| MESSAGE TO THE NATION FROM CAMBODIAN DELEGATION TO THE 35th SESSION OF THE WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE, UNESCO, PARIS Posted: 26 Jun 2011 11:00 PM PDT Unofficial translation
Following the highest decision of Samdech Techo HUN SEN dated 2 June 2011,
His Excellency Academician Dr. SOK AN headed a delegation of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee, from 19-29 June 2011, achieving a historic success at the headquarters of UNESCO in Paris. The Cambodia delegates to the session are the following:
1. Lok Chumteav. ANNIE Sok An, Vice President of Cambodia Red Cross,
2. H.E VAR Kimhong, Senior minister in charge of border affairs,
3. H.E LONG Visalo, Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International
Cooperation,
4. H.E CHUCH Phoeurn, President of the National Authority of Preah Vihear,
5. H.E CHAN Tani, Secretary of State, Office of the Council of Minisers,
6. Lok Chumteav, TAN Theany, Secretary General, National Commission for UNESCO,
7. H.E ROS Borath, President, the National Committee for World Heritage,
8. Professor. Azedine Beschaouch, Standing Secretary of the ICC- Angkor,
9. H.E Bretton Scaroni, Adviser to the Government,
10. Lok Chumteav. Helen Jarvis, Advisor to the Government
11. H.E Teruo Jinnai, Adviser to the Government,
12. H.E BUN Narith, Secretary General of the National Authority of APSARA,
13. H.E KEM Reath Viseth, Cabinet chief and adviser to H.E SOK An,
14. H.E SUOS Yara, Under Secretary of State, Office of the Council of Ministers,
15. H.E SUM Map, Under Secretary of State, Office of the Council of Ministers,
16. Lok Chumteav. CHAU Sun Kerya, Deputy-Secretary General, National Authority of
APSARA
17. H.E SAN Sorphorn, Secretary General, Cambodian National Committee for World
Heritage,
18. Mr. SUON Sovann, Deputy Secretary General, Cambodian National Committee for
World Heritage,
19. Mr. SOK Sangvar, Deputy Director of Department of Tourism Industry, Ministry of
Tourism.
The delegation is also assisted by the Permanent Delegation of the Kingdom of
Cambodia to UNESCO:
20- H.E NOUTH Narang, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate
21- H.E KET Sophann, Minister Plenipotentary, Deputy Permanent Delegate,
22- Mr. MEASKETH David, Counselor
The Session of the World Heritage Committee is held annually with the participation of 186 States Parties to the Convention 1972 concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, of which the Kingdom of Cambodia is a member and also Vice Chairperson of the Session in 2011. The role of the Committee is to examine, debate and adopt propositions for inscription on the world heritage list, and it is also mandated with examination of the state of conservation of inscribed properties. In this year's session, the Temple of PreahVihear was scheduled for discussion on the state of conservation, including restoration after severe damage by Thai aggression.
For the whole week from the start of the Session, the situation for the Cambodian delegation was tough due to repeated intoxication and lobbies with lies and falsifications by the Thai delegation. They repeated continuously that there was no damage to the Temple of Preah Vihear caused by artillery shells of Thai army, on the contrary the damage was caused by conflicts between Cambodians in the past. Thailand used psychological messages all of kinds, blatantly lying that the World Heritage Committee supported postponing and rejecting the Management Plan of Preah Vihear.
Thailand even announced its threat to withdraw from the Convention 1972. For the whole week, expressing arrogant behaviour, not only in private meetings but also around the UNESCO headquarters, and especially by bringing up to 28 people to the negotiating room, accompanied by seven undisciplined video journalists, Thailand tried furiously to pull Cambodia's Management Plan from the agenda. Further, Thailand argued that the listing of the Temple of Preah Vihear did not respect the Operational Guidelines of the Convention 1972 and repeatedly
argued that a trans-boundary inscription should have been done instead. This so-called transboundary inscription, which was definitively refuted by the World Heritage Committee, has been raised every year since the 2007 session of the Committee in Christchurch, New Zealand. Furthermore, Thailand continued to assert without any foundation that the Temple's Management Plan encroached on Thai sovereignty.
In order to overcome these harsh conditions, the Cambodian delegation carried out dynamic lobbying, explaining the truth to all delegations, particularly those from the 19 members of the Committee ( 21 members, excluding Cambodia and Thailand). In addition, the Cambodian delegation had to meet internally and to organize the production and distribution of many supporting documents. In fact, with mediation by the Director General's representatives, we carefully prepared a series of draft decisions in response to the Thai drafts. As a result, Thailand was totally defeated in all its attempts to delay discussion the topic in the agenda under the pretext that the Thai Prime Minister was on the phone waiting to speak the Director General of UNESCO, to hold up the adoption of the Management Plan. The Thai lies were immediately rebuffed by the Director of the World Heritage Centre, who said that there was no such a phone arrangement.
Though the Thai delegation walked out of the session, the Committee still continued its discussion as scheduled in the agenda, reaffirming the Decisions of the 31st , 32nd , 33rd and 34th sessions, held respectively in Christchurch, Quebec, Seville and Brasilia, which include acceptance of the Management Plan submitted by the State Party of Cambodia in 2010.
The World Heritage Committee recognizes the damage to the Temple by Thailand's artillery shells and, under the Operational Guidelines of the Convention 1972, the body also should result in an urgent dispatch of experts for reparation and restoration of the Temple of Preah Vihear. Incapable of gaining the support of the international community on the Management Plan to protect and safeguard the Temple, the Thai delegation showed their outrage, blaming the Committee as being unjust, and announced their withdrawal from the 1972 Convention. Such a pronouncement severely tarnishes the honor and prestige of Thailand in the international arena, particularly of course when Thailand is still a member of the World Heritage Committee.
It is worth recalling that Thailand in 1962 announced its withdrawal from the International Court of Justice after the latter decided to award the Temple to Cambodia, and now in 2011 this country is pulling out of the 1972 Convention right after Thai delegation run out of its playing cards and accepted repeated failures in the WHC sessions in Quebec, Seville, Brasilia
and this time again in Paris.
By making such an intemperate statement, and carrying out such an ill-mannered act as to walk away from the ongoing session really shows contempt for UNESCO, the World Heritage Committee and all the 186 States Parties of the Convention 1972. These actions by the thai delegation also reflects on the image of the current caretaker government in Bangkok and on the ruling party.
During the session of the Committee, the Cambodian delegation was able to educate the world community about the violence caused by Thai armed forces on the Temple, a world heritage of Cambodia and also of humanity. The victories of the Cambodian delegation, including 1- halting all Thai attempts to postpone the Management Plan of the Temple of Preah Vihear, 2- overcoming all Thai obstruction to send experts to the Temple, and 3- displaying all lies and manoeuvres of the Thai aggressors, has clearly increased confidence in the effective leadership of the Royal Government of Cambodia led by Samdech Prime Minister HUN SEN who raises the prestige of the Kingdom in the international arena.
Paris, 26 June 2011
Head of Cambodian Delegation
Dr. SOK AN |
| Four Top Khmer Rouge Leaders On Trials Posted: 26 Jun 2011 09:47 PM PDT Translated by Tol Sophan
PHNOM PENH, June 27- The hearings of the four defendants is started formally according to the deadline that is planned on 27, June 2011.
The trials take four days to prosecute that start from 27, June-30, June, and it is significant and historic trial that have been long awaited 32 years old by survivors of the regime after the collapse of Khmer Rouge Regime. Today the prosecution is starting that is observed by the local and international participants, and millions of Cambodians are following up by local and international news.
"The court opens the initial hearing of case 002,"the chief judge of Extraodinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia ( ECCC), Mr. Nil Nonn announced to the court.
The elderly defendants includes Noun Chea, 84, Brother Number Two, the head of state Khieu Samphan, 79, Foreign Minister Ieng Sary,86 and Social Action Minister Ieng Thirith, 79, wife of the third leader Ieng Sary.
The four top Khmer Rouge leaders were charged with genocide, crime against humanities and other atrocities during their ruling of the regime.
The victim among others that was participating in the initial hearing of case 002 is Mrs. Yeum Kimheang living in Tamang village, Koh RoKar commune, Kampong Siem district, Kampong Cham province. Mrs. Kimheang is a plaintiff, and she said that the trial is very important for her because she had 8 siblings, but all of them were killed, 5 people in Toul Sleng and other 3 in Phnom Bros Phnom Srey.
Moreover, she added that she would pay a great attention to the trial to see how those leaders act during the prosecution. However, she continued to add that what the most important she wants to see is justice. "Justice is the four top Khmer Rouge Leader was sentenced in the prison for the rest of their life", she added.
The Khmer Rouge regime started from 1975-79 and took above 2 million people lives. |
| Chinese airlines to launch Urumqi-Istanbul route in July Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:17 PM PDT URUMQI, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Hainan Airlines will soon open a non-stop route linking Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and Istanbul, Turkey, the airline said in a statement Thursday.
The new international route is expected to start service on July 11 with two round-trips every Tuesday and Sunday using Airbus A300-200, said China's fourth largest airline in terms of fleet size.
The flight departs at 9.30 p.m. local time from Urumqi and leaves from Istanbul at 1.30 a.m. the next day, said the company, adding that a single trip takes about seven hours.
The flight, the second intercontinental air service in Xinjiang, will promote the development of tourism, economy and culture between the two countries, said Turkish Ambassador to China Murat Salim Esenli.
Hainan Airlines began operating in 1993 in southern China's Hainan Province and now has nearly 500 domestic and international routes, covering more than 90 cities around the globe.
The company was named 2011 "Best Airline China" and "Staff Service Excellence China" in the annual Skytrax awards at the Paris Air Show Wednesday. |
| Shanghai Expo's China Pavilion to open again Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:17 PM PDT SHANGHAI, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Expo's China Pavilion will open to the public for three months again, the Expo Bureau announced on Thursday.
The pavilion's exhibition will reopen from July 12 to October 9, said a spokesman with the bureau.
The exhibition of the China Pavilion, also known as the "Crown of the East", was first extended from December 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011, after it was closed as the Shanghai Expo ended in October last year.
Like the first exhibition extension, tickets for the pavilion are still priced at 20 yuan (about 3.1 U.S. dollars) for adults and 15 yuan for students, disabled people, military servicemen and senior citizens. However, it will be open from Tuesday to Sunday, instead of seven days a week.
During the first extension of exhibition, the pavilion received more than 5.7 million visitors. During the six-month Expo, it received more than 10 million visitors at home and abroad. |
| Housing tax in Chongqing curbs sales, prices Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:15 PM PDT CHONGQING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- A housing tax in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has helped to curb sales and prices for high-end housing after the tax took effect in late January, a local housing official said Thursday.
The tax has driven many potential buyers away from high-end residential projects and prompted developers to set more reasonable prices, said Zhang Dingyu, chief of the Chongqing Bureau of Land Resources and Housing Management.
Visitor numbers for high-end housing projects dropped by 30 to 50 percent, while sales of high-end housing reached 256,600 square meters between Jan. 28 and Apr. 30, Zhang said.
Sales of high-end housing accounted for 7.8 percent of the city's total commercial housing sales over the three months, down 3.1 percentage points from a year earlier, he said.
Meanwhile, the average price of taxable housing decreased by 10.48 percent to reach 13,140 yuan (2,030 U.S. dollars) per square meter.
Some property developers have begun to reduce the supply of larger houses by building smaller ones, as customers have chosen to buy smaller properties to avoid taxes, the official said.
Authorities in Chongqing and Shanghai implemented a trial property tax on Jan. 28 to cool off red-hot housing markets. The tax followed other nationwide cooling measures, including a ban on mortgage loans for third homes and the creation of new housing price control targets.
High-end housing refers to villas and new apartments that are priced at least two times higher than the average price for other new homes. |
| Chinese premier leaves for European visit Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:15 PM PDT BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao left Beijing Friday morning to pay an official visit to Hungary, Britain and Germany from June 24 to 28, according to a news release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Wen is visiting at the invitation of Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Viktor, British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
During his stay in Britain, Wen will hold an annual meeting with Cameron, while in Germany he will co-chair the first China-Germany governmental consultation with Merkel. |
| China's yuan weakens against USD Friday Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:13 PM PDT BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese currency Renminbi, or the yuan,weakened 6 basis points to 6.4742 per U.S. dollar on Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading system.
In China's foreign exchange spot market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 0.5 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices before the opening of the market each business day. |
| ChiNext Index opens lower Friday Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:13 PM PDT BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- ChiNext Index opened at 812.31 points Friday, 2.13 points lower from the previous close on Thursday.
The index, officially launched on June 1, 2010, on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, has a base value of 1,000 points.
The ChiNext Index, together with the Shenzhen Component Index and the Shenzhen SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) Board Index, makes up the three core indices reflecting the performance of China's stocks listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. |
| China stock index futures open mixed Friday Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:06 PM PDT BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- China's stock index futures opened mixed on Friday with the contract for settlement in July, the most actively traded, opening 7.6 points higher at 2,962.
The August contract opened 4.4 points lower at 2,961.6.
The contract for settlement in September opened 5.2 points higher at 2,980.6 points.
The contract for settlement in December opened at 3,034 points, up 8.8 points from the previous close.
The stock-index contracts, agreements to buy or sell the Hushen 300 Index at a present value on an agreed date, are designed to allow investors to bet on and profit from both gains and declines in the market.
The index futures were launched at the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and started trading from April 16, 2010. The CFFEX has set the base value for all the four contracts at 3,399 points. |
| China stock index futures open mixed Friday Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:06 PM PDT BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- China's stock index futures opened mixed on Friday with the contract for settlement in July, the most actively traded, opening 7.6 points higher at 2,962.
The August contract opened 4.4 points lower at 2,961.6.
The contract for settlement in September opened 5.2 points higher at 2,980.6 points.
The contract for settlement in December opened at 3,034 points, up 8.8 points from the previous close.
The stock-index contracts, agreements to buy or sell the Hushen 300 Index at a present value on an agreed date, are designed to allow investors to bet on and profit from both gains and declines in the market.
The index futures were launched at the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and started trading from April 16, 2010. The CFFEX has set the base value for all the four contracts at 3,399 points. |
