| The Philippines wants to help settle Thailand-Cambodia row Posted: 07 May 2011 05:30 PM PDT May 08, 2011 By Aurea Calica The Philippine Star JAKARTA – The Philippines offered yesterday to help resolve the border row between Thailand and Cambodia during the meeting of member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) here.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said President Aquino conveyed this in the plenary session and during his bilateral meeting with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Aquino is also scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
"The President expressed the desire of the Philippines to be of help in any way we can. And he has urged that the conflict be brought to a peaceful resolution in the spirit of ASEAN brotherhood and solidarity," Del Rosario said.
The Thailand-Cambodia border dispute, which started in June 2008, involved the area surrounding the 11th-century Preah Vihear Temple located between the Choam Khsant district in the Preah Vihear province of northern Cambodia and the Kantharalak district in the Sisaket province of northeastern Thailand.
Both states also have a dispute over two other ancient temples called Tao Moan and Ta Krabey.
Both countries lay claim on the temples.
Meanwhile, the Philippines is backing Myanmar's chairmanship of the 2014 ASEAN summit.
"There was an agreement that Myanmar will be the chair of in 2014," Del Rosario said.
Myanmar is supposed to assume chairmanship of the regional bloc in 2015 but was reported to have negotiated with Laos to change turns.
The ASEAN inter-parliamentary caucus for Myanmar (AIPMC), however, called on ASEAN leaders to turn down Myanmar's proposition.
AIPMC believed that the Myanmar government is still authoritarian and is holding many public leaders of different political inclinations.
New York based Human Rights Watch said ASEAN member-states should reject Myanmar's request to assume chairmanship in 2014 until it takes genuine steps toward improvement of human rights and release of more than 2,000 political prisoners.
The Philippines also backed the entry of East Timor into ASEAN as long as it could meet the requirements set by the regional grouping.?East Timor or Timor Leste which is an observer at the summit had since 2010 expressed its interest in joining ASEAN. |
| Border row flares at summit Posted: 07 May 2011 05:26 PM PDT May 8, 2011 By Supalak Ganjanakhundee The Nation on Sunday Jakarta Abhisit: Cambodia seeking to internationalise dispute Thailand and Cambodia's border conflict heated up the Asean summit yesterday as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen raised the issue in the meeting and accused Thailand of military aggression and territorial invasion.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva used the same session to respond and clarify his government's stance. He appealed for Phnom Penh to participate in a bilateral meeting to settle the conflict.
However, both Hun Sen and Abhisit expressed a willingness to attend a tripartite meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discuss the matter.
Hun Sen kicked things off at the Jakarta summit by reading a six-page statement in the plenary session to express his feelings on the conflict with Thailand.
The border conflict between the two members has been an issue for Asean since a major military clash near Preah Vihear Temple in February. The United Nations Security Council urged Asean to help implement a permanent ceasefire at the border area.
Indonesia, the current chair of Asean, planned to dispatch observers to assess and monitor the situation but the plan to do this has not been implemented yet as Thailand has set a condition to first get Cambodian troops to withdraw from the area around the historic temple.
Hun Sen, in his prepared statement, said: "This condition is irrational and unacceptable. In fact, it is Thailand that must withdraw troops from the vicinity of the areas, according to the judgement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague dated 15 June, 1962."
He noted that the border war may not only affect regional peace and security but may also "create serious challenges for Asean in our pursuit towards the Asean Community in 2015."
"Asean's prestige and credibility will be at high risk if efforts to establish a permanent ceasefire do not materialise as planned."
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Hun Sen said he appreciated the role of Indonesia as the chair of the group in trying to facilitate a peaceful solution. But he noted: "We would like to have more and a quicker role by Asean, as Indonesia has been very active already and would like to speed up but we cannot achieve [this] as one party does not want it."
Prime Minister Abhisit responded with an eight-point clarification in the session, saying Thailand had no aggressive policy to invade Cam-bodian territory. It was Cambodia that ignited the military conflict to internationalise the issue, to pave the way for going back to the World Court to get an interpretation of the 1962 judgement, he told Asean leaders.
"In complying with the ICJ's ruling, Thailand withdrew troops and personnel from the Preah Vihear Temple area long ago and has lived peacefully with Cambodia for a long time," spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn quoted Abhisit saying in the Asean session. Thailand was among countries that provided assistance to build up the Cambodian state since the beginning, the PM said. Abhisit called on the Cambodian leader to exercise all bilateral mechanisms to try to resolve the problem.
Thai officials made attempts to set up a bilateral meeting between Abhisit and Hun Sen on the sidelines of the two-day Asean summit, which is due to end today. But so far, Hun Sen has said he has no plan to meet Abhisit.
Indonesia, as the Asean chair, floated an idea to have a tripartite meeting with the two conflicting members.
Hun Sen said he would respond to any initiative positively.
Abhisit said he was ready for talks with Hun Sen, either on a bilateral or trilateral basis. "Thailand is always willing to resolve this problem peacefully, but we need to make sure that no side wants to internationalise this and blow this out of proportion.
"Clearly, our doors are open as far as bilateral negotiations are concerned and Indonesia is being very helpful as facilitator. If Cambodia is willing to come to the table, there is no problem," Abhisit told reporters.
Most leaders said in the meeting they wanted to see the two members settle the problem within the Asean family, Panitan said, saying Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wanted the issue to be solved in the spirit of Asean.
Albert del Rosario, the Philippine Foreign Secretary, told reporters that "everyone wants to be helpful but everyone hopes that this thing can be resolved peacefully in the spirit of Asean." |
| Thai, Cambodian PMs to meet on border clashes Posted: 07 May 2011 05:20 PM PDT 05.07.11 By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Southeast Asian leaders sought to help Thailand and Cambodia end deadly clashes along their disputed border, saying peace and stability were the prerequisite to larger goals of regional economic integration and security.
The two sides agreed to hold talks Sunday - mediated by Indonesia's president - as part of efforts to hammer out a lasting cease-fire.
But with acrimony high, it was unclear just how much could be accomplished.
Other topics on the agenda of the two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, summit included Myanmar's bid to take over the rotating chair of the 10-member regional grouping, spiraling food and energy prices, and maritime security in the South China Sea.
The main tensions there are over the potentially oil-rich Spratly islands, claimed in whole or in part by China and four ASEAN members - Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam.
The smaller nations, together with the U.S., worry that China may use its military might to seize the area outright or assume de facto control with naval patrols.
That could threaten one of the world's busiest commercial sea lanes.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario raised the need for ASEAN to end a nine-year disagreement with China that has prevented the two sides from completing the guidelines of an accord aimed at preventing armed conflicts over the disputed islands.
The guidelines would allow all five of the countries to pursue joint development projects to ease tensions in the South China Sea region.
The summit that wraps up Sunday is supposed to focus on steps needed to create an integrated regional economic zone by 2015.
But Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in his opening statement that little can be accomplished without peace and stability between member countries.
To that end, he will host a meeting between the Cambodian and Thai prime ministers to try to end repeated outbreaks of fighting that have claimed nearly 20 lives in the last two weeks and sent 100,000 people fleeing from their homes.
The dispute - allegedly over control of ancient temples claimed by the two nations - has stirred nationalist sentiment on both sides.
But analysts say domestic politics is fanning the fire, especially in Thailand, where the military that staged a coup in 2006 could be posturing ahead of elections expected as early as next month.
Though agreement to accept mediation was a good sign - Thailand has previously said the matter must be resolved directly between it and Cambodia - tensions remain high.
The two sides came up with preconditions Friday for sending Indonesian observers to the border, but Cambodia quickly lambasted a request by Thailand to first remove troops from its own side of the frontier.
"Can you imagine that Cambodia withdraw from their own territory? It's nonsense!" Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters at the summit Saturday.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva insisted, however, that his country had no ill intention toward their eastern neighbor.
"We have a number of bilateral mechanisms that are functioning," Vejjajiva said, referring to Cambodia's attempt to seek a settlement through the International Court of Justice.
"This is something that we should talk about ... and prove to the world that as members of ASEAN, this can be resolved."
Myanmar's president, Thein Sein, who heads the military-backed party that overwhelmingly won general elections late last year, was expected to ask for the right, meanwhile, to chair ASEAN in 2014.
Some countries say Myanmar is ready, but others argue that, despite the recent release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the government has not yet done enough to improve human rights.
Myanmar still has more than 2,000 political prisoners.
The regional grouping is supposed to rotate its chair every year between member countries - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
However, Myanmar was forced to skip its turn in 2005 after coming under heavy pressure from the international community over slow progress on national reconciliation and human rights.
Associated Press writers Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report. |
| Indonesia to broker border talks Posted: 07 May 2011 05:16 PM PDT PRESIDENT YUDHOYONO WILL MEET ABHISIT, HUN SEN AT ASEAN SUMMIT 8/05/2011 Achara Ashayagachat & Agencies Bangkok Post JAKARTA : Indonesia's president will talk to the prime ministers of Cambodia and Thailand today in a bid to find a solution to their border dispute.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has offered to meet Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen on the sidelines of the Asean summit.
He will meet them separately, as the two are not yet willing to meet face to face to discuss the dispute.
However, officials hope Mr Yudhoyono can broker a solution or perhaps bring them together for a meeting before the summit ends later today.
Acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the meetings will take place an hour before the Asean summit session begins at 9am.
Mr Abhisit said before leaving for Jakarta that he had no intention of holding talks with Hun Sen as the previous talks failed to bring about a permanent truce.
Cambodia had tried to internationalise the issue, while Thailand insisted on bilateral talks, he said.
The prospects for talks look poor, after Mr Abhisit and Hun Sen were locked in a war of words on the first day of the Asean summit yesterday.
Hun Sen accused Thailand of invading Cambodia's territory.
"Thailand as a big country continues to have the ambition of prolonging the armed conflict to violate weaker neighbouring Asean members," Hun Sen told assembled leaders, according to a transcript provided to reporters.
"The invasion by Thai troops into Cambodia's territory resulted in a series of clashes and eventually a large-scale war from Feb 4-7, 2011."
In a six-page statement read out at the morning session of the summit, Hun Sen said a series of military clashes along the border posed "serious challenges for Asean in its pursuit of the Asean Community by 2015".
Since July 15, 2008, Thailand had waged a "war of aggression" against Cambodia by sending troops to launch attacks along the border, he said.
"Thailand does not have the goodwill to accept Indonesian observers and does not have the willingness to settle this dispute in accordance with international law and by peaceful means," Hun Sen said.
Asean diplomatic sources described Hun Sen's speech as dramatic and surprising, given that it was off the agenda.
Mr Abhisit did not have a chance to respond immediately as he was busy in talks with Philippine President Benigno Aquino.
Mr Abhisit returned to the meeting shortly afterwards and told Asean leaders that Thailand has never wanted to cause problems with its neighbours.
The prosperity and stability of its neighbours benefited Thailand, Mr Abhisit said.
Bilateral efforts to defuse the conflict were still working, Mr Abhisit said, citing the Joint Boundary Commission meeting that took place last month in Bogor, Indonesia.
"Thailand has been trying to work things out, but Cambodia seems to want to internationalise a bilateral dispute," Mr Abhisit said.
Asean leaders also shared their concerns and hoped the problem would not escalate, sources added.
The Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers met on Friday night, but did not discuss the issue of withdrawing troops from Preah Vihear temple.
Thailand has approved the terms of reference for the deployment of a team of Indonesian observers on the condition that Cambodia withdraws its troops from Preah Vihear and the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda. |
| Thailand ready for border talks Posted: 07 May 2011 05:10 PM PDT Sunday May 8, 2011 Sky News As Asian leaders gather for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia, Thailand says it is ready to hold talks with Cambodia over on-going border disputes.
The two countries are locked in a long-running dispute over a 900-year-old temple which lies on the border.
Thailand claims Cambodia is refusing to negotiate.
Meanwhile, Indonesia has warned fellow Southeast Asian states that rising food and energy prices could drive more people into poverty and urged coordinated action to fight inflation.
Indonesian President Susilo BamBang Tudhoyono has told the the annual ASEAN summit that the regional bloc must take steps to ease the surge in consumer prices.
At ASEAN, Asian Leaders will discuss regional security, the economic community and the possibility of Myanmar hosting the conference.
ASEAN members are Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. |
| Videos of OBL in Pakistan released by U.S. military Posted: 07 May 2011 12:24 PM PDT |
| Open Letter to Or-Nor-No by Mr. Nelson Tav, HRP's advisor Posted: 07 May 2011 12:09 PM PDT |
| Speak Truth to Power (Courage without Borders) Series in KI-Media - Kailash Satyarthi (India) "Child Labor" Posted: 07 May 2011 08:38 AM PDT |
| Thai, Cambodian PMs to meet on border clashes Posted: 07 May 2011 08:15 AM PDT  | | Indonesian military personnel man the entrance to the venue of the 18th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit meetings in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, May 7, 2011. Photo: Irwin Fedriansyah / AP | Saturday, May 7, 2011 NINIEK KARMINI, Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia agreed to meet with Indonesia's president at a summit of Southeast Asian leaders to try to find a way to end repeated deadly clashes along their disputed border, officials said.
The border issue dominated the mood at the annual meeting that also had Myanmar's bid to become chair of the regional grouping high on the agenda.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the two-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, which is supposed to focus on steps needed to create an integrated regional economic zone by 2015.
But little can be accomplished, he said, without peace and stability between the 10 member countries.
To that end, Yudhoyono will host a meeting between the Cambodian and Thai prime ministers Sunday to try to hammer out a lasting cease-fire to end repeated outbreaks of fighting that have killed more than a dozen people over two weeks and forced nearly 100,000 villagers to flee.
Though agreement by both sides to accept mediation was a good sign — Thailand has previously said the matter must be resolved directly between it and Cambodia — it's unclear how much can be accomplished given the acrimony.
The two sides came up with preconditions Friday for sending Indonesian observers to the border, but Cambodia quickly lambasted a request by Thailand to first remove troops from its own side of the frontier.
"Can you imagine that Cambodia withdraw from their own territory? It's nonsense!" Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters at the summit Saturday.
Other security concerns on the table were terrorism following the death of Osama bin Laden and tensions over the potentially oil-rich Spratly islands claimed by China and four ASEAN nations — a dispute that worries the U.S. as well.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters that during the ministerial meeting, he raised the need for ASEAN to end a nine-year disagreement with China that has prevented both sides from completing the guidelines of a 2002 accord aimed at preventing armed conflicts over the Spratlys.
The guidelines would allow China and other claimant countries — Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — to pursue joint development projects to ease tensions in the South China Sea region.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's president, Thein Sein, who heads the military-backed party that overwhelmingly won general elections late last year, was expected to ask for the right to chair ASEAN in 2014.
Some countries say Myanmar is ready, but others argue that, despite the recent release of pro-democracy leader Ang Sang Suu Kyi, the government has not yet done enough to improve human rights.
Myanmar still has more than 2,000 political prisoners.
The regional grouping is supposed to rotate its chair every year between member countries — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
However, Myanmar was forced to skip its turn in 2005 after coming under heavy pressure from the international community over slow progress on national reconciliation and human rights. ___ Associated Press writers Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report. |
| ANALYSIS: Hun Xen´s political ploy and Sourn Sereyratha a secret agent of Hun Xen? Posted: 07 May 2011 07:53 AM PDT By Pang SokheounIf we remember on 27 April 2011, MP Sam Rainsy released a letter demanding Mr. Hun Xen to step down for his incompetence handling the ongoing border conflicts with Thailand. And then recently, this week on 4 May 2011 we see a person named Sourn Sereyratha who claims he is a president of People Power Movement appeared on ASTV of Yellow-Shirt of Thailand, the extremist group who provoke war and hate Khmers to their bone, appealing to Khmer people to topple Hoon Xen by asking help from Thailand and use Thailand as its base for this movement. More, one of the remarkable points that he made in his speech then is that he accused Cambodia under Hun Xen as warmonger, meaning Thailand is a victim and just act in self-defense from Cambodian invasion as it always claims.My question is why did Sourn Sereyratha use Yellow-shirt forum? And why is it this time? Trying to figure out the issue, I may conclude it as the followings according to my understanding.
It is Hun Xen's political ploy to destroy the Opposition (Sam Rainsy Party):
- Sourn Sereyratha is known as an OPPORTUNIST when he was in Cambodia. He joint Students' Movement for Democracy in 1998 and then was dismissed from the group for his misbehavior and dishonesty, esp., corruption. He never criticized Cambodian government when he was in Cambodia. But he starts this drum only when he got the political asylum in USA taking the chance Cambodian government cracking down on its critics (border activists) on the signing of the 2005 illegal supplemental treaty with Vietnam by claiming that he had the connection with those border activists. Suspiciously, there must be something behind.
- Sourn Sereyratha was offered a position by Hun Xen's cabinet . Whether it is true or not, it proves to be somehow correct with one of the cases. If we know this man since he resides in USA is known for his sharp-tongue in criticizing Hun Xen, Khmer kings and all the leaders of Cambodia with no exception even the opposition leaders, but he was safe when he visited Cambodia at the end of 2010 and got engaged to a girl in Phnom Penh. Surprisingly, three Cambodians were arrested when they came back from Thailand to listen to his speech in Bangkok.
- In Cambodia, when people hear the word " Opposition" (neak prochhaing), they think it is Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). Hun Xen knows clearly that Cambodian people don't like the Thai Yellow-Shirt or PAD, the alliance of Thai Democrats. Hun Sen also used to say publicly that SRP is close to the Democrats of Abhisit and he paints SRP as bad as PAD of Thailand. So it is not surprising at all that Hun Xen may use Sourn Sereyratha to join hand with PAD to discredit and demoralize the SRP or neak prochhaing since it is thought to be the right time to strike. Hun Xen realizes that Sourn Sereyratha is not an important figure in Cambodian politics and his words cannot undermine his government´s international diplomacy regarding to the Thai-Cambodian conflicts but can help feign domestically the Cambodian public for his political gains . Now it is clear that many pro-Hun Xen newspapers run their story about this by combining Sourn Sereyrath's demnad to topple Hun Xen government and Sam Rainsy's appeal to Hun Xen's step down. And the effective weapon is that those news just say pouk prochhaingor krom prochhaing without distinguishing who is who which can easily confuse the general public which leads to misunderstandings making them to think that SRP are not patriotic but traitorous and stop the support.
In fact, the use of Sourn Sereyratha has three political benefits to Hun Xen:
- He acts as a divider, esp., oversea Cambodians who are strong supporters of SRP, and feign the public in order to weaken the Opposition.
- He can dig out many opponents against Hun Xen from all sources, infiltrate himself with other Khmer nationalists and send their names to Hun Xen for execution.
- He can paint a very bad image of all the oppositions. He now lifts up his status too high asking for equal status negotiation with Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha in order to unite all the democrats. But what is this guy when he was in Cambodia? This makes some people think that Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha are not sincere in politics for not having the political will to unite with him.
People should know that Sourn Sereyratha is the opposition against the Opposition. And in his speech he speaks against Cambodian government, too, but in the hidden agenda as I mentioned above no one clearly knows about this.
|
| Thailand, Cambodia Agree to Indonesian Observers at Border Posted: 07 May 2011 06:57 AM PDT Brian Padden, VOA Jakarta Saturday, 07 May 2011 "I can report to all of you that the two sides have agreed to the terms of reference for the observer team, the Indonesian observer team that we have been discussing for several weeks now."
Ahead of a regional summit, Indonesia's foreign minister has said Thailand and Cambodia agreed to allow Indonesian monitors to go to the border between the two countries to help prevent further military clashes.
In his role as the chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Friday said there has been a breakthrough in ASEAN's efforts to mediate an end to the Thai-Cambodia border conflict.
"I can report to all of you that the two sides have agreed to the terms of reference for the observer team, the Indonesian observer team that we have been discussing for several weeks now," said Natalegawa. "That is a done thing in the sense that the negotiations have been concluded. Cambodia has formally acceded or formally agreed to the terms of reference. Thailand has also agreed to it but they are yet to fully conclude the formal exchange of documents."
The terms of reference include how many Indonesian observers will be dispatched and the specific areas along the border where they will operate.
Since February, more than 20 people have died in repeated clashes between the two ASEAN members along their disputed border. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes on both sides of the border.
The heart of the disagreement is a 900-year-old Hindu Khmer temple known as Preah Vihear in Cambodia and Prah Viharn in Thailand. The temple sits in Cambodia, but Thailand claims adjacent land that includes a key access route to the complex. The countries have fought sporadically over the border since 2008.
Natalegawa met with foreign ministers of the other ASEAN nations Friday. On Saturday, ASEAN national leaders begin a two-day summit in Jakarta.
The Indonesian foreign minister says talks Friday included the question of Burma's request to take over the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014. Human Rights Watch objects to the idea of Burma (also called Myanmar) leading the association, given it says, the country's long record of human rights abuses and its lack of democratic development.
While the ASEAN heads of states will decide if Burma's bid is accepted, Natalegawa said some concerns were expressed at the ministerial level.
"The state of readiness of Myanmar to chair ASEAN in 2014, which is quite a critical year for ASEAN, on the eve of its community in 2015, the state of readiness extends beyond practical arrangements readiness but also other dimensions that we need to ascertain ourselves," added Natalegawa.
Burma passed up its chance to take the rotating chairmanship in 2005, after the United States and European Union threatened to boycott ASEAN events if Burma's government was at the helm.
Natalegawa says the foreign ministers also addressed the issue of the South China Sea where China and some ASEAN countries have competing claims to small islands and areas believed to be rich in oil. He says ASEAN and China are continuing to work together to develop a declaration of conduct to help resolve disputes. |
| Thailand says it has no “ill intentions” towards Cambodia Posted: 07 May 2011 06:54 AM PDT Sat, 05/07/2011 The Jakarta Post Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Saturday in Jakarta that his country "has no ill intentions towards Cambodia."
"We want to resolve this peacefully. We have a number of bilateral mechanisms that are functioning. We have continued to function while these clashes took place and there is no sense in trying to internationalize or escalate the conflict," he said on Saturday at the first day of the 18th ASEAN summit.
Abhisit said that the settlement could "prove to the world that as members of the ASEAN family, that this can be resolved."
Deputy government spokesperson for Thailand Suphachai Jaismut said that Thailand would likely meet Indonesia on Sunday.
"Maybe Thailand will ask Indonesia to explain about the TOR [Terms of Reference]. Until now we, have not agreed with it," he said.
Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa previously said that both Cambodia and Thailand had agreed on the TOR.
"We have to explain why; to inform Indonesia about the issues. For example, in that area there are military from Cambodia...that's the conflict area. So, if Indonesia sends their officers to observe there, that means that there are some areas that the military has had to move out of, but we are not even sure that Cambodia agrees with this issue,"
Suphachai said that Thailand was "ready to resume the JBC [Joint Boundary Commission]. "[we are] waiting for Cambodia to accept the invitations."
A statement from Abhisit revealed to the Post by Suphachai shown that Thailand favors bilateral methods for resolution of these issues.
Thailand and Cambodia have engaged in clashes in their border area, with the last skirmishes occurring last month. The ongoing dispute has resulted in dozens of casualties. |
| Abhisit responds to Hun Sen Posted: 07 May 2011 06:49 AM PDT Saturday, May 07, 2011 The Nation The following is the full text of intervention by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva responding to the Thailand-Cambodia issue during the plenary session on 7 May 2011 in Jakarta. "Allow me to respond to the statement made by Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Thailand recognizes full well that any conflict between ASEAN Member States can undermine ASEAN's community-building efforts.
I can therefore categorically state that Thailand has no intention whatsover to engage in any conflict with neighbours and countries in the region.
The border disputes between Thailand and Cambodia, like many other disputes, are long-standing. In this case, the borders have been delimited by various Treaties such as the Siamese-French Convention of 1904 and the Siamese-French Treaty of 1907. There have also been subsequent developments which have raised disagreements.
As mentioned by Prime Minister Hun Sen, there were maps that were referred to and there was a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1962. The ICJ, however, made it clear that the mentioned map was not the work of the Siamese-French Mixed Commission of Delimitation. The ICJ delivered a judgment in 1962 and although Thailand did not agree with it, we complied with the judgment since 1962. Military and police personnel were withdrawn from the Temple and its vicinity since 1962. This was undertaken in a transparent manner, recognized by the international community and Cambodia. And there have been no problems for decades.
Both sides agreed on the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding between Thailand and Cambodia on the Survey and Demarcation of Land Boundary (2000 MOU) which again was done in good faith. The 2000 MOU stated that no actions should be undertaken to affect the demarcation work, and this included movement of troops and people into disputed areas. The problem emerged when Cambodia violated the 2000 MOU by sending troops and people into the area.
I therefore wish to set the record straight:
Thailand has no intention whatsoever to have conflicts.
I am therefore disappointed that Prime Minister Hun Sen has stated otherwise regarding Thailand's intentions.
Thailand has contributed to Cambodia's nation-building process with utmost sincerity and with the wish to see it advance and achieve reconciliation. Even today, we continue to provide development cooperation assistance to Cambodia because we believe that Cambodia's prosperity is linked with our prosperity. Even in times of dispute, we have continued to provide assistance, trade and cooperate economically.
Thailand has de-coupled the border dispute from other issues.
But we cannot help but notice that there is a clear attempt by Cambodia to internationalize the issue.
It is simply not true that the bilateral process is not working.
I am frustrated too, as may be Prime Minister Hun Sen, of the internal legal requirements but the fact is that the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) continues to function. Legal issues have been resolved. Thailand's Consitutional Court has ruled on the Agreed Minutes of previous meetings of the JBC that they need not go to the Thai Parliament.
So we are ready to resume the JBC.
Before the clashes in February this year, my Foreign Minister was in Cambodia. Immediately after the first shot was fired, Cambodia went to the United Nations Security Council. However, bilateral mechanisms are still working. In April 2011, the JBC met in Bogor. I hope my ASEAN colleagues recognize that the doors for bilateral meetings remain open. Invitations have been issued to Cambodia regarding meetings of the JBC, the Regional Border Committee (RBC) and the General Border Committee (GBC). We are waiting for Cambodia to accept the invitations.
I accept that the issue could affect the credibility of ASEAN. We must therefore make sure that any problem should be solved, locally, bilaterally and if needed with the facilitation of the region.
Regarding the Terms of Reference (TOR) on the Indonesian Observers Team (IOT), the Thai Cabinet has approved the text of TOR. But we have concerns. If observers are to be sent, there must be good faith shown by Cambodia to respect the 2000 MOU. This involves the withdrawal of troops and other people from these areas since the 2000 MOU states that there would be no movement of troops and people into these areas.
Furthermore, the presence of troops at the Temple is a violation of the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Properties in the Event of Armed Conflict and the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage as well as the guidelines of the World Heritage Committee. It is therefore a good idea for the GBC to discuss this before the IOT is sent.
On the recent border clashes in April - these took place more than 100 kilometers away from the Phra Viharn Temple. Therefore, the area where the IOT is to be sent to is nowhere near the latest clashes. Subsequently and immediately, Cambodia sent a letter to the ICJ.
I apologize for taking time to explain this issue. This matter can be resolved bilaterally. We welcome ASEAN's facilitating role and appreciate Indonesia's facilitation in this regard. There are some technical issues to be addressed. If there is good faith, then our house can be set in order.
I welcome the offer of our host to hold a meeting with Cambodia and Thailand - I have no problems discussing this issue with Prime Minister Hun Sen. This will allow for a good understanding of what really happened in the past few months." |
| Cambodia PM blasts Thailand at ASEAN summit Posted: 07 May 2011 06:37 AM PDT 5/7/2011 Agence France-Presse A summit of Southeast Asian leaders focusing on economic integration took a dramatic turn Saturday when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen blasted his Thai counterpart over a bloody border dispute.
Hun Sen took the floor of the closed-door opening session of the two-day summit in Jakarta and accused Thailand of attacking its neighbour in a contested border area near an 11th-century Khmer temple, attendees said.
One foreign minister described the fiery Cambodian leader as "quite aggressive" and observers said the assembled Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders were surprised at the outburst.
"It became a little dramatic, but I think that's just the way that Prime Minister Hun Sen delivers speeches," Philippine presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang said.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters after the encounter: "We had a frank discussion this morning."
"We need to resolve the problem because we don't want this to be a problem that would affect ASEAN's agenda on community building," he added.
The border spat was not on the formal agenda of the two-day summit but it is overshadowing discussions on ASEAN's long-term efforts to create a closely integrated regional economic zone by 2015.
Other issues on the table include food and energy security, territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the scourge of human trafficking and East Timor's membership bid.
But even before the presidents and prime ministers of the disparate 10-nation bloc sat down in Jakarta's cavernous convention centre, their discussions had been framed by negative news from troubled member states.
Myanmar stole the headlines on Friday when ASEAN officials announced that the military-led country -- which is under Western sanctions for serial human rights abuses -- had asked to chair the group in 2014.
US-based Human Rights Watch said ASEAN, already struggling for credibility, would become the "laughing stock of intergovernmental forums" if it granted the request.
ASEAN leaders are meanwhile facing mounting pressure to help end the Thai-Cambodian conflict, which has claimed 18 lives and temporarily displaced 85,000 people in weeks of clashes.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke of the dangers of rising food and energy prices, climate change and unrest in the Middle East during his opening remarks.
But without mentioning the Thai-Cambodian row, he also reminded his fellow leaders that ASEAN could no longer use the bloc's long-held principle of non-interference to shirk the need to resolve conflicts between member states.
"We realise that to ensure a peaceful and stable East Asia region, we must ensure stability and security in our region," the ex-general said.
"If conflict occurs, ASEAN must be capable of facilitating a forum for diplomacy and open dialogue with the intent of attaining common peace."
ASEAN's halting efforts to negotiate an end to the clashes are being closely watched as a litmus test of its soaring ambition to create an integrated regional community in just four years' time.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa met his counterparts from Thailand and Cambodia in Jakarta on Friday and said they had agreed to accept Indonesian military observers at the disputed frontier.
But he said the modest observer mission, which would have no power to police a ceasefire, had yet to be dispatched because of stubborn differences over troop locations.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters that Phnom Penh would never agree to Bangkok's demands to pull troops out of the Preah Vihear temple.
"Prime Minister Hun Sen appealed to ASEAN to help solve the problem peacefully," he said.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said there was little enthusiasm among ASEAN leaders for the conflict to be internationalised with direct UN involvement, as Cambodia has sought.
"I think what all the other ASEAN leaders have been saying this morning is that we should keep the conflict within the ASEAN family," he said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have publicly backed ASEAN's mediation role.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. |
| Cambodia and Thailand discuss their border dispute in Jakarta Posted: 07 May 2011 01:44 AM PDT Sat, 7 May 2011 Radio Australia News Asian leaders have arrived in Jakarta for the annual summit meeting of the Association of South East Nations.
A top agenda item is how to resolve the fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops over the 12th century Preah Vihear temple.
Indonesia mediated a meeting between foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand late Friday in efforts to seek solution over their dispute.
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa is positive about the informal talks saying that resolving the dispute is not an impossible task.
He says the parties need to proceed step by step and he is trying to create a fresh momentum to get things moving.
Both agreed to accept Indonesian observers, in February, but Jakarta has yet to dispatch them because the terms of reference haven't been decided or accepted by all parties.
The latest 13 days of fighting from April the 22nd through to May the Third killed at least 17 soldiers wounded 100 and displaced 70,000 civilians on both sides. |
| ‘Deal done’ on dispute, but doubts linger Posted: 07 May 2011 01:25 AM PDT  | | Middleman: Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa is flanked by his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong (right) and Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya at the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Jakarta on Friday. Marty said Namhong and Kasit requested a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discuss the Cambodian-Thai border dispute.JP/Ricky Yudistira | Sat, 05/07/2011 Adianto P. Simamora and Dina Indrasafitri The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Thailand and Cambodia have finally agreed to accept observer teams from Jakarta to monitor a cease-fire in their long-standing disputed border area.
The deal was made a day before heads of state from ASEAN countries are to convene at a high-profile summit in Jakarta on Saturday to kick-start ambitious plans to integrate the grouping's 10 countries into an ASEAN community by 2015.
"It is a done deal," Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said after meeting Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya on Friday.
He was referring to the terms of reference on the Indonesian observer team proposed by Jakarta after Thai and Cambodian forces exchanged fire near the Preah Vihear Temple area since February, two months after Indonesia took the helm of ASEAN.
"What remains now is the actual formalization of the agreement, which Cambodia has done. Thailand is in agreement, but we are waiting for a formal submission," he said.
Questions remain on whether such a deal between top leaders can hold as domestic politics, especially in Thailand, could jeopardize any deal that excludes the military.
The foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia met in Jakarta earlier this year, agreeing to a cease-fire, promising not to resort to military force and to solving their problems through negotiations.
However, several weeks later, military forces on both sides engaged in clashes that killed dozens of civilians on either side of the border.
"I am afraid that we have to wait for the results of the Thai election in July to really have a solution to the dispute," Rizal Sukma, the executive director of the Centre for International and Strategic Studies, said.
Prior to chairing the ASEAN ministerial meeting, Marty held talks with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and then Thai Foreign Minister Kasit. The two countries insisted on certain conditions despite agreeing on the presence of an Indonesian observer team.
Thailand wants the Cambodian government to first withdraw troops currently stationed in the Preah Vihear Temple area.
"Thailand has its own view about what is needed before an observer team is sent. Cambodia has its own view as well but as the country sending the observer, we believe we need to create conducive conditions," Marty said.
Under the terms of reference, Indonesia would send 30 observers, 15 assigned on each side of the disputed border. The draft of the terms of reference, which remain undisclosed to the public, outline the authority of the observer team and details of areas where the team would be stationed.
"They are not enforcing anything, just observing. It is important symbolically to have the team to provide confidence to the two sides," Marty said.
He said the absence of an observer team would result in continuing exchanges of fires between the two countries.
"The status quo is not an option. I think there is something wrong if we look to maintain the status quo," he said.
Marty admitted that political and diplomatic talks between the two countries were still needed since each country had its own conditions.
It remains unclear whether the Cambodian-Thai border issue is on the agenda of the high-level summit since Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vevajiva indicated he had no intentions of discussing the border clashes with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
During the meeting Friday, ministers also discussed a number of issues including the establishment of a regional peace and reconciliation institution aimed at preventing conflicts and promoting peace in the region as well as settling competing claims in the South China Sea. |
| Thai-Cambodian border tension clouds ASEAN summit Posted: 07 May 2011 12:53 AM PDT May 7, 2011 DPA Jakarta - South-East Asian leaders gathered Saturday for a summit on regional cooperation that has been overshadowed by an ongoing border spat between Thailand and Cambodia.
'If conflict occurs, ASEAN must be capable of facilitating a forum for diplomacy and open dialogue with the intent of attaining common peace,' said Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his opening speech at the 18th summit of the Association of South-East Nations (ASEAN) summit in Jakarta.
ASEAN members Thailand and Cambodia are embroiled in a border conflict over disputed territory near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, a World Heritage Site.
Fighting over two other temples on their border, Ta Muen and Ta Kwai, broke out last month, leaving eight dead on each side.
At the summit's morning session, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen claimed that last month's conflict was caused by an 'invasion' by Thai forces, sources said.
Thai Prime Minister Abhsiit Vejjajiva denied the accusation, saying Hun Sen had initiated the border fighting in his ongoing effort to 'internationalize' to issue.
Thailand maintains that the conflict must be settled bilaterally, while Cambodia last week petitioned the International Court of Justice to intervene.
In 1962, the court ruled that Preah Vihear was on Cambodian soil, but did not rule on where the common border lies, giving rise to the current dispute over a 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land adjacent to the temple.
Indonesia, this year's ASEAN chair, has tried to mediate a ceasefire by offering 30 observers to be stationed at hotspots along the Thai-Cambodian border.
Their deployment awaits an agreement between Bangkok and Phnom Penh over the withdrawal of all troops from Preah Vihear and disputed areas.
Cambodia refuses to give in to Thai demands to withdraw its soldiers from the Preah Vihear complex on the grounds that the temple is on its territory.
A resolution is not expected in Jakarta.
'If we are going for perfection in one blow, we may not go anywhere,' said Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who implied that the issue of troop withdrawal might require more talks.
Hun Sen and Abhisit have vowed not to hold bilateral talks on the summit's sidelines.
Other issues at the summit include human trafficking, migrant workers, territorial disputes in the South China Sea, counter-terrorism and Myanmar's controversial proposal to chair ASEAN in 2014.
Human rights activists said ASEAN would be 'a laughingstock' if it allowed military-ruled Myanmar, notorious for jailing dissidents and other human rights abuses, to chair the 10-nation bloc.
Natalegawa said he would visit Myanmar some time this year to assess the country's readiness. He said the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in November after years of house arrest and recent elections were 'important developments' but urged Myanmar to push for more reforms.
As part of efforts to strengthen the group's role in conflict resolution, Indonesia has proposed the establishment of an ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, Natalegawa said.
The second of the two annual ASEAN summits is scheduled for November in Bali. |
| Asian population surges in Austin [Texas] Posted: 07 May 2011 12:50 AM PDT  | | Lena Chhom, 28, at MT Supermarket in Austin, is originally from Cambodia. She moved to Austin from Minnesota three years ago looking for better job opportunities |
Growing numbers linked to jobs, community appeal Friday, May 6, 2011 By Juan Castillo AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF When Channy Soeur came to Austin from Cambodia, there were maybe two or three Chinese restaurants in the city. Tops. And if you wanted Vietnamese, you could forget delivery the closest restaurant was in Houston.
That was 1977. Today there are 75 Vietnamese restaurants in Austin, nearly 200 Chinese eateries, 92 sushi joints and 63 Thai restaurants, according to a tally by Urbanspoon.com.
Pho may not yet be on par with Tex-Mex tacos or smoked brisket, but Asian food is "so normal (now), which means we have come a long way in terms of acceptance," says Soeur, the CEO of an Austin-based engineering firm and head of the statewide Network of Asian American Organizations, also based here.
Asians have come a long way in sheer numbers, too. New census data show that although Asians represent just 6.3 percent of Austin's nearly 800,000 residents, the Asian population has surged by 60 percent since 2000, making it the fastest-growing group in the city by percentage, at triple the rate of Austin's overall growth . At 49,560 people in 2010, Austin's diverse Asian population ranked second in the state, behind only Houston.
Asian growth in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area was even more impressive, increasing 86 percent since 2000 to 82,040 people.
Among all major Texas cities, Austin has the largest Asian population share, said City of Austin demographer Ryan Robinson, who expects fast growth to continue — he predicts Asians will surpass African Americans by 2015 as the city's second-largest minority group after Hispanics. (Austin's African American population in 2010 was 60,760, a decrease of 3,499 since 2000.)
"Austin is very much on the map of up-and-coming Asian (destinations) in the U.S.," Robinson said. "Our Asian community is big enough where it becomes an attraction to other Asian households around the country."
Good reputation
Word of mouth is also selling Austin to Asians outside the U.S., said Esther Chung, an Asian neighborhood liaison for the Austin History Center. About 80 percent of metro Austin's Asians were born outside the U.S., Robinson said.
Jobs, notably in high tech; business opportunities; a relatively low cost of living; and the University of Texas are among factors driving the growth, Asian Americans say.
"I've known a lot of transplants from California who are moving here because the cost of living is lower," Chung said.
Like with other racial and ethnic groups, Asians here include a mix of professionals and the working class. The 2010 census didn't include income data, but the 2000 census found Asians had the second-highest median family income in the city, after non-Hispanic whites.
Austin counts Chinese, Koreans, Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Pakistanis and others among its Asians, with Indians and Vietnamese topping the list in 2000. The 2010 census did not ask about place of birth, but Robinson, the demographer, thinks Indian s and Vietnamese still are the largest Asian groups in Austin. People belonging to more than a dozen nationalities, races and ethnicities can self-identify as Asians on the census form.
"We have so many different cultures, languages and religions and political ideologies. We really need to pay attention to those differences instead of painting all Asians in the same corner," said Amy Wong Mok, founder and CEO of the Asian American Cultural Center in Austin.
Attractive to families
Jaya Shukla, 41, moved from San Francisco to Cedar Park in 2005 with her 46-year-old husband, Piyush .
Born in India, the couple have two children, ages 10 and 5. Moving from California was primarily Piyush's decision — he works for Dell and weighed Chicago and other cities before deciding on Austin.
But Austin has turned out to be a good fit for Shukla's haute couture clothing design business, Bridal Motif. She designs dresses for the surging South Asian market, but in Austin she found a growing demand among non-Asians, too. "You see every culture is being respected in Austin," Jaya said.
Opportunities to excel
In Austin, "there are less expectations on how you live, what you wear, how much you spend. It's what you want to do rather than what's expected of you," said Shivani Langer, who came from New Delhi in 2001 to get her master's degree at UT. Langer had been accepted to a number of U.S. schools, but chose UT for its relatively low tuition and because its architecture program was highly rated.
A 35-year-old architect intern, she met her future husband, Himanshu Save, at UT. He's an aerospace engineer and works at the university. Also from India, he came to Austin in 2000. They have a 5-year-old daughter and are expecting another.
"Austin is a good-size town where you can get quality time with family rather than spend a whole day traveling (to work) and working extra jobs to make ends meet," Langer said.
Economic optimism
Lena Chhom, a Cambodia-born 28-year-old, moved to Austin in 2008 from Minnesota, where she said the economy was in shambles.
"Companies were closing left and right. Austin was known as a tech town, and I figured it would be a great move for a job opportunity," Chhom said.
In Texas she landed a job as a marketing manager at a California-based tech company in Round Rock.
Chhom visited other Texas cities before deciding on Austin. "I think most people here are generally open-minded," she said. The climate is appealing for Asians who "are trying to make their mark here, trying to build a community and trying to introduce their culture," she said.
Friendly neighbors
On the first day of his IBM internship in Austin about five years ago, a confluence of events made a lasting impression on George Luc. First, while lunching at Guero's restaurant, he spotted film director Quentin Tarantino at the next table. "That was cool," Luc says. Walking out afterward, Luc was approached by a stranger who handed him something. His wallet. Luc had unknowingly dropped it.
"I felt there were a lot of kind people here. It was a great selling point," Luc recalls.
The sale was made in 2007 when the 28-year-old Chinese American moved here from Virginia. He is now a product manager for HomeAway Inc. and on the boards of two nonprofits.
Wider growth
The Austin area's Asian surge mirrors state and national trends. Nationally, the Asian population grew 43 percent since 2000, faster than any other major racial or ethnic group, according to the census. The Asian population grew by 71 percent in Texas.
What sets Austin apart from most cities, however, is the support system of professional, business and social organizations that's been carefully cultivated over many years, said Soeur, the president of the Asian organizations network. Groups like the Austin Asian American Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Society of Austin, the Cambodian Foundation and the umbrella Network of Asian American Organizations — which lists 15 member groups on its Web site — help ease transitions to life in Austin, particularly for the foreign-born.
"We who've lived here a long time have tried very hard to get the Asian community to assemble into the mainstream," Soeur said.
Together with churches and religious institutions, the organizations lead Asian newcomers to the places where they can pray, learn English, buy food and put their children in school.
Chhom, the Cambodian transplant from Minnesota, said the Asian social and professional groups bring together members of ethnic groups with histories of friction and war in their homelands.
"It's great to see all various types united together as a whole," Chhom said. "Sometimes to have a louder voice, you have to join hands."
Community's future
Asians here eagerly await the anticipated opening next year of the city's Asian American Resource Center, Soeur said, on a 15-acre site at Cameron Road and Clear Creek Drive in Northeast Austin.
Austin voters approved $5 million for the center in a 2006 bond election. Community leaders championed the center as a vehicle to stimulate commerce and to showcase the best of Asian culture, something all of Austin could enjoy. The project will include an assembly hall for community events, classrooms, conference and office spaces, and an Asian Information Center.
"Its impact will be huge. That center is going to be very busy," Soeur said.
The center grew out of efforts in the 1980s to remedy what some viewed as discrimination — the absence of Asians among the executive and managerial ranks of the City of Austin's workforce.
"We worked very hard so that the city could create a workforce that looked like the city itself. We made gains," Soeur said.
Asian s are making their mark in Austin, in board rooms and in adding to the city's vibrant diversity, Soeur said.
Now, he hopes to see Asians embark on a new, important chapter. "We have not done a lot of civic duty. Now we have to get out and start to get involved in the local community," Soeur said.
jcastillo@statesman.com; 445-3635 |
| [PAD Thai] Yellow-shirts set to end rally Posted: 07 May 2011 12:37 AM PDT 7/05/2011 Bangkok Post The People's Alliance for Democracy will put to an end to its anti-Cambodia protest at Makkhawan Rangsan Bridge near Government House after the end of the meeting of the World Heritage Committee, PAD co-leader Chamlong Srimuang said on Saturday.
"The meeting of World Heritage Committee is likely to take place in late May or early June. Whatever the meeting results will be, the yellow-shirt protesters will definitely disperse after the meeting ends," Maj Gen Chamlong insisted.
From now on until the meeting outcome is made known, the retired general said, the yellow-shirts will continue to put pressure demanding the Democrat-led government to refrain from accepting Cambodia's plan to list the ancient Preah Vihear temple as a world heritage site.
The PAD has started holding a peaceful rally in late Jan to press for the government to respond to its demands.
The PAD's demands are for the government to revoke the 2000 memorandum of understanding made with Cambodia, to withdraw from the World Heritage Committee, and to push Cambodian soldiers and people out of disputed areas.
The PAD vowed to continue with the rally until the demands are met. |
| Thai-Cambodia dispute fuels scepticism over regional bloc ASEAN Posted: 07 May 2011 12:29 AM PDT Sat May 7, 2011 By Neil Chatterjee JAKARTA May 7 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders sought on Saturday to resolve a deadly border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia that has cast fresh doubt over whether the region's plans to become a free-trade economic community by 2015 are realistic.
The skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia -- ostensibly over ownership of some crumbling ancient temples on the border but also driven by internal political dynamics in both countries -- have killed 18 people in the last couple of weeks,
The confrontation -- and the apparent inability of the Association of South East Asian Nations to broker a peace deal that holds -- has fuelled scepticism over the bloc's lofty ambitions and threatens to overshadow its annual two-day meeting, just as controversy over Myanmar has in the past.
"The United States and United Nations hope Indonesia, as Southeast Asia's biggest country, can help to resolve this dispute," Indonesian Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring told Reuters at the start of the meeting in Jakarta.
The 10-member ASEAN, with some of the world's fastest growing economies and some 500 million people, represents a region with increasing economic clout but is often derided as a talk shop and has a policy of non-interference in other members' domestic affairs.
Fighting over the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site in dispute since the withdrawal of the French from Cambodia in the 1950s, has turned into Southeast's Asia's bloodiest conflict in a decade and dented ASEAN's image.
Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers meeting ahead of the summit agreed on some of the ground rules for sending an Indonesian military observer team to the border, but Cambodia rejected Thailand's request to withdraw troops from the temple as a precondition.
"We never can withdraw our troops from our own territory. It should be very clear," said Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.
MYRIAD SECURITY CHALLENGES
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not mention the dispute in a speech to open the meeting on Saturday, focusing instead on the region's challenges of food and energy security and speeding up moves towards an economic community.
The group ranges from oil and gas-rich Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia, and the world's top rice exporter Thailand, to trading centre Singapore and resource-scarce Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines.
ASEAN, together with China, Japan and South Korea, has agreed to have a rice reserve of over 700,0000 tonnes to protect against volatile commodity prices, which had surged this year before unexpectedly diving this week.
"Food security will be a great challenge for ASEAN," Yudhoyono said in the speech. "Nations on this earth will face a competitive situation for the scarce resources of daily needs."
The region needs to develop intra-ASEAN trade and investment, said Yudhoyono, a week after meeting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao who promised $9 billion in loans to overhaul Indonesia's dilapidated infrastructure and to speed up transport links between the region and China.
"We still have to do a lot of things," Yudhoyono added.
He said the leaders, transported in a fleet of gleaming Toyota limos through Jakarta's traffic jams and tropical rains that killed 17 people on Friday night in floods to the west of the capital, will also discuss disaster management following the devastating tsunami in key trading partner Japan.
(Additional reporting by Telly Nathalia, Aditya Suharmoko and Olivia Rondonuwu; Editing by Andrew Marshall) |
| ASEAN summit starts amid cloud of Thai-Cambodia border row Posted: 07 May 2011 12:24 AM PDT  | | The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) stand together for a group photo in Jakarta on Saturday. | May 7, 2011 From Kathy Quiano, CNN STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Indonesia chairs the summit this year
- The nation has been trying to mediate talks between Thailand and Cambodia
- The border row is a result of a dispute over the ancient Preah Vihear temple
- The Indonesian president urges member nations to promote peace
Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in Indonesia on Saturday for a two-day summit expected to focus on efforts to achieve economic integration by 2015.
The meeting started under the cloud of security issues such as the Thai-Cambodia border conflict.
Indonesia, which chairs the summit this year, has been trying to mediate talks between Thailand and Cambodia in their dispute over the ancient Preah Vihear temple.
Renewed fighting in the area has prompted displacement of thousands on both sides. Fighting along the turbulent border has raged since last month as the two sides accuse each other of trying to seize ancient temples.
Much of the border between the two countries remains in dispute.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged member nations to promote peace.
"We realize that to ensure peaceful and stable east Asia region, we must ensure stability and security in the region," he said in his opening speech.
"History recalls that as one of the pioneers of regional integration in the world, ASEAN was established based on the strong desire to establish peace, building consensus, promoting stability through regional cooperation and integration."
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa met separately with his Thai and Cambodian counterparts on Friday.
Last month, both nations agreed to the deployment of an Indonesian observer team to the disputed area, but have not agreed on conditions set by either country. There are no indications so far that the leaders of both nations will meet on the sidelines of the summit.
Other issues expected to be discussed is Myanmar's bid to host the summit in 2016, two years before its turn to assume the chairmanship.
Human Rights Watch urged ASEAN leaders to reject the proposal.
"Rewarding Burma with ASEAN's chairmanship after it staged sham elections and still holds 2,000 political prisoners would be an embarrassment for the region," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "ASEAN leaders need to decide if they will let Burma demote ASEAN to the laughingstock of intergovernmental forums."
Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.
The regional group rotates the chairmanship every year among its members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. International pressure forced Myanmar to skip its turn in 2005.
Yudhoyono also stressed the need for ASEAN leaders to address the challenges of food and energy security.
"We must give serious attention and take concrete measures to address the soaring of food prices and world energy, which in turn will negatively affect the prosperity of our people," he said. "History shows that the rise of food and energy prices usually caused the increase in the number of people living in poverty." |
| Bank of China Opens Cambodian Branch Posted: 07 May 2011 12:19 AM PDT May 6, 2011 By Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr. Int'l Business Times The Bank of China pledges to bridge closer economic ties between the 2 countries, said the visiting Yue Yi, vice president of Bank of China, Friday.
"The presence of the Bank of China in Cambodia is to strengthen and expand friendship and economic cooperation between Cambodia and China," Yue Yi said at a meeting with the governor of National Bank of Cambodia, Chea Chanto.
The Bank of China Phnom Penh Branch is scheduled to launch officially on May 7.
He said that with the bank's presence here, it will help facilitate business activities between the two countries. "We will also help to encourage more Chinese investors to Cambodia."
Meanwhile, Chea Chanto expressed his full support for the presence of the bank in Cambodia.
"The operation of the Bank of China in Cambodia reflects the trust of foreign investors on Cambodia," he said, "It's also a sign of progress in Cambodia's banking industry." The governor said that Cambodia's banking industry, currently, is quite stable.
By the end of Y 2010, the customers' deposits grew by 26% to US$4.16B, while the customer credits increased by 26.7% to US$3.18B.
Also, the ratio of the non-performing loan in the banking industry has declined to only 3% as of April, said the governor.
Including the presence of Bank of China, there are 30 commercial banks in the country so far. --------- Paul A. Ebeling
Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr. writes and publishes The Red Roadmaster's Technical Report on the US Major Market Indices, a weekly, highly-regarded financial market letter, read by opinion makers, business leaders and organizations around the world.
Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr has studied the global financial and stock markets since 1984, following a successful business career that included investment banking, and market and business analysis. He is a specialist in equities/commodities, and an accomplished chart reader who advises technicians with regard to Major Indices Resistance/Support Levels. |
| ECCC Law Posted: 07 May 2011 12:17 AM PDT 1. The judges shall attempt to achieve unanimity in their decisions. If this is not possible, the following shall apply: a. a decision by the Extraordinary Chamber of the trial court shall require the affirmative vote of at least four judges; b. a decision by the Extraordinary Chamber of the Supreme Court shall require the affirmative vote of at least five judges. 2. When there is no unanimity, the decision of the Extraordinary Chambers shall contain the opinions of the majority and the minority.
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| PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE and the naming of names Posted: 07 May 2011 12:13 AM PDT "Frustrated with the lack of transparency at the court, another regime survivor took the unusual step of publicly naming all five suspects in a press release on Thursday. The move puts author and human rights activist Theary Seng at risk of being in contempt of court, legal experts said."
PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE
I am a victim (not a neutral observer or a judicial officer) alleging serious criminal charges against Meas Muth and Sou Met.
I am not the only victim, but one among millions with the same right to make public allegations about our injuries and claims.
The problem with mass crimes is that they produce majority victims in the minority public with the right to speak publicly about their claims and other available information (publications of the last 35 years!).
In accusing me of "mere speculation" with "no basis", Mr. Olsen is asking me and other victims to suspend our reason, logic and knowledge of these materials relevant to our cases.
Mr. Olsen is mistaking the right of mass victims with obligations of the court officials and minority unaffected public; this is not a simple murder in the local neighborhood by which the PoI principle is to be viewed through a very narrow local lens without incorporating the countless distinguishing factors associated with mass crimes of international renown.
- Theary C. Seng, civil party applicant to cases 003 and 004
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| The call of Cambodia: Where nature's beauty and mankind's cruelty combine Posted: 07 May 2011 12:12 AM PDT  | | From glory to ruin: Angkor Wat reminds you of the feats humans can attain, and how quickly the jungle can claim it all back |  | | Dark history: Cambodia's stunning architecture is contrasted by its black history |  | | Fascinated foreign correspondent: Michael Buerk and his wife Christine |  | | Recovering: Traditional dancers are once again becoming common after they were massacred by the Khmer Rouge | 6th May 2011 By Michael Buerk Daily Mail Online (UK) [Hun Xen] heads what is widely acknowledged as one of the most corrupt governments in the world, a kleptocratic elite that has made itself fabulously wealthy through seizing public assets and illegal logging, leading to repeated complaints of corruption from the World Bank.
The U.S. ambassador publicly accused government officials of stealing $500 million a year. All this when one in three Cambodians live on less than $1 a day.
Nature's been kind to Cambodia, but man hasn't. That's the fascination of the place - it's what makes it more than just another edgy tropical paradise on the backpacker trail.
In fact, this is the most compelling tourist destination in South-East Asia. You can go just to unwind.
The scenery is rich, the food - with its French colonial overtones - exotic. Park by the pool, order the beers and soak up the old Indochina, free of Thailand's rampant commercialism or Vietnam's frenetic crowds.
But this would be missing the point. The history of Cambodia adds up to a short course in human futility.
Successive rulers have tried to impose their own ideas of earthly heaven, which have all ended in varying kinds of ruin. And it is all there; awful, in every sense.
Monuments to ancient grandeur and modern cruelty, both probably unequalled anywhere in the world.
I came away half-haunted by three faces. First, King Jayavarman's is carved over and over again in stone 15ft high, staring down on what he helped to create. In the 12th century, Angkor was the greatest city on Earth. A million people lived in it - at a time when London could only count 20,000.
Now, half overgrown by tropical forest, it is arguably the greatest wonder of the old world. It is the centre of a sprawl of vast temple cities, spreading across 80 square miles, monumental in their magnificence, many covered in acres of intricate allegorical carving.
Second, there is Chan Kim Srun, who stares at you from a black-and-white photograph in the former Khmer Rouge interrogation centre, her newborn baby in her arms and an unfathomable sadness in her eyes.
Her husband was high in the ranks of those mass murdering madmen before, in their paranoia, they turned on their own. You can tell she knows they're both about to be murdered.
They were taken to the killing fields the night that photograph was taken.
And, third, Hun Sen, the current prime minister, a former Khmer Rouge commander before he ratted on them and was put into power by the Vietnamese, who brought the insanity to an end.
He's been in charge of Cambodia for a quarter of century, a former ultra-Maoist who now encourages capitalism so he and his cronies can rip it off.
He heads what is widely acknowledged as one of the most corrupt governments in the world, a kleptocratic elite that has made itself fabulously wealthy through seizing public assets and illegal logging, leading to repeated complaints of corruption from the World Bank.
The U.S. ambassador publicly accused government officials of stealing $500 million a year. All this when one in three Cambodians live on less than $1 a day.
This is more than a holiday. It's an education. Start in Phnom Penh, an attractive riverside city, tatty but game after the years of war and extermination. They call it Lexus City these days because of all the gleaming 4x4s the officials buy with their graft money.
Stay, if you can, in Le Royal, the grandest of French colonial hotels, now done up by the Raffles Group. It has sweeping hardwood staircases, scents of cinnamon, oozing luxury and Jeeves-like service.
The ghosts of Somerset Maugham and Andre Malraux slink down the corridors in their silk dressing gowns.
Go for a drink in the Foreign Correspondents Club. I was the only real foreign correspondent they'd had in the place for years - it's now a lively gathering place for gap-year girls.
Eat at Friends - a non-profit Jamie Oliver-type place that teaches street youths catering skills; a good, cheap, philanthropic feed.
There's plenty to see here. The Royal Palace complex is a relatively modern masterpiece of distinctive Cambodian architecture. The Silver Pagoda within it has a floor made up of six tons of ill-fitting solid silver tiles.
But the real, and awful, fascination is the four-year nightmare rule of the Khmer Rouge at the end of the Seventies. They murdered a million people while a million more starved to death, one in five of the population.
The former school they used as an interrogation centre is now a museum. In its way, it's as chilling as Auschwitz.
The rough bedsteads with their iron shackles surrounded by bloodstains, the classrooms, crudely subdivided into cells like hutches, the children's climbing frame they turned into a gallows, are all still there. Worst of all are the pictures. The Khmer Rouge photographed their victims just before they were taken off to be murdered. They look at you now, hundreds and hundreds of them, blank, bewildered, doomed.
Human bones and fragments of clothing are still coming out of the ground today. Above, clouds of yellow and white butterflies - the sacred colours of the country's two historic religions - dance in the afternoon sun.
It's a dreadful place, marked now by a stupa with 17 tiers of crushed skulls.
The glories of Cambodia are the magnificent temple cities, just north of the modern town of Siem Reap, itself a short flight from Phnom Penh. The most famous, and best preserved, is Angkor Wat, the world's largest and surely most impressive religious monument.
It is an entire Hindu universe (it became Buddhist in the 13th century) realised entirely in laterite and sandstone.
It's also huge - more than 500 acres - and fantastically rich in sculptural detail. More than half a mile of its walls are covered in narrative bas-reliefs. It is only one of numerous fabulous temple complexes.
Jayavarman's legacy, Angkor Thom, is even bigger in total area and, in places, even more intricately decorated.
But the centuries, and the jungle, have taken a greater toll - soaring tropical trees swell out and up through the ruins. This is a place to dwell on the futility of human ambition while you keep a sharp look out for Indiana Jones. It is joint first on my list of 1,000 places to see before you die (only Machu Picchu and the Galapagos come close). Go there soon, before the planned international airport opens and the world's most impressive tourist site becomes one of the world's busiest.
The place to stay is the Hotel de la Paix, a well-run modern hotel in the centre of bustling Siem Reap. The service and the food are exemplary and they lay on traditional Cambodian dancing with all its old grace and control - an art thankfully recovering after the royal dancers, like everyone with any skill, talent or education, were massacred by the Khmer Rouge.
One day, somebody will explain why the most horrible things tend to happen in the nicest places. Cambodia is utterly beautiful, its people are charming, its heritage unequalled.
Yet, in the lifetime of a single generation, it's been carpet-bombed by the Cold War, partly wiped out by a clique who made an ideology of insanity, and systematically raped by crooks with blood on their hands.
Tourism isn't the best hope. It may be the only hope for Cambodia to have the future it surely deserves.
Travel Facts Seasons, 01244 202 000, www.seasons.co.uk, offers an 11-night trip through Cambodia and Laos, taking in Bangkok, Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh from £3,175pp.
Price includes flights, transfers and B&B accommodation at the Metropolitan Bangkok, Raffles Le Royal Phnom Penh, Hotel de la Paix Siem Reap, Settha Palace Vientiane and The Hotel Luang Prabang. |
