Brief History of Vietnamese Expansionism vis-à-vis Cambodia

Brief History of Vietnamese Expansionism vis-à-vis Cambodia

In 1941, Ho created the Viet Minh, an abbreviation of "Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi," or "League for the Independence of Vietnam," and spread its anti-French activities to Laos and Cambodia, where the Viet Minh later fragmentized the anti-French local Khmer Issarak front into a Khmer Viet Minh front. In 1949, the Viet Minh instituted the "Ban Van Dong Thanh Lap Dang Nhan Cach Mang Cao Mien" ("Canvassing Committee for the Creation of the Revolutionary Kampuchean People's Party") and created the Kampuchean People's Liberation Army in 1950.

By Gaffar Peang-Meth
Professor of Political Science (retired)
University of Guam

Originally posted at: http://www.khmerinstitute.org/articles/art13vietnamization.html
On Christmas Eve 1978, more than 100,000 Vietnamese troops, backed by tanks and aircraft, crossed the border into Cambodia. In 14 days of fighting, Hanoi's army sent Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge fleeing. The Vietnamese captured Phnom Penh Jan. 7, 1979, installed a puppet regime and stayed for the next 10 years.

For victims of Pol Pot's genocidal rule, which began April 17, 1975 and resulted in the deaths of upwards of two million people, Jan.7, 1979 was the day of deliverance by Vietnam. Surely, Vietnam was their "savior" and their "liberator" at a time when the world watched and did nothing about the horrors of the Killing Fields. However, for many Cambodians, Jan. 7th is also a day of infamy. Pol Pot was replaced by those referred to as Cambodians with Khmer bodies but Vietnamese heads, the Khmer Viet Minh. This cohort was created by the Vietnamese Communist Lao Dong, trained at the Son Tay Military Academy and the Nguyen Ai Quoc political school, and led by a disgruntled regional field commander, Hun Sen, who became indebted to Hanoi for his return to power. Many Cambodians felt that substituting the Khmer Viet Minh for the Khmer Rouge was like replacing cholera with the plague.

A host of foreign governments also worried. The world was still governed by the well-specified rule of law founded on the principle of absolute, comprehensive, permanent and inviolable sovereignty and independence. As Singapore argued before the international community at the United Nations, the world is no longer safe, and peace and security are no longer assured, if a more powerful state is allowed to invade a weaker one like Vietnam had done. The Association of South East Asian Nations spearheaded calls for Vietnam to withdraw its troops from Cambodia.

As a result, the United Nations and other international organizations became a political-diplomatic battleground for many years between proponents and opponents of Vietnam's invasion. And so it was that the anti-Vietnamese Khmer Resistance was born, first as separate armed bands with similar goals, and later as a loose coalition of Cambodians of the fallen Khmer Republic, Cambodians of the monarchy, and the leftovers of the Khmer Rouge. Despite their differences, they worked together toward pressuring Vietnam into withdrawal and to seek Cambodian self-determination.

China-Cambodia: More than just friends?

Southeast Asia

But China's interests go even farther. It wishes, by these informal alliances with authoritarian regimes of the region, such as those in Cambodia and Myanmar, first, to counter US influence in the region, and second, to neutralize, if not undermine, the cohesion of ASEAN. Since a number of ASEAN states, discreetly supported by the United States, are challenging China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, the alignment of those states within ASEAN considered to be pro-China would in effect prevent the association from adopting a united front on that issue. Finally, China wishes to weaken Hun Sen's links with Vietnam, which go back to the time of the United States' intervention in Vietnam and, subsequently, Cambodia in 1970. Vietnam has long been seen by China as its most serious strategic rival in the Southeast Asian region. Apart from past acrimonious relations between the two countries, Vietnam currently has two territorial disputes with Beijing - both countries claiming sovereignty over the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands (see South China Sea: It's not all about oil, September 6). By Julio A Jeldres In July, in a message of congratulation to the leadership of the People's Republic of China on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and China, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen hailed China as Cambodia's "most trustworthy friend", despite that country's past support for the Khmer Rouge. Indeed, since the Vietnamese army drove the Chinese ambassador and thousands of advisors out with the Khmer Rouge in January 1979, China has gradually regained a foothold in Cambodia and has become Cambodia's most influential trade and political partner. Relations between Beijing and Phnom Penh are the closest they have been since the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge regime collapsed.

Senior CPC official meets Cambodian PM, hails longstanding friendship

Zhou Yongkang (L), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Political and Legal Affairs, meets with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (R), in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 20, 2011. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Visiting senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Zhou Yongkang met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen here on Saturday, pledging further efforts to deepen the time-honored traditional friendship between the two countries.

Zhou, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said there has been rapid growth in bilateral exchanges and cooperation in the fields of politics, trade and economy, and culture.

During his visit to China last year, the Cambodian prime minister and Chinese leaders lifted the bilateral ties to the level of a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, writing a new chapter in the Sino-Cambodian traditional friendship, Zhou said.

Zhou, also secretary of the the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, said China and Cambodia should seize opportunities and meet challenges together.

He said the two countries should work to achieve the target of 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in bilateral trade at an early date, after it exceeded one billion dollars in the first half of this year.

China is ready to boost the the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership through the implementation of specific plans and projects between the two countries, thus bringing more tangible benefits to the two peoples, he said.

Cambodia Then and Now: Commemorating the 1991 Peace Agreement by Gareth Evans

Via Cambodia Watch Blog

Professor Hon. Gareth Evan
Keynote Address by Professor Hon. Gareth Evans, Former Foreign Minister of Australia and President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group, to Seminar on Measuring Cambodia’s Progress Toward Equality, University of NSW Law School, 6 August 2011.
_________________________________________________________________________

The truth of that observation has been amply demonstrated in the course of events since 1993. The democratic process has remained fragile, the biggest shock coming with Hun Sen's coup in July 1997, but with plenty of other things to be legitimately concerned about before and since, including the continued obstacles put in the way of Sam Rainsy and his party operating as a full-throated opposition voice. The legal system is still in very poor shape, with far too many still having a sense of impunity, i.e that they can do just about anything without the justice system touching them, and continuing troubling signs of politicization of the courts, including for example the renewed detention just last month of human rights defender Leang Sokchuen in a case that has been taken up by Human Rights Watch, with the offence for which he was convicted being changed in the course of his appeal to one that did not exist at the time he committed it: the only crime he seems to have committed was criticising the government.

Cambodia first made its claim on my heart and mind in 1968, as some of you in the Cambodian community will have heard me say before, I was travelling across Asia, as so many young Australians have, to study in the UK, and spent a few fantastic days here, staying in a very downmarket hotel near the Central Market, drinking beer and eating noodles in student hangouts, and taking a wild ride in a share taxi up to Siem Riep -- scattering pigs, chickens and children in villages along the way-- to confront the majesty of Angkor Wat.

I had similar experiences in a number of other Asian countries, but there was something very distinctive about Cambodia. In later life I kept on running into a number of those young men and women I had met in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Nepal or Afghanistan – or people exactly like them. But I never again met any of the young Cambodians I had spent time with, or any of their contemporaries. The sad and horrible truth is that they all died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge – executed outright as middle class enemies of the state, or worked to death through malnutrition or disease out in the fields.

As the horror of the genocide unfolded, and then the protracted misery of the civil war which followed it, I made a pledge to myself that if I could ever do anything for the wonderfully kind people of this country to relieve some of that misery then I would certainly try hard to make a difference. The opportunity to do so came after I became Australian foreign minister in 1988. And of the various things I managed to achieve in the nearly eight years I held the position, nothing has given me more pleasure and pride than the Paris peace agreement concluded in 1991, whose 20th anniversary we commemorate this year, and at this seminar, one of series being held around the world.

Case 004 sites investigated

Case 004 sites revealed

Tuesday, 09 August 2011 15:03

Thomas Miller

The investigating judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal released a list of 30 crime sites connected to the court’s controversial fourth case yesterday, but said there are “serious doubts” as to whether the case’s suspects fall within their jurisdiction.

The list includes security centres, execution sites and forced labour areas in Kampong Cham and Kampong Thom provinces, then part of the Khmer Rouge’s Central Zone; Pursat, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces, then under the Northwest Zone; and Takeo province, then in the Southwest Zone.

Co-investigating judges You Bunleng and Siegfried Blunk said they had not previously released the list of crime sites in Case 004 “because, unlike in Case 002, there are serious doubts whether the suspects are ‘most responsible’,” referring to the tribunal’s mandate to try only “senior leaders” of the Khmer Rouge and those “most responsible” for the crimes of the regime between 1975 and 1979.

“If the court had no jurisdiction, it would be inappropriate to encourage civil party applications further to the 200 already received in this case, as this could raise expectations which might not be met later on,” the judges said.

The judges’ statement was apparently sparked by a call from international co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley, who on Friday pointed out that the judges were legally obliged to keep victims informed “throughout the proceedings” so they could apply for civil party status.

Cayley said yesterday he was “relieved” and called the judges’ publication of crime sites an “enormous step” for victims and the court.

“KHMER RICHE”

Written by Andrew Marshall
Good Weekend Magazine for the Sydney Morning Herald
Sunday 12/12/09

They live in one of the poorest countries on earth, yet they drive flash cars, dwell in mansions and scorn their impoverished brethren. Andrew Marshall meets the rich sons and daughters of Cambodia elite.

The huge Phnom Penh mansion owned by Victor's parents, General Meas Sophea. (Good Weekend Magazine)

“I’m going to drive a little fast now. Is that Okay?” There is one place in Cambodia where you can hold a cold beer in one hand and a warm Kalashnikov in the other, and Victor is driving me there. We’re powering along Phnom Penh’s airport road with Oasis on his Merc’s sound system and enough guns in the boot to sink a Somali pirate boat. Victor is rich and life is sweet. His father is commander of the Cambodian infantry. He has a place reserved for him at L’Ecole Speciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, France’s answer to Duntroon. And, in his passenger seat, there is a thin, silent man with a Chinese handgun: his bodyguard.

“His name is Klar,” says Victor. “It means tiger.”
Victor is only 21, but when reach our destination—a firing range run by the Cambodian special forces—the soldier at the gate salutes.

Devastated by decades of civil war, Cambodia remains one of the world’s poorest nations. A third of its 13 million people live on less than a dollar a day and about 8 out of every 100 children die before the age of five. But Victor—real name Meas Sophearith—was raised in a different Cambodia, where power and billions of dollars in wealth are concentrated in the hands of a tiny elite. This elite prefers to conceal the size and sources of their money—illegal logging, smuggling, land-grabbing—but their children just like to spend it. The Khmer Rouge are dead; the Khmer Riche now rule Cambodia.

CAMBODIA’S TOP TEN TYCOONS – Wikileaks Cable Viewer

CAMBODIA’S TOP TEN TYCOONS – Wikileaks Cable Viewer
Source: WikiLeaks Cable Viewer

SUBJECT: CAMBODIA’S TOP TEN TYCOONS
Sensitive But Unclassified. Not for internet distribution.

¶1. (SBU) Summary. Prime Minister Hun Sen is making efforts to bridge the gap between the political and private sector by cultivating mutually beneficial relationships with the country’s most prominent business tycoons. These business leaders contribute money to the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) and Hun Sen can call on them to fund charities and public works projects and to attract foreign investment, achievements for which the CPP can claim credit. In return, the business tycoons enjoy the added credibility and legitimacy of having the Prime Minister’s support. These symbiotic relationships illustrate the networks of business tycoons, political figures, and government officials that have formed in Cambodia, which reinforce the culture of impunity and limit progress on reforms such as Hun Sen’s self-declared “war on corruption.” Post highlights the storied lives and diverse investment portfolios of ten of the most prominent of these well-connected tycoons. End Summary.
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Kith Meng: “Mr. Rough Stuff”
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¶2. (SBU) A dual Cambodian-Australian citizen with a BA from Australian National University, Kith Meng was born on September 1, 1968. He is described as a relatively young and ruthless gangster by Mekong Bank Chairman Michael Stephen (PROTECT). Another well-connected business man in the Cambodian community claims that Kith Meng is notorious for using his bodyguards to coerce others into brokering deals. As the chairman and CEO of Royal Group of Companies (RGC), his resume runs the gamut of many different businesses. He is concurrently the chairman of mobile phone company Cam GSM Co., Cambodia Television Network (CTN), Cambo Six European soccer betting Co., and CamLot Lottery Co. He has also become an exclusive distributor of Canon products. Kith Meng owns the Northbridge International School and the Cambodiana Hotel. One of the most widely recognized achievements of the Royal Group is its new joint venture with Australian-based ANZ bank, in which both companies established ANZ Royal Bank in 2005. The Royal Group owns 45% of the new bank. Kith Meng also recently launched a new Cambodian insurance company, Infinity General Insurance, through a joint venture with Kuala Lumpur-based Infinity Financial Solutions.
¶3. (SBU) Recently, Kith Meng was elected President of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce. He also serves as an advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen and serves on the board of the Cambodian Red Cross, whose President is Hun Sen’s wife, Bun Rany. Politically, Kith Meng has good relations with the Cambodian People’s Party, FUNCINPEC, and the Sam Rainsy Party. He claims credit for negotiating the three-way deal among the parties to engineer Sam Rainsy’s return to Cambodia in early 2006. Several sources believe that the CPP has tried to strengthen its relationship with Kith Meng because it wants CTN’s ability to broadcast to a large number of Cambodians living abroad. Kith Meng speaks, reads, and writes both Khmer and English.
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Historical Context for Vietnamization of Cambodia (e.g. Viettel/Metfone; Hun Sen's rise to power)

Brother Enemy–the War after the War

A History of Indochina Since the Fall of Saigon

By Nayan Chanda

(MacMillan Publishing Co., New York, 1986)

Excerpts from Chapter 7 (Calm Before the Storm)

Birth of a Khmer “Liberation Army”

The Vietnamese Politburo met again in mid-February [1978] in the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City at the secluded compound of what used to be the police training school of the fallen Thieu regime.  The meeting studied the nuts and bolts of the plan for setting up a Cambodian Communist party and a resistance organization.  Shortly after the meeting, Le Duan and Le Duc Tho met separately with Cambodian party cadres who had lived in exile in Vietnam since 1954 and the ones who had escaped from Pol Pot’s purges to seek asylum in Vietnam.

Of some one thousand Khmers who had regrouped in Hanoi in 1954 under the Geneva Agreement, only a handful had stayed behind in North Vietnam.  The majority had returned to Cambodia to join the anti-U.S. resistance, and few of them survived the war and the purges.  So the Khmer candidates for leadership in February composed a small group whose main achievement was survival.  There was Pen Sovan, a forty-year-old cadre who had come to North Vietnam in 1954, along with one thousand others, who had been educated in the party and army schools in Hanoi and made a major in the Vietnamese army.  There were Chan Si and Khang Sarin, majors in the Vietnamese army; Tang Saroem, another Khmer exile, who was working as a labor supervisor in Vietnam’s Hon Gai coal mines; Keo Chanda, the Khmer language newsreader from Radio Hanoi; Chea Soth, a news editor from the Vietnam News Agency.  And with them were escapees from Cambodia, political cadres like Hem Samin, Yos Por, Hun Sen, and Bou Thang.

Dragged out of their nondescript offices and refugees barracks, there were suddenly presented to the top Vietnamese leaders whom they had previously known only in pictures.  By a turn of fortune there too were to be leaders in a new Cambodia still in the womb of the future…

New CEO of Phnom Penh Post

Phnom Penh Post FRIDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2010 15:00 CATHERINE JAMES

Moun Ramady, Post Media’s new chief executive officer. Photo by: Will Baxter

 

Media’s new chief executive officer Moun Ramady is not fazed about taking the helm of a newspaper company at a time when globally the industry is downsizing. On the contrary, he says that in the Cambodian market there is plenty of room to grow.

“All the newspapers in the world are shrinking, and we are growing. People are shutting down, and we are expanding. I see the potential,” he says.

His vision for Post Media’s publications - both Khmer and English editions of The Phnom Penh Post - is expansion, particularly for the Khmer edition, which he describes as “the future of Post Media”.

“[The Post Khmer] is going to overtake the English edition, no matter what,” he says.

“The expat readership for the English edition here is maybe 20,000, but for the Khmer edition, you’ve got a population of 14 million. In the future, the flagship of the company will be the Khmer edition. And this is where our future is.”

Moun Ramady says although the company is operating at a loss, he is confident this will turn around as the fruits of expansion take hold. For example, The Post’s online site is getting between 20,000 and 30,000 hits a day.

Khmer Rouge history: pathway to grab guns for fighting

ខ្មែរក្រហម - 

អត្ថបទចុះ​ផ្សាយ​នៅ​ថ្ងៃ ព្រហស្បតិ៍ 14 កក្កដា 2011 - ព័ត៌មានទើប​កែប្រើ​លើកចុងក្រោយ​ ថ្ងៃ ព្រហស្បតិ៍ 14 កក្កដា 2011

ដំណើរ​ឆ្ពោះទៅ​ការ​តស៊ូ​ដោយ​ប្រដាប់​អាវុធ​របស់​ខ្មែរក្រហម

ទាហាន​ខ្មែរក្រហម

AFP

ដោយ សេង ឌីណា

កាលពី​សប្តាហ៍​មុន លោកអ្នកស្តាប់​បាន​ជ្រាប​រួចមក​ហើយ អំពី​ដើមកំណើត​របស់​ចលនា​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​ខ្មែរ និង​ការតស៊ូ​តាមផ្លូវ​នយោបាយ នៅកម្ពុជា។ នៅថ្ងៃ​នេះ សេង ឌីណា នឹង​រៀបរាប់​អំពី​ព្រឹត្តិការណ៍​សំខាន់ៗ ដែល​ជំរុញឲ្យ​ពួក​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​ខ្មែរ បោះបង់​ការ​តស៊ូ​តាមផ្លូវ​នយោបាយ ហើយ​រត់ចូលព្រៃ ធ្វើការ​តស៊ូ​ដោយ​ប្រដាប់អាវុធ​វិញ។

បទ​អត្ថាធិប្បាយ​របស់ សេង ឌីណា ស្តាប់ (08:52) 14/07/2011

នៅ​ឆ្នាំ១៩៦២ មេដឹកនាំ​របស់​បក្ស​ប្រជាជន​ស្ទើរតែ​ទាំងអស់​ត្រូវ​បាន​ចាប់ខ្លួន និង​ផ្តន្ទាទោស​ឲ្យ​ជាប់គុក​អស់​មួយ​ជីវិត ក្នុងនោះ​រួមមាន​មេដឹកនាំ​សំខាន់ៗ ដូចជា កែវ មាស និង នន សួន ផងដែរ។ បក្ស​ពលករ​កម្ពុជា​ក៏បាន​សម្រេចចិត្ត​រំលាយ​បក្ស​ប្រជាជន​ចោល ដែល​ជា​ហេតុ​នាំ​ឲ្យ​ពួក​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​លែងមាន​ឧបករណ៍​សម្រាប់​ធ្វើ​ការ​តស៊ូ ​ផ្នែក​នយោបាយ​ទៀត។

ទូ សាមុត បាត់ខ្លួន សាឡុត ស ឡើង​មកដឹកនាំបក្ស

ក្នុង​ពេល​ជាមួយ​គ្នានោះ រចនាសម្ព័ន្ធ​របស់​បក្ស​ពលករ​កម្ពុជា​បាន​ជួប​នឹង​របត់​មួយ​យ៉ាង​សំខាន់។ ទូ សាមុត ដែល​ជា​លេខាបក្ស បាន​បាត់ខ្លួន​ដោយ​មិនដឹង​មូលហេតុ។ យោងតាម​លោក Ben Kiernan សាឡុត ស និង​បក្ខពួក​ទំនងជា​មាន​ជាប់​ទាក់ទង​នឹង​ការបាត់ខ្លួន​របស់ ទូ សាមុត នេះ។ នៅក្នុង​មហាសន្និបាត​ខែ​កុម្ភៈ ឆ្នាំ១៩៦៣ សាឡុត ស ត្រូវបាន​ជ្រើសតាំង​ឲ្យ​ធ្វើ​ជា​អគ្គលេខាធិការ​បក្ស​ជំនួស ទូ សាមុត ដោយ​រំលង នួន ជា ដែលជា​អនុលេខាបក្ស។ ឯ អៀង សារី ក៏​ឡើង​ជា​មេដឹកនាំ​លំដាប់​ទី​បី​ក្នុង​បក្ស។ សោ ភឹម, វ៉ន វេត, សុន សេន និង ជួន ជឿន ហៅ ម៉ុក ស្ថិតក្នុង​ចំណោម​សមាជិក​នៃ​គណៈកម្មាធិការ​មជ្ឈិម​បក្ស។ ចំណែក​អតីត​មេដឹកនាំ​ចាស់ៗ ដូច​ជា នន សួន និង កែវ មាស ជាដើម ត្រូវ​បាន​គេ​ផាត់​ចេញ​ពី​រចនាសម្ព័ន្ធ​ថ្មី​នេះ។

Opposition highs and lows

Thursday, 14 July 2011 15:02

James O’Toole and Thomas Miller

An SRP source even told American diplomats in March 2006 that Hun Sen had “recently offered to take opposition leader Sam Rainsy into the government as a deputy prime minister, possibly with broad authority over various ministries”. “Rainsy reportedly declined, telling the PM that such a move would be ‘political suicide’ for an opposition leader,” according to the source. 

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Sam Rainsy speaks to reporters in Phnom Penh in 2009.

As one-time Funcinpec leader and National Assembly President Norodom Ranariddh was forced from the parliamentary leadership in 2006, US embassy officials cast a worried eye over the state of political pluralism in the Kingdom, according to newly released diplomatic cables.

“What is disturbing is that the [Sam Rainsy Party] is on the sidelines, cheering on FUNCINPEC’s problems, just as FUNCINPEC did nothing to assist the SRP when Hun Sen was attacking the opposition during 2005,” a March 2006 cable states. “Both parties believe they would be beneficiaries of the other’s demise; unfortunately, neither party leader trusts the other enough to overcome past differences and work together to achieve the reforms needed within the Cambodian government.”

The American diplomatic cables released on Tuesday detail the struggles of the Royalist movement through the middle of the past decade, from the perceived frustrations of Ranariddh in being passed over for the kingship to the corruption allegations that dogged the party as Hun Sen sought to oust them from the coalition government. At the same time, the halting reform efforts of the SRP are depicted in the on-again, off-again relations between Sam Rainsy and Hun Sen.

With the 2004 coronation of King Norodom Sihamoni, who drew praise in the cables from American diplomats for his graceful and unassuming style, Ranariddh is said to have displayed “petulance” and alienated fellow Funcinpec members in his apparent frustration at being passed over. Eating dinner with US diplomats in October 2004, three senior Funcinpec officials reportedly “expressed grave doubt in Ranariddh’s leadership ability, suggesting that, rather than raising his stature, he is increasingly making himself a laughing stock”.

As years pass, American diplomats see the once-powerful party undone. “Because of corruption and nepotism, the party is losing support from the people and talented officials, such as the SRP’s Mu Sochua, have left the party,” a Funcinpec party member tells American diplomats, later saying most of the royalist party’s officials were “weak and interested only in womanizing and money”.

Cambodian People’s Party official Prum Sokha, meanwhile, reportedly complained that Funcinpec officials “have bloated the staffing of ministries with relatives and party members without consideration of qualifications or interest in the jobs”.

Cambodia's leaders are murderous kleptocrats: author

Stephen Long reported this story on Thursday, July 14, 2011

JOEL BRINKLEY: for the first time in the last few years Cambodia has young people who have graduated from college and realise that things are not right, that their country needs to change.

Listen to MP3 of this story

STEPHEN LONG: Cambodia is one of the world's poorest nations. At least 30 per cent of the population live on less than a dollar a day.

The Australian Government gives over $64 million in aid to Cambodia every year - the world, more than a billion. But how much of that actually gets to the Cambodian people?

Joel Brinkley is the author of a new book called Cambodia's Curse. He says Cambodia's leaders are murderous kleptocrats who pocket most foreign aid, while selling the nation's rice crop for the own gain, and leaving their people to starve, as the world turns a blind eye.

Joel Brinkley spoke to me from his home in California.

JOEL BRINKLEY: Cambodia is an oddity in that 80 per cent of people who live in the country live in the countryside with no electricity, no clean water, no radio, not television. They live more or less as they did 1,000 years ago.

Occasionally somebody might have a cell phone or a motorbike and some people have televisions powered by car batteries but they live in very primitive conditions and that's 80 per cent of the population.

STEPHEN LONG: One of the things that moved me in your articles was the description of the plight of the children.

Phnom Penh Post debut Wikileak Cables on Cambodian Tycoons

Kith Meng - “Mr Rough Stuff”
	Chairman and CEO of the Royal Group Kith Meng was described in the cable as a “relatively young and ruthless gangster”. He could not be reached for comment.
Ly Yong Phat - “The King of Koh Kong”
	Ruling party senator Ly Yong Phat’s nickname derives from his prominence in his home province. According to the cable, Ly Yong Phat has business interests in tobacco, electricity, casinos and resorts.
Lim Chhiv Ho - “The Gatekeeper”
	The director of Attwood Export Import Co Ltd - a liquor distributor - Lim Chhiv Ho is “one of Cambodia’s most well-connected women”, according to the cable.

Comprehensive brief history of Khmer Rouge and CPP

Of course, the journey of Khmer Communist Movement has significantly backed by Vietnam since the birth of this movement in Cambodia. The author has comprehensively elaborated the emerge of Indochina Communist Movement to fight against French Colony and it's contingency up to present. Khmer Labor Party was split into three groups: two in Cambodia, one in Vietnam. But this three groups have never given up in interacting with each other. Thanks Vietnamese active communist aka Achar Mien or Son Ngoc Minh who was able to embed his legacy in Cambodia. And modern CPP is the pride and success of Achar Mien. I remembered when I was young, while Cambodia was totally led by Vietnam and this country changed from Monarchy to Non-monarchy (State of Cambodia), the money photos of Sihanouk were replaced by the face of Son Ngoc Minh. Once, Funcipec failed to persuade Khmer Rouge to defect to their group, it was possibly because Funcipec is not one of the three communist divisions split their struggling paths during their recession. 

ខ្មែរក្រហម - អត្ថបទចុះ​ផ្សាយ​នៅ​ថ្ងៃ ព្រហស្បតិ៍ 07 កក្កដា 2011 - ព័ត៌មានទើប​កែប្រើ​លើកចុងក្រោយ​ ថ្ងៃ ព្រហស្បតិ៍ 07 កក្កដា 2011

 

Click her to listen the whole analyzing

ដើមកំណើត​នៃ​បក្ស​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​កម្ពុជា

ប្រភពដើម​នៃ​បក្សកុម្មុយនិស្តកម្ពុជា គឺ​កើតចេញ​ពី​បក្សកុម្មុយនិស្ត​ឥណ្ឌូចិន​

ដោយ សេង ឌីណា

មុននឹង​បង្កើត​ជា​គណបក្ស​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​កម្ពុជា ចលនាកុម្មុយនិស្ត​ខ្មែរ គឺ​ជា​ផ្នែក​មួយ នៃ​គណបក្ស​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​ឥណ្ឌូចិន របស់​ ហូ ជីមិញ។ នៅ​ឆ្នាំ​១៩៥១ ទើប​ចលនា​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​ខ្មែរ​បាន​បែកចេញ​ពី​គណបក្ស​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​ឥណ្ឌូចិន ដោយ​បង្កើត​ជា​គណបក្ស​ខ្លួនឯង មានឈ្មោះ​ថា គណបក្ស​ប្រជាជន​បដិវត្តន៍​កម្ពុជា។

បទ​អត្ថាធិប្បាយ​របស់ សេង ឌីណា

បក្សកុម្មុយនិស្ត​ឥណ្ឌូចិន
 
លទ្ធិកុម្មុយនិស្ត​​បាន​ចាប់ផ្តើម​​រីកដុះដាល​ខ្លាំង នៅ​ទូទាំង​ពិភពលោក តាមរយៈ​​ចលនា​ប្រឆាំង​នឹង​អាណានិគម ដែល​ចាប់ផ្ទុះឡើង​ នៅ​ក្រោយ​សង្រ្គាម​លោក​លើកទីពីរ។ នៅឥណ្ឌូចិន ដែល​ស្ថិត​ក្រោម​អាណានិគម​បារាំង​ ក៏​មាន​ចលនា​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​មួយ​ដែរ គឺ “បក្ស​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​ឥណ្ឌូចិន” ដែល​​បង្កើត​ឡើង​ដោយ ហូ ជីមិញ នៅ​ឆ្នាំ១៩៣០។ បក្ស​នេះ​ប្រមូលផ្តុំ​ចលនា​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​ដែល​មកពី​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា វៀតណាម និង​ឡាវ។

នៅ​កម្ពុជា​ សាខាបក្ស​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​ឥណ្ឌូចិន​ ត្រូវបាន​បង្កើតឡើង ​នៅ​ឆ្នាំ​១៩៤២ ដោយ​អាចារ្យមៀន ហៅ សឺន ង៉ុកមិញ។ យោងតាម​លោកស្រី Elizabeth Beckerឈ្មោះ សឺន ង៉ុកមិញ នេះ គឺជា​ការ​ច្របាច់​បញ្ចូលគ្នា​រវាង​ សឺន ង៉ុកថាញ់ និង ហូ ជីមិញ។ ធ្វើ​បែបនេះ គឺ​ក្នុង​គោលដៅ​ឆ្លៀត​យក​ចំណេញ​ពី​ប្រជាប្រិយភាព​របស់ សឺន ង៉ុកថាញ់ ដែល​ជា​ប្រមុខ​ដឹកនាំ​ចលនា​ប្រឆាំង​បារាំង​ដ៏​ល្បីល្បាញ​មួយ គឺ​ចលនា​ខ្មែរ​ឥស្សរៈ។ ប៉ុន្តែ សឺន ង៉ុកថាញ់​ មិនមែន​ជា​មនុស្ស​កុម្មុយនិស្ត​ទេ។

In Cambodia, Comedians Double as Government Propagandists

In the state-aligned media that dominates the country's airwaves, enormously popular comedians, often bearing the rank of colonel in the prime minister's personal bodyguard unit, inject the party line into Cambodian popular culture

Colonel Chuong Chy, who like many of Cambodia's famous comedians is also an officer in the prime minister's special bodyguard unit, performs under the stage name Koy. Though his stage character is flamboyant, in person he is terse and severe.

The popular comedian Colonel Ou Bunnarith, aka Krem (L), performs with his troupe at the studio of the Cambodian television station Bayon.

Chek, whose real name is Colonel Chhum Bunchhoeurn, in an interview, still wearing his makeup.A Cambodian comedy troupe performs in Phnom Penh.

San Mao is reported by The Phnom Penh Post as Colonel Thou Chamrong

Prum Manh was also reported as a CPP colonel by The Phnom Penh Post

Jun 15 2011
By Julia Wallace
The Atlantic

"We work for the prime minister, so why should we perform for Sam Rainsy? ... If we eat a person's food, we have to work for that one." - Krem, aka Colonel Ou Bunnarith

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- One recent Sunday afternoon, television audiences across Cambodia watched a middle-aged man named Krem as he was introduced to the mother of his young girlfriend.

The mother, Oeurn, looked dubiously at her daughter's poorly dressed, extravagantly mustachioed suitor.

"How did you spend the Cambodian New Year?" Oeurn asked him.

"I went to Preah Vihear," Krem replied, referring to a contested 11th century temple on the Thai border that has sparked several skirmishes between Cambodian and Thai forces over the past few years. "We performed comedy for the soldiers who protect us from Thai invasion. I would like to ask the New Year's angel to protect our soldiers and let them defeat the enemy."

A bit later, Krem abruptly announced to Oeurn, "Phnom Penh municipality now has less garbage and is cleaner. Do you know who did that?"

"Who?"

Potemkin graft crackdown in Cambodia

Potemkin graft crackdown in Cambodia
By Sebastian Strangio
Asia Time Online

"Donors have failed to hold a small corrupt elite to account," said George Boden, a campaigner for international graft watchdog Global Witness. "Donors should ensure that central government does not exert an undue influence over the anti-corruption agencies, that all credible allegations of corruption are investigated and that whistleblowers are given the protection that they deserve."

PHNOM PENH - On the morning of May 12, Cambodia's local newspapers ran photos of a bedraggled figure being escorted from a small courthouse. The man, who wore a crumpled green shirt and clutched a water bottle as he leant on the shoulder of a security guard, was Top Chan Sereyvuth, a former prosecutor at the Pursat provincial court in the country's west.

During his trial, it was alleged he had ordered subordinates to extort money from a man found transporting wood through his province - just one in a long line of corrupt dealings. On May 11, judges at the court found him guilty on corruption charges and handed him a 19-year jail term. Two of his bodyguards were also sent down for 15 and 16 years respectively.

The Cambodian government welcomed Sereyvuth's conviction as

the first high-profile case to be brought by its new Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), formed last year following the passage of long-awaited anti-graft legislation. While observers were initially divided about the government's commitment to fighting corruption, the ACU has so far netted some big fish.

Cambodia struggles to play China off against its other neighbours

Courting the Khmer

Cambodia struggles to play China off against its other neighbours

Jun 9th 2011
The Economist
PHNOM PENH

TWENTY kilometres (12½ miles) down the Mekong river from the capital, Phnom Penh, a new container terminal is taking shape on a 30-hectare site. Upstream, two new ports are planned. Whereas other countries that share the mighty waterway favour dams and power plants, the Cambodians are turning the Mekong into a commercial highway. As Sam Olan, the deputy director of the container terminal argues, the project is tailored to the war-ravaged country’s needs: transport by water is cheaper than by road and requires less maintenance—and there are not many good roads anyway.

Like much else in Cambodia today, the new port is being built by the Chinese; 50 or so Chinese engineers and technicians live on site. The Cambodians are confident they will get their new port quickly and on time (it is due to open next year)—one of many reasons why the Chinese are welcome there, as in other poor countries.

As one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia struggles to end its dependence on foreign aid, the Chinese presence has become pervasive. Just down river from the new container terminal is the huge Chinese-built Prek Tamak bridge, which opened last year. The Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, recently broke ground on a $46m Chinese-built road linking the capital to the coastal province of Kampot. There, a new Chinese-built hydroelectric power station is about to begin operation—supplying, by one official estimate, half of Cambodia’s demand for power. The Chinese plan to build three more. Overall, China accounts for almost half the foreign investment in the country.

Book Reviewing by Sambath Meas from the argument of Joel Brinkley

My Review of Cambodia's Curse by Joel Brinkley

Cambodia’s Blessed
by Sambath Meas






In his foreword to Marie Alexandrine Martin’s Cambodia: A Shattered Society, Jean-François Baré wrote, “At the head of the list of vanquished, I would obviously be inclined, as would Marie Martin, to place the Khmer people, a martyred people. But the Khmer people also produced the Pol Pots, the Ieng Sarys, the Khieu Samphans, the barely adolescent yothea who, under their leaders’ directions, used methodical and murderous obstinacy in applying Bertolt Brecht’s sorrowful aphorism: ‘If something about a country is wrong, you have to change the people and choose another one’ –this same Khmer people, imbued among other interacting factors with a concept of hierarchy (neak chuo, knowing one’s place) that worked both to help make Cambodia so peaceful and to make the Khmer revolution so terrible when ‘the children were in power,’ through an astonishing and terrible structural reversal.”

So forget about the tribes (whose countries are now called Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam) that migrated from their ancestral home in southern China to Southeast Asia and engulfed the lands of Mon, Khmer, and Malay. Forget about Thailand and Vietnam tug-of-war for supremacy in this region, using Cambodia as a rope, the French ironclad colonization, the American bombing, or Vietnam and China’s influences. Disregard the fact that the Khmer Rouge leaders consisted of ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese and studied Marxism in Paris, France. What Jean-François Baré is driving at in his foreword is, there’s no one to blame for Cambodia’s weakness and demise but the Khmers themselves.

No one revels in this sentiment more than Joel Brinkley. He devotes his entire book to show how the Khmer leaders (psychopathic, autocratic, and kleptocratic) and people (ignorant, stupid, lazy, foolish and gullible) are a hopeless case and therefore, can’t be saved. Basically, the donors should not give Cambodia’s government any more money and should pack up and go home.

In fact, the premise of Cambodia’s Curse is to debunk those who attributed the American bombing to the rise of the Khmer Rouge regime, which ultimately killed almost two millions of its own people and destroyed its entire nation.

Brinkley reflected, “In this climate William Shawcross, a British journalist, wrote his seminal book, Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia. It concluded that the American bombing of Cambodia, intended to destroy Vietcong sanctuaries there, drove the peasantry to the Khmer Rouge and ensured their victory. The liberal media (and I was a card-carrying member; I read and admired his book while flying to Cambodia in 1979) heaped adulation on Shawcross.”

Brinkley has come to a realization that “now, thirty years later, with passions cooled, it is quite clear that his conclusion was wrong.”

Misruling Cambodia

Corruption is rife and dissent is stifled, as  "Cambodia's Curse " shows. But entrepreneurs are giving the country some hope.

MAY 19, 2011

By GEOFFREY CAIN

The Wall Street Journal

If schools are a reflection of society, then they show Cambodia to be a limp and defeated nation. On the first day of class, Cambodian children learn they must bribe their teachers to get good grades, a practice that continues for the 3% of them who make it to college. Teachers, struggling on salaries of less than $100 a month, take their cuts and pass the money up to the principals. The principals then pay off local education officials, and so on to higher circles of government. In the end, those who give the largest bribes eventually win promotions—giving them access to even bigger cash flows.

In this system, students learn few useful skills except how to survive under a corrupt regime, writes journalist Joel Brinkley. For the lucky few who pay, and sometimes even murder, their way to the top of the government, life is good. But for the ordinary farmers and laborers, kickbacks are simply an expensive roadblock to economic and social advancement.

"These demands are humiliating. It pushes a lot of smart kids out to the rice fields instead of helping our country," Sok Sopheap, a high school student who was kicked out of class because he didn't pay a bribe, told me. "This is why Cambodia stays poor."

Mr. Brinkley's depressing book is a mostly illuminating, though sometimes lopsided, chronicle of the politicians and bureaucrats who have plagued Cambodian society for the past 30 years. After the Khmer Rouge regime oversaw the deaths of 1.7 million people and was unseated in 1979, a new group of opportunists took their place. That wily clique, installed by the invading Vietnamese, includes current Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Limited liability for Khmer Rouge tribunal

The longstanding conflict between the Cambodian and international sides of the tribunal reflects the awkward political compromise that gave birth to the hybrid court. The brewing disagreement over additional prosecutions is likely to bring such issues to a head and court observers say the fate of the two cases will be a test of the tribunal's credibility. "The point is that the issue affects more than just Case 003 and Case 004 - it affects the whole of the court," Duffy said. "Judicial independence is a fundamental tenet of any justice system. The implications of a lack of judicial independence or of political decision making by judges are huge."

By Sebastian Strangio
Asia Time Online

PHNOM PENH - Sometime later this year, Cambodia's war crimes court will convene its second trial at which four ailing Khmer Rouge leaders will face a raft of charges including crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. The four accused - Khmer Rouge "Brother No 2" Nuon Chea, former foreign minister Ieng Sary, head of state Khieu Samphan and minister of social affairs Ieng Thirith - are the most senior surviving leaders of the regime, whose ultra-Maoist revolution led to the death of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975-79.

The tribunal's first case, against Khmer Rouge jailer Kaing Guek Eav, came to an historic conclusion in July when judges convicted him for his role in the deaths of as many as 15,000 people at Phnom Penh's notorious S-21 prison. The 30-year jail sentence

 
handed down against the wiry former schoolteacher, better known by his revolutionary nom de guerre Duch, is currently under appeal.

As the United Nations-backed tribunal gears up for its much more complicated second case, controversy surrounds the potential indictments of five further mid-ranking Khmer Rouge figures. The names of the suspects in Case 003 and Case 004, as the court refers to them, have not yet been officially disclosed but human-rights activists have named the pair under investigation as Meas Muth, former commander of the Khmer Rouge navy, and ex-air force head Sou Met.

The latter case also allegedly involves Im Chem, a former district chief in Banteay Meanchey province, and a pair of deputy zone secretaries, Yim Tith (alias Ta Tith) and Aom An (alias Ta An).

Wages of peace

"Given their history, given the subservient state Cambodians have accepted without complaint for more than a millennium, they don't seem to care," he adds. "Now, once again, most expect nothing more than they have. They carry no ambitions. They hold no dreams. All they want is to be left alone."

Cambodia's Curse: The modern history of a troubled land by Joel Brinkley

May 13, 2011
Reviewed by Sebastian Strangio
Asia Times Online

PHNOM PENH - In June 2010, diplomats and donors converged on a conference hall in Cambodia's capital for a meeting with senior government officials. Seated in rows with headphones beaming in live translations, donor representatives listened to key ministers speak about the country's progress on a series of agreed to good governance reforms.

Despite concerns raised about a spate of illegal land grabs, persistent human-rights abuses and legal harassment of government critics - all of which prompted the usual vague assurances from officials that the situation would improve - donors offered development aid totaling an unprecedented US$1.1 billion for fiscal 2010-11.

Aid to Cambodia has increased more or less consistently since the United Nations Transitional Authority's (UNTAC) departure from the country in 1993. A child of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, UNTAC was designed to bring an end to Cambodia's long civil war, establish a functioning electoral system and eventually usher in economic development.

For any observer of contemporary Cambodia, however, the optimism of the UNTAC era now seems almost quaint. If one accepts political commentator Fareed Zakaria's dictum that a democratic system is better symbolized by the impartial judge than the mass plebiscite (Cambodia, after all, has elections), then one glance at the judicial system - where bribery and political interference are more or less the norm - is all it takes to conclude that the country is not meaningfully democratic.

Statement of International Co-prosecutor on the Importance of Case 003 of the ECCC

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9 May 2011
PRESS RELEASE

STATEMENT BY THE INTERNATIONAL CO-PROSECUTOR
REGARDING CASE FILE 003

The International Co-Prosecutor, Andrew Cayley, makes this public statement pursuant to ECCC Internal Rule 54, to ensure that the public is duly informed about ongoing ECCC proceedings, and in particular with regard to the International Co-Prosecutor’s Introductory Submission in Case File 003. In providing this information the interests of victims and witnesses, the rights of suspects, and the requirements of the investigation have been taken into account, as required under the Rules. 

Following directions given by the Pre-Trial Chamber, on 7 September 2009, the International Co-Prosecutor submitted to the Co-Investigating Judges two Introductory Submissions opening judicial investigations into various crimes in Cases 003 and 004. These submissions named a total of five (5) suspects who the Co-Prosecutor believes are responsible for the alleged crimes and fall within the jurisdiction of the ECCC. Under the ECCC Internal Rules, the Co-Investigating Judges are required to investigate the criminal allegations contained in these submissions.   

The Case 003 Introductory Submission addresses alleged crimes of murder, extermination, torture, unlawful imprisonment, enslavement, persecution and other inhumane acts.  If proven, these acts would constitute crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and violations of the 1956 Cambodian Penal Code. 

Hun Sen's war calculations

Hun Sen has also clearly welcomed the ongoing conflict with Thailand as a chance to rally support and further marginalize his political opponents. Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and a Phnom Penh-based political observer, said the contested Preah Vihear temple - a potent symbol, like Angkor Wat, of Cambodia's nationhood - has already been a source of much political capital for Hun Sen. 

By Sebastian Strangio

Asia Time Online

PHNOM PENH - Fighting along the Thai-Cambodian border continued over the weekend after two agreed ceasefires broke down last week. At least 17 people have been killed and 50,000 evacuated on both sides of the border since the latest round of armed skirmishes and diplomatic salvos commenced on April 22. Some analysts now wonder whether the sustained armed clashes could eventually escalate into full-blown war.

As with past clashes, both governments have accused each other of instigating the conflict. In a statement on April 27, the Cambodian Council of Ministers denounced Thailand for its "naked and blatant aggression" that had resulted in "immense

misery and suffering" for the Cambodian people. A day earlier, the Thai cabinet passed a three-point resolution authorizing "retaliatory military action" to push Cambodian troops out of disputed areas.

While it may be impossible to know who fired the first shots, many analysts agree that the conflict is an outgrowth of political turmoil in Thailand, reflecting an attempt by the Royal Thai Army to cement its position at the center of Thai politics ahead of elections set to be held by July. What is less clear are the factors driving decision-making on the other side of the border, where Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) have long maintained a stranglehold on domestic politics.

Since the military coup that overthrew former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006, Cambodia's strongman has played a cameo role in Thailand's unfolding domestic drama, alternatively courting and sniping at a succession of Thai leaders.

Occasionally he has taken center stage, as when he appointed Thaksin as an economic advisor in late 2009, plunging relations with Bangkok to their lowest point in years. At the time, some analysts speculated that the wily leader was backing Thaksin and his proxies in a future election, laying the groundwork for a more solid bilateral relationship further down the road.

Vietnam Imperial March and Nationalism

In the course of this successful venture into colonialism (for it was nothing else), the Vietnamese state decided to institutionalize the process, and in 1481, the don-dien were created. Like the Roman coloniae 1500 years earlier or the Israeli nakhal settlements 500 years later (or the Austro-German Wehrbauern in the 1700's) the don-dien were agricultural settlements given to farmers who were for the most part army veterans and who, in return for free land, defended the new frontier. The members of the don-dien were a tough hardy lot, not only willing to defend what they already had, but usually not loath to push the border farther west-this time at the expense of the decaying Khmer (Cambodian) state. It was obvious such a situation was fertile in border incidents, which were further exploited to round out the Vietnamese domain. In 1658, all of South Viet-Nam north of Saigon (then that the fishing village of Prey Kor) was in Vietnamese hands; Saigon itself fell in 1672.

Excerpt from “The Two Viet-Nams: A Political and Military Analysis”, Chapter 2: A Glimpse of the Past
By Bernard B. Fall (Praeger Publishers, New York, 1971), pp 10-19

In 111 B.C., the victorious Han crushed the young Vietnamese state, and save for a few brief but glorious rebellions, it remained a Chinese colony for more than 1,000 years.

Viet-Nam became a Chinese protectorate ruled by a governor and subdivided into military districts. By the beginning of the first century A.D., the country had absorbed along with many Chinese settlers – a great many of them the refugees from the Han dynasty – much of what was worthwhile in the culture of the occupying power: the difficult art of rice planting in artificially irrigated areas, Chinese writing skills, Chinese philosophy, and even Chinese social customs and beliefs. But – and in this the Vietnamese are unique – they succeeded in maintaining their national identity in spite of the fact that everything else about them had become “Chinese.” Opposition to the Chinese rule built up as the Chinese presence became more ubiquitous and brutal. Finally, what could be called a routine “occupation incident,” the execution of a minor feudal lord, brought about a configuration. In 39 A.D., Trung Trac, the wife of the slain lord, and her sister Trung Nhi raised an army that, in a series of swift sieges, overwhelmed the Chinese garrisons, which had grown careless over the years. In 40 A.D., the Vietnamese, much to their surprise, found themselves free from foreign domination for the first time in 150 years and the Trung sisters were proclaimed queens of the country.

Naturally in so large an empire, Chinese reaction was slow, but when it came, it was effective. Old general Ma Yuan began his counterattack in 43 A.D., and the Vietnamese troops of the two queens made a fatal error: They chose to make a stand in the open field against the experienced Chinese regulars, with their backs against the limestone cliffs at the edge of the river Day – not far from the place where General Vo Nguyen Giap was to pit his green regulars against French Marshal de Lattre’s elite troops 1,908 years later.

The result was the same in both cases: The more experienced regulars destroyed the raw Vietnamese levies. The two queens, rather than surrender to the enemy, chose suicide by drowning in the nearby river. “Sinization” now began in earnest, with Chinese administration taking the place of traditional leaders. Two more rebellions took place. One in 248 A.D., also led by woman, Trieu Au, collapsed almost immediately, and like the Trung sisters, Trieu Au committed suicide. The second led by Ly Bon lasted from 544 to 547 and was also crushed. With the rise of the strong Tang dynasty in China after 618, resistance became hopeless: Viet-Nam became the Chinese Protectorate General of the "Pacified South" ("An-Nam" in Chinese). It was under the name "Annam," a symbol of humiliation and defeat that the region was to become best known to the outside world.

Korean firm defies norms in Cambodia airport building

03-04-2011
By Oh Young-jin
The Korea Times

First, he mentioned the efficiency and professionalism of the Cambodian public servants. “We deal with Ph.D. holders who studied in the U.S., Russia and European countries,” Lee said.

Secondly, Cambodia proves to be neither a banana republic nor led by a tinpot dictator. “It is a country that has a strong tradition of adhering to a contract perhaps resulting from the influence of the French,” the CEO said.

Building an international airport in a third-world country is a challenging task.

It requires dealing with a mercurial government, acquiring enough land and raising financial support.

There is too much uncertainty for any firm to take on without hesitation.

In this sense, the NSRIA or New Siem Reap International Airport Co, led by two Korean firms ― Lees A&A and its financial partner Cambodia Airport Co. ― is engaged in what others might call a mission impossible.

But when one listens to its CEO Lee Tae-hwan talk about the project, one can appreciate how the difficult feat could be translated into reality. As with any business, however, there is no 100 percent guarantee.

The project is constructing a new international airport 40 kilometers east of Angkor Wat, the UNESCO-designated world cultural heritage site, at the cost of $500 million. It is composed of one runway and a terminal on the site as large as 5 square kilometers, with the capability to handle 3 million passengers a year.

According to Lee, the new airport is expected to go into operation in late 2015 with the old adjacent airport to be closed, so there will be no competition from it.

Reflections on 20 years of the Paris Peace Accords

Monday, February 21, 2011
Op-Ed by Antoine Phirun Pich,
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Ottawa

Twenty years after the Paris Peace Accords were reached, Cambodia still faces the inherent challenges of an emerging democracy while its people have been allowed to enjoy a certain degree of liberty (at least compared with the Khmer Rouge genocidal regime of the mid-1970s or the decade-long Vietnamese occupation that followed). However, to the outside observer, the country remains far from the democratic society based on the rule of law that drafters of the accords could have legitimately expected. This is partly due to the initial political circumstances that lead to the absurd formation of a bicephalous first mandate government, or the hidden military agenda of one of the signatory countries indubitably involved in the 1997 coup.

It is beyond doubt that Vietnam’s hegemonic ambitions over Cambodia have been the most prevalent obstacle to the effective implementation of the peace accords in so far as it has contributed to the establishment of an open door policy for Vietnamese nationals to settle across the country’s (eastern) provinces, thereby jeopardizing unity, independence and national identity. Due to the ethno-demographic distribution of modern Cambodia and its clandestine subservience to the neighbouring government, there can be no doubt that the “Vietnamese factor” will forever remain inseparable from the Cambodian political landscape. But given today’s communications technologies and coercive principles of international law, whether Vietnam will truly succeed in annihilating Cambodia in the same way as in the past remains an open question.

Pax Sinica? Impossible!

by Kim Jin Hyun            

Kim Jin Hyun [jinhkim@korea.kr] is chairman of the World Peace Forum and former president of Seoul City University.

Pax Americana, US dominance, and Western/ Atlantic hegemony are fading away. However, Chinese hegemony or Pax Sinica will never arrive. The Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the 2008 global financial crisis, the lowest interest rates in the history of the US and UK central banks, and the European Union and euro on the brink of disintegration -- all are signs of the ebb of US and Atlantic power and indications of a historical power shift. But what is next?

Without question, Asia will become the center of activity and the Pacific and Indian oceans will be a thoroughfare of human resources, international finance, and cultural exchanges. Because of this historical trend, many people believe China will be the next world leader -- as it was in Asia before the 19th century. However, China will never become a leader of a new order or create a Pax Sinica.

The US unipolar moment is passing, but it maintains hard and soft power supremacy and continues to be a balancer in a multipolar international system. The US and China will continue to cooperate and compete. If China wants to surpass the US, it must become the greatest country in the world or establish a continental coalition with Russia and India, or reorganize the G20 into an organization lead by the BRICs. But there are other important factors that transcend geopolitics: the role of individuals, such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Julian Assange, Stephen Jobs, or even Osama bin Laden; the revival of city states; or the prospect of religious confrontation between Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Confucianism.

Can Mubarak Follow South Korea’s Path?

by Peter M. Beck

Peter M. Beck [beckpeterm@gmail.com] is a POSCO Fellow at the East-West Center and a Hitachi Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

As the world holds its breath to learn if the Egyptian people’s amazing struggle for democracy ends in a breakthrough or a bloodbath, President Hosni Mubarak would do well to consider the South Korea option. Ultimately, Korea’s dictators and democracy were both winners.

Like Egyptians, South Koreans endured decades of American-backed dictatorship.  In the spring of 1987, Korea’s military government held sham elections not unlike the ones held in Egypt last year.  However, in both places, a combination of repression and rising expectations proved a combustible mix.  If the actual trigger for Egyptians was the sudden overthrow of Tunisia’s dictatorship last month, Koreans drew inspiration from the “People Power” overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines the year before.

As in Cairo today, student-led demonstrations drew hundreds of thousands into the streets of Seoul 24 years ago.  Like Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Korea’s Christians played a supporting role at the outset.  After weeks of clashes and teargas, on June 29 the government announced that a free and fair direct presidential election would be held within six months.  Given that almost exactly seven years earlier, the military unleashed a crackdown that killed over 200 citizens, the question we must ask is, what had changed?

When facing persistent social unrest, all dictators invariably undertake a cost-benefit analysis of cracking down versus opening up.  In 1980, Korea’s coup leaders correctly determined that there would be little or no cost for killing.  Indeed, within months of wiping the blood off of his hands, General-turned-President Chun Doo-hwan was one of President Ronald Reagan’s first foreign guests at the White House. Later that same year, Seoul was awarded the 1988 Summer Olympics.  Far from incurring any costs, Korea’s dictators were rewarded for their bad behavior.