to tell the international community that a double standard exists in the country," Jatuporn Phromphan, a protest leader, told the rally.He said Surayud was able to escape charges "while ordinary people have been sued by the state for trespassing and encroaching on the forest reserve"."This area was meant to be allocated to the landless. What is this if not unlawful privilege?" added Jatuporn.The protest by the so-called "red shirts" is seen as a prelude to a bid later this month to bring down the embattled coalition government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Thai prime minister.Political crisisThe UDD has planned a prolonged anti-government rally while the pro-Thaksin Puea Thai party prepares for a censure debate, probably in February, to exploit cracks in Abhisit's coalition.It comes ahead of a court verdict on whether to confiscate $2.3bn of assets belonging to the Shinawatra family.Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Thai political scientist, said it was unlikely Monday's demonstration or rallies later this month would succeed in toppling the government.He said Abhisit's best hope of easing Thailand's polarising five-year political crisis was to engage with the UDD, which he says cannot succeed "without powerful backers"."Yes, there is much hypocrisy and double standard. They can protest and cause rumblings, but it is unlikely to derail the government," Thitinan said."Right now, it appears the government is winning, but they would be making a mistake if they don't address [UDD] grievances, setting the stage for more frustration and anger."

1/11/2010 Source: World Bank
Meas Sokhunthea, a shy 8th grade student at Preah An Kosa secondary school in Siem Reap town, has wanted to be a teacher since she was a little girl. “With the scholarship that I’ve been given and my mom’s strong support for my studies, I believe I will reach my goal,” she said.Sokhunthea is one of 36,000 lower-secondary and primary students who received scholarships through a component of the Education Sector Support Project (ESSP), which is financed by the World Bank in Cambodia. Under the program, students will receive scholarships ranging from US$45 to US$60 per year to support their study. Sokhunthea got US$45, which she used to buy her uniform, books, pen and her school bag. Sokhunthea thanks the program because it helps to reduce her mother’s financial burden of buying her school materials.Her schoolmate, Cheng Sopheap, who received US$60, said the money is helping him to concentrate on his studies. He said it makes him less worried about finding money to buy school materials. Sopheap has three brothers and a sister; all of them are in school. “If there is no support, I won’t be here because my parents are very poor,” he said.In a classroom at Borkeo secondary school in Borkeo district, around 25 km from Ratanakiri provincial town, another 9th grade scholarship recipient, Pov Theary, has been given a scholarship for grades 7, 8 and 9. Each school year she gets $60. Like most of other scholarship students, Theary uses the scholarship money to buy books, uniforms, and a bicycle, and the rest she gives to her mom for buying food for the family.Theary had been asked by her mom to quit school when she finished grade 6 because her family could not support her continuing schooling.

January 12, 2010The Nation
Since Cambodia was to propose the administration and conservation plan for Preah Vihear on February 1, PM Abhisit Vejjajiva should express Thailand's stance that Thailand has never agreed and joined in the plan making, an academic said Monday.ML Wanwipa Charoonroj of Thammasat University's Thai Studies Institute said the Cambodian plan would be submitted to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris to seek the World Heritage Committee approval in the 34th general meeting in Brazil's Brasilia City.She urged Abhisit to notify the World Heritage Center in Paris about the Administrative Court ruling that evoked the PM Samak Sundaravej's cabinet resolution on June 17, 2008 to assign former foreign minister Noppadol Pattama to sign a Thai-Cambodian statement over the matter.