KI Media: “Brain Food for Co-Investigating Judge Siegfried Blunk” plus 23 more

Phnom Penh – Reach Sambath, director of the public relation office of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, is currently under medical care at Calmette Hospital. However, there is official indication as to what his illness is. Doctors are currently providing him with medical care.

Thirty-two years ago, more than 100,000 Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia, smashed Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge guerrillas, took over Phnom Penh, installed a puppet regime in January 1979, and staffed the Hanoi-instituted Cambodian administrations with Vietnamese to oversee the puppet government's activities.

Several thousand Cambodian youths taken in 1954 by the Viet Minh for education, indoctrination and training in Vietnam -- by 1979 in their forties and fifties and fully acculturated in Vietnam -- were brought back to Cambodia.

These illegals were integrated into different aspects of Khmer society. There are Vietnamese who speak Khmer and act Cambodian, and many Cambodians who speak and enjoy Vietnamese ways, as this helps get them closer to privileges. An officer of Premier Hun Sen's army told me it's no longer easy to tell who is Vietnamese and who is Cambodian.

Nationally conscious Cambodians hate what has happened in the country, acknowledging their fear that Cambodia and the Khmer race may be subsumed by the country's eastern neighbor. As Cambodian anger mounts, Vietnamese who migrated and have lived in Cambodia since France ruled Indochina, who have families who have lived all their lives in Cambodia, also are threatened by the new arrivals. The  "old " Vietnamese know no other place but Cambodia; the  "new " Vietnamese are exploiters of Cambodia's resources.

Some Cambodians call for the "reactivation " of the 1991 Paris Peace Accord to restore individual rights, freedom and democracy in Cambodia, and protect her independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The international community's $3 billion U.N.-managed peace initiative never required the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese-propped Heng Samrin/Hun Sen factions to disarm, nor created a politically neutral environment essential for the accords to work. The naïve nationalist KPNLF/KPNLAF and royalist FUNCINPEC/ANS were happy to empty their pockets, in the name of "national reconciliation," with hungry alligators to get closer to the seat of power.

Recall the wide-eyed international community, which thought it could make Cambodia a "success" story, leaving town after the first U.N.-organized elections in 1993.

Today, in the midst of economic crises and world political upheavals, which government would step in to implement the accords?

Hun Sen is now a recipient of so-called Chinese "aid without strings attached" -- no strings so long as Hun Sen agrees to a "one China" policy, deports the Uighurs seeking political asylum and allows unfettered Chinese investment in Cambodia. He and his ruling party can do what they please with the land and national wealth, and thumb their noses at Western financial donors and the U.N.

Frustrated, some bloggers have chided me for not providing a "solution." Actually, they wanted an ABC manual to bring Hun Sen down; ideas and thoughts seem too complicated. Yet, in my column last week, "Stop giving Hun Sen power to rule," I suggested what to do, and not do -- to converge the different efforts by individuals and groups, to disintegrate a dictatorship. A reader emailed to tell me not to "bark" too much and return to Cambodia "to fight" and he will join me. Oh dear.

Last month, an email from a friend from a different continent referenced the necessity to create a "critical mass" in Cambodia to bring a long-lasting change and led me to write on the subject.

Last week, an old Cambodian friend emailed from Phnom Penh to urge continued "fighting" on two main fronts: education and economy. "At least 80 percent of the population (of 14 million) must have at least 10 years of schooling; at least 40 percent of the population must be college graduates, and at least 10 percent must have Ph.D. degrees, ... and the GDP per capita must be at least $10,000," he wrote. Ah, the man of my dreams, I said to myself as I scratched my head. When will we reach that level of education and economic development?

Unless we do, Cambodians have every reason to worry about the disappearance of Cambodia and the Khmer race.

Only last week I quoted statistics by the U.N. Children's Fund that recorded Cambodia's net secondary school enrollment for 2005-2006 at 36 percent for males and 32 percent for females. My questions were: Out of these enrollees, how many actually attend school (which is open only a few hours per day), how many actually graduate from secondary school, how many go on to high school, etc.

So my friend's email made me want to cry to heaven for help. And when I think of the finding that nearly 40 percent of the Cambodian people live under the poverty line of $2 a day -- many live on 50 cents a day -- the suggested $10,000 GDP per capita makes me look for my spiritual balance.

Yet I cannot accept despair. And so I keep on writing and hoping more readers will not remain complacent and will join with others to do something, do many things, which will converge to create a tipping point to cause Hun Sen's government to disintegrate.

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

This episode - armed aggression by Thailand - reiterates yet again Cambodia's need to upgrade its defence capability.

I accept that for the first time since independence from France, Cambodia has the ability to defend itself to a limited extent, and providing the clashes are confined to one or two localities, containing or neutralising invading forces does not call for massive defensive resources.

But this calculation - especially in light of limited national budget - can be dangerously misleading. It's not just about the 1:15 or 1:10 ratio in terms of what the defending side and the invading one require respectively to upset the odds. The Vietnamese deployed 200,000 troops, backed up with aerial sorties, to overwhelm KR forces of about 70 - 80,000 men -many of whom had been hastily recruited after the 1970-5 war and had no previous combat experience - but the vast disparity here owed perhaps to the strategic-political need of the Vietnamese to spread military presence over an entire country's territory with the threat of prolonged guerrilla campaign in mind.

The Vietnamese have learned from their national humiliation at the hand of the Chinese in the past. Their estimated 1m strong conventional forces and heavy investment in military hardware reflects their hard-nosed realism in this regard. From their bruising encounter with Vietnam in 1979, the Chinese will think twice before considering 'teaching' Hanoi another lesson. Yet the threat from the Chinese is still there, and Hanoi knows this.

War can be painful in reality, but it has been a feature of human civilisation since the dawn of history, and is unlikely to go away any time soon for good.

Until Cambodians are certain that their supposed friends and neighbours have their (Cambodian) people's interests at heart or love the Cambodian nation more than they do their own, then be prepared to face up to this necessary evil.

The constant threats posed by Cambodia's two neighbours; the geographic position occupied by her in between them, and the resolve to meet these threats and actual aggression (testified by the current border war) could ironically work to the country's long term benefit. For example, to build up the military (say increase well trained combatants to around 200,000 to 300,000 or more in proportion to projected population expansion within the next 10-15 years or so) finances have to be in place. Yet this resource (money) is unlikely to be conjured out of thin air. Therefore, a wave of cleaning up campaign and structural reform are paramount; and there is no need to use this pretext of national security to bulldoze civil liberty or infringe on human rights. As a foot soldier, you don't want to learn of your commanding officer's or your general's corrupt practices, and likewise as a citizen you don't want to live in a hut gazing at your rulers' opulent palaces. And no, evicting the impoverished subject is not the solution!

An ancient temple on the border between Thailand and Cambodia is at the heart of a deadly dispute between the two countries. Clashes along the border this year have killed some 30 people and sent tens of thousands of villagers fleeing. Both governments say the dispute is about who owns the land around the temple. Nationalism and domestic politics in both countries also play a key role in driving the conflict.

The border dispute dominated the agenda of this year's summit of Southeast Asia nations, where efforts by host Indonesia failed to bridge major differences between the two sides.

When Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen met Sunday at the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, they exchanged accusations over who is responsible for prolonging the conflict.

Thailand's Prime Minister argues that Cambodia provoked the fighting by stationing troops in the disputed area. Since then, he says Cambodia has repeatedly tried to internationalize the dispute by involving outside groups such as ASEAN and the United Nations.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak is Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"ASEAN has tried to mediate. There was an agreement in February to send Indonesian peace observers to both Cambodia and Thailand and Thailand agreed to it. But, the domestic crisis in Thailand is such that the army has superseded the civilian Abhisit government by reneging. And, basically, the agreement has been abrogated by the Thai side," Pongsudhirak explained.

In Thailand, the border clashes have come as the government prepares for nationwide elections in early July, raising suspicions that the country's divisive domestic politics are playing a role in the conflict.

The election is seen as a showdown between Thai elites backed by the military and an opposition party supported by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who had friendlier relations with Cambodia during his time in power.

The military ousted Thaksin in a 2006 coup that was backed by nationalist demonstrators known as the Yellow Shirts. His supporters were purged from the military and government and he went into self-imposed exile to avoid corruption charges.

Since then, the country's politics have been bitterly divided and opinion polls indicate the July elections vote will be close.

William Case is a professor of Asian and International Studies at City University of Hong Kong. He says Thaksin's opponents may be hoping the border crisis can rally the nation behind them or can be used as an excuse to postpone elections.

"There are certain forces which would include the military and the Yellow Shirt movement that maybe don't want those elections because of the results that they may well bring," he said.

In December a group of Yellow Shirts stirred up nationalists on both sides by going to the disputed area where they were arrested by Cambodian troops for spying.

Yellow Shirts have since protested outside government offices against Abhisit for being too soft on Cambodia.

Tensions were first raised along the border in 2008, when the United Nations declared an ancient Khmer Hindu temple located just inside Cambodia as a World Heritage site. At that time in Thailand, a government aligned with Thaksin supported Cambodia's application.

Michael Montesano is a visiting research fellow on Thai history and regional affairs at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. He says the former prime minister's political opponents seized on the temple's listing to politicize the border dispute.

"Since then obviously things have spun out of control and we have armed violence among the Thai and Cambodian forces along the Thai and Cambodian border, a prolonged series of incidents over several years, ASEAN's chronic inability to address this violence between member states, all emanating from what began as a domestic political stunt on the Thai side," Montesano stated.

The border dispute also has a political dimension in Cambodia, where relations with Thailand and Vietnam play a major role in domestic politics.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is a close friend of Thaksin and in 2009, appointed him an economic advisor, and refused to extradite him to Thailand.

Montesano says many Cambodians see Thailand as arrogant towards its small neighbor and Prime Minister Hun Sen scores easy political points for standing up to Bangkok.

But Montesano says the issue also gives the Cambodia government political cover in its own border dispute with Vietnam. Hun Sen's opponents have accused him of being weak in negotiations with Hanoi.

"I'm in no position to know whether they're right. But, they're people who say that Hun Sun's playing up the situation on the Thai border is a way to distract the Cambodian people from his much softer stance vis a vis Vietnam relating to poorly demarcated borders." he said.

The Cambodia-Thailand border was demarcated over a century ago by the French colonial powers and Thailand, then known as the Kingdom of Siam.

The Thai side tacitly accepted a French-produced map but resentment later resurfaced over allegations that the map was unfair.

The main area of contention is land surrounding a 900-year-old temple called Preah Vihear in Cambodia and Phra Viharn in Thailand.

The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled the temple was Cambodia's, which Thailand accepted, and the issue lay dormant for decades.

Thailand claims the land surrounding the temple, which the court did not rule on.

Earlier this month Cambodia asked the ICJ to clarify the 1962 ruling to try to settle the dispute. Thailand says it wants to resolves the dispute through direct talks with Cambodia.

10 May 2011

The National Co-Prosecutor, CHEA Leang, makes this public statement pursuant to ECCC Internal Rule 54 regarding Case File 003.

In view of the first preliminary investigation by the International Co-Prosecutor and the latest investigation leading to the closure of investigation by the Co-Investigating Judges, the National Co-Prosecutor thoroughly examined and maintained that the suspects mentioned the Case File 003 were not either senior leaders or those who were most responsible during the period of Democratic Kampuchea.

In accordance with the Law on the Establishment of Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed During the Period of Democratic Kampuchea (the "ECCC Law") and the preamble of the Agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia concerning the Prosecution under Cambodian Law of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea ("UN-RGC Agreement") dated 18 December 2002 and the recognition by the United Nations General Assembly of the legitimate concern of the Royal Government of Cambodia and the people of Cambodia in the pursuit of justice and national reconciliation, stability, peace and security, the selection of two categories of suspects were made: senior leaders of Democratic Kampuchea and those who were most responsible for the crimes and serious violations of the Cambodian penal law, international humanitarian law and custom, and international conventions recognized by Cambodia, that were committed during the period from 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979.

Further, the National Co-Prosecutor opines that priorities should be given to the prosecution of the Accused in the custody of the ECCC Detention Facility. In light of the UN-RGC Agreement and the ECCC Law that envisaged the prosecution of a limited number of people.

For the reasons given, the National Co-Prosecutor maintains that the named suspects in Case File 003 do not fall within the jurisdiction of the ECCC to be brought to trial and that the Tribunal's mandate can be adequately fulfilled through the prosecution of the Accused persons in the ECCC Detention Facility. 

May 10, 2011

Today the Phnom Penh Appeal Court postponed its awaited decision related to a ten-year imprisonment sentence handed down to me on September 23, 2010 for "forgery of a public document."

The accusation against me is related to a French-era 1:100,000 map posted on the Sam Rainsy Party website which allegedly has an "unusual" grid on it (see Map # 4 at http://tinyurl.com/yeaoxyf). The Hun Sen government accuses me of adding the grid to the original map, therefore "falsifying" the document. They point to the grid by using the French word "carreaux" while the technical term in both English and French is UTM graticule.

Some CPP-affiliated judges seem to be as illiterate as some Hun Sen government "experts."

Actually, I used and published both French-made maps and US-made maps to show that they corroborate one another regarding border delimitation between Cambodia and Vietnam.

Cambodian judges and government "experts" should read this explanation by Colonel Edward G. Anderson, Jr. of Corp of Engineers, United States Army (excerpt from "Mapping in Southeast Asia", in The Military Engineers, March-April 1969, page 232): "You would notice the Minutes mention the use of UTM (grid) on 1:100,000 French-made maps. The UTM (standard military grid) with marginal data in English was overprinted on the French maps by the US Army since outbreak of WW II. NATO, France included, adopted UTM grid after 1945."

Mr. Var Kim Hong, the head of government border "experts" did not get the point when he claimed in his accusation against me at a February 22, 2010 press conference, "The French are ignorant of UTM grid (map making)." Actually, it is Mr. Var Kim Hong and his CPP colleagues who are ignorant of elementary graph and map techniques.

Elected Member of Parliament

Khmer Rouge tribunal co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley has announced plans to request additional investigation in the court's controversial third case, saying allegations of grave crimes including enslavement, torture and murder "have not been fully investigated".

The announcement comes amid speculation from court observers that the tribunal's investigating judges may have deliberately botched the investigation in the face of opposition from the Cambodian government.

Last month, the court's co-investigating judges announced the conclusion of their investigation in Case 003, the suspects in which remain officially confidential but whom court documents reveal as former KR navy commander Meas Muth and air force commander Sou Met.

During the roughly 20 months of investigation, however, judges filed no charges against the men, and they were not even summoned for questioning.

In a statement released yesterday, Cayley listed a series of additional investigative steps he plans to ask the judges to perform, as he is permitted to do under court rules. Among these requests are the questioning of the suspects, additional interviews with witnesses and further investigation of the alleged crime sites.

"The International Co-Prosecutor will request these actions as he is of the view that the crimes alleged in the Introductory Submission [submitted by the prosecution in 2009] have not been fully investigated," the statement read.

The tribunal's third case as well as its fourth, the investigation for which is still pending, have come under fierce criticism from Cambodian officials. During a visit to the Kingdom by Ban Ki-moon last year, Prime Minister Hun Sen told the United Nations secretary general that Cases 003 and 004 "will not be allowed".

Prosecutors have said they will not pursue cases beyond these two.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said yesterday that the government's stance on the investigations was unchanged, repeating a warning about them to the United Nations-backed court's international staff.

"If they want to go into Case 003 or 004, they should just pack their bags and return home," he said.

Cayley responded that he was only doing his legal duty, which he called "not just a matter of law, but also a matter of conscience".

"The day that the government or that the Minister of Information dictates that we are not to follow the internal rules and the laws of the court is obviously a day when the government needs to very seriously consider whether or not it wants to go on supporting the court," he said.

International prosecutor William Smith made submissions for Cases 003 and 004 to the investigating judges in 2009, despite opposition from Cambodian co-prosecutor Chea Leang, who has argued that the five suspects in these cases do not fall within the tribunal's mandate to investigate "senior leaders" and those "most responsible" for crimes during the Khmer Rouge era. Chea Leang said yesterday that her position on the matter remained unchanged.

Over the course of the Case 003 probe, the judges provided no public updates on their investigation to guide victim complaints and civil party applications. Their silence stood in marked contrast to the frequent updates offered during investigations in the court's first and second cases for the hundreds of KR victims who became civil parties.

Cayley thus took it upon himself yesterday to offer details of the Case 003 investigation. In addition to several crime sites that also appear in Case 002, the following new sites, he said, feature in the third case: the S-22 security centre in Phnom Penh; Wat Eng Tea Nhien security centre in Kampong Som province; Stung Hav rock quarry in Kampong Som province; the capture of foreign nationals off the coast of Cambodia and their incarceration at S-21 prison; and security centres in Ratanakkiri province.

With time running out for victims to apply as civil parties in Case 003 – the deadline is May 18 – Cayley said he would request that the investigating judges extend the application period for an additional six weeks.

"I think that the experience of the first and second case has demonstrated how important the civil parties are, both in terms of their fundamental right to participate and also the fact that a number of them turned out to be extremely effective witnesses in the trial," he said.

Whether or not the Cambodian government ultimately succeeds in blocking Cases 003 and 004, Clair Duffy, a trial monitor with the Open Society Justice Initiative, said the court would tarnish its legacy if it declines to pursue these investigations properly.

"There's no question that this is a crucial moment in the court's history," she said. "This is a moment when the court can actually set this situation right and avoid a lot of damage being done to its overall reputation and credibility."

Cayley himself also acknowledged these broader concerns.

"I think that the court has to ensure that due process takes place, and I think that if it doesn't do that, we're going to end up in a very difficult situation for the institution generally," he said.

The export ban will last until the border situation really returns to normal, according to the 2nd Army order obtained and published by the local media today.

The order is intended for the customs office at the Chong Chom immigration checkpoint in Surin's Kap Choeng district.

It said the office must request cooperation from traders of oil, natural gas and other products needed by Cambodian troops.

This morning, the number of Cambodian people crossing the border to buy food products at the fresh market near the Chong Chom checkpoint remained lower than normal. The market was only recently re-opened after being closed because of the fighting on the Cambodian border in Surin and Buri Ram.

A number of Thai tourists crossed the frontier into Cambodia today, most were seen headed to a casino not far away.

Although most shops at another market near the checkpoint have also reopened, the number of both Thai and Cambodian shoppers was not as high as it used to be.

On 10 May 2011, the Appeal Court held a hearing in opposition leader Sam Rainsy's case who was accused of falsifying Cambodia-Vietnam border map.

The document claimed that the planting of border stakes for a border post between Cambodia and Vietnam in Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province, led Cambodia to lose between 300 to 500-meter of land to the benefit of Vietnam.

The Appeal Court could not proceed as opposition leader Sam Rainsy did not officially ask Chuong Chou-ngy to defend him in this case.

Khun Meng Leang, the judge in this case, announced that the Appeal Court will allow 30 days for Sam Rainsy to seek a defense lawyer in this criminal case, starting from 10 May 2011. At the end of this delay period, the Appeal Court will ask the Cambodian bar to set a defense lawyer for Sam Rainsy.

On 23 September 2010, the Phnom Penh municipal court sentenced Sam Rainsy in absentia to 10-year of jail time and fined him of 65 million riels (or $16,250) after accusing him of falsifying maps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeygDjoJFTo&feature=share

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz06g2QW6zg

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is still hopeful that Thailand and Cambodia, which clashed over a border issue, will be able to reach an amicable agreement soon.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Richard Riot Jaem said Malaysia also hoped that Thailand would adhere to the ceasefire agreement it signed in February this year.

Despite calls by leaders attending the Asean Summit in Jakarta over the weekend to resolve the crisis, both Thai and Cambodian leaders have refused a truce.

Following the refusal, Thai and Cambodian Foreign Ministers agreed to extend their stay in Jakarta for more talks mediated by Indonesia yesterday.

Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a Symposium on the Dynamics of Youth and Terrorism, here yesterday, Riot said he was taken aback by the fact that the agreement, signed in February, in which he was the signatory representing the Malaysian government, was not upheld.

"During the meeting in Jakarta in February this year, all 10 countries, including Thailand and Cambodia, had agreed to the agreement.

"But sadly, it was not adhered to by the concerned countries. Cambodia accepted it, but Thailand did not," he noted.

The agreement was violated in April, causing deadly clashes near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, killing 18 people and displacing thousands from the area.

Thailand and Cambodia continue to accuse each other for starting the clashes.

"If Thailand would accept and adhere to the agreement, I think the clash will not arise," Riot added.

Meanwhile, Riot said Malaysians should not take the security of the country for granted and should be prepared for counter-terrorism measures, although Malaysia is not a "high-risk country".

Earlier in his speech, the foreign deputy minister noted that the youth had become an easy target for terrorists for recruitment because they were easier to manipulate and indoctrinate.

He added that the youth also provided an endless supply for terrorists to carry out their deeds.

"A young person with no prior police records allows a terrorist group more operational freedom since such involvement reduces the likelihood of arrest of the more senior terrorist leaders.

"Young people are also, at times, given more dangerous tasks on the assumption that if they are caught, they will receive lighter sentences due to their age," he added.

The four-day symposium, which started yesterday and is being attended by 42 participants, is organised by the Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism, Japan-Asean Integration Fund and Asean.

Malaysia's Deputy Foreign Minister Richard Riot Jaem does not understand the Thai-Cambodian border situation, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Tuesday.

Mr Riot yesterday blamed Thailand for the clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops on the disputed border near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, and said Thailand  "did not adhere to the agreement ".

"The Malaysian deputy foreign minister may not understand the border situation because there was a tripartite meeting between Thai, Cambodian and Indonesian foreign ministers last night (May 9) and the issue was settled," Mr Abhisit said.

He said Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya will return to Thailand today and will report the result of the meeting to the cabinet next week.

"Thailand's stance remains the same. If Cambodia doesn't withdraw its troops from the disputed border area, no observers will be sent there," he added.

Thanks to the effectiveness and non-partisan outlook of the current chair, Indonesia, the 18th Asean Summit last weekend concluded on a high note. With the Thai-Cambodian conflict still simmering and overshadowing the summit, it took the calmness of the chair to steer the summit toward a successful conclusion.

If it hadn't been for Indonesia's cool-headed approach, the summit could have turned out differently. For the first time in the history of the regional grouping, an intra-Asean conflict featured prominently during the plenary sessions at the ministerial and summit levels, much to the chagrin of the more conservative members and delegates.

The aggressive approach and the lack of consistency by the Cambodian side also helped to strengthen Indonesia's facilitating role and the  "fullest utilisation " of the bilateral efforts. It remains to be seen how Indonesia will further engage both sides as the Asean leaders sent a clear signal to the two protagonists not to split Asean with this conflict and thus delay the realisation of an integrated Asean Community by 2015.

Apart from the hullabaloo surrounding the Hun Sen-Hor Nam Hong dramatics, Indonesia managed to push forward processes within the grouping to ensure that the prospect of achieving the Asean Community for 2015 and beyond will be a strong one.

The statement on "the Asean Community in a Global Community of Nations" is a good testimony to Indonesia's current leadership. The Asean leaders agreed that the regional grouping needs to move forward with a shared vision and coordinated action on global issues of common interest. Without these commonalities, Asean will remain weak and lack bargaining power in the globalised world. Toward these objectives, Asean has to do a lot more, as its members are still basically unwilling to think "collectively" for the good of the whole organisation and its 600 million people.

Indonesia has done an excellent job in encouraging the dialogue between the Asean leaders and the civil society organisations. However, Burma has not taken part in the interface. The chair has shown initiative and demonstrated that such dialogues are useful and can be carried out without any politicisation. Vietnam chose not to do so last year.

Somehow, this dialogue process must be institutionalised further. Otherwise there is no guarantee that there will be this type of positive gathering when Cambodia is chair, given past negative responses from Phnom Penh. Without the dialogue process, it is hard to convince the world that Asean is moving toward a people-oriented economic community.

As expected, the controversial issues relating to Burma's request to chair Asean in 2014, as well as the proposed membership of East Timor [Timor Leste], were further deferred. Asean will dispatch fact-finding teams to both countries to assess the situation on the ground and come back with a set of recommendations for the next summit. However, there is nothing given on both cases.

Several Asean members have strong views on the 2014 Asean chairmanship for Burma, as well as the grouping's enlargement. As a rules-based organisation, Asean is getting tough on its members about strictly adhering to rules and regulations.

Indonesia's chairmanship will remain pivotal for the reduction of Thai-Cambodian border tensions in the months to come. Further progress is crucial if so-called Asean solidarity is to become a reality. The whole world is watching.