Cambodia welcomes aid from Japan and China, some are wary

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 30 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Cambodia, one of the least developed countries in Southeast Asia, extends a welcoming hand to economic aid from Japan and China but some analysts in the country are wary of the competitive intent of the nation's two largest aid donors.

Officially, the government hails the two countries as champions of Cambodia's rehabilitation and development through their economic aid program.

Japan has provided about $130 million a year to Cambodia since the early 1990s mostly in the form of grant aid, while China channels its assistance largely through loans.

For years, however, some Cambodians and observers have been curious about the drive behind the Japanese and Chinese aid programs, as neither country imposes preconditions, a sharp contrast with economic aid from the United States and other Western powers that is often tied to human rights and democracy in the recipient countries.

Since the early 1990s, the Japanese aid program has focused on infrastructure projects in Cambodia, such as bridges, roads and irrigation networks. Japan has also been the largest donor of international funds to finance the U.N.-backed trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders.

Some Cambodians see Japan's financial assistance to fund the operation of the U.N.-backed tribunal as part of its contribution to help heal Cambodia's trauma from the brutal Khmer Rouge rule in the late 1970s.

Cynics, however, suggest Japan is giving money to finance Khmer Rouge trials as a way to harass China, Japan's major political and economic rival in Asia. Beijing backed the Khmer Rouge regime, which is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians during its nearly four years of repressive rule.

A Japanese diplomat in Phnom Penh denies the allegation, saying Japan sees the importance of reconstruction and the rule of law in Cambodia.

"Japan has no hidden agenda behind our assistance, which has been given humanitarian and rule of law purposes," the diplomat said.

Chheang Vannarith, executive director of Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, a Phnom Penh-based research institute, said Japan has been focusing on Southeast Asia in general and Cambodia in particular to maintain its economic role and political influence in this region.

Vannarith added Japan "is interested in balancing China's rise."

The rise of China, which has replaced Japan as the world's second- largest economy, has significantly bolstered its economic and diplomatic reach in Southeast Asia.

Vannarith said China has been conducting an experiment on its aid diplomacy in Cambodia and uses Cambodia as a model for other developing countries in the region and in the world at large.

"So far, China's aid to Cambodia has been very effective in terms of winning the heart of Cambodian leaders," he said.

In the last six years, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen paid 11 visits to China, more trips than any other country, while Chinese leaders made six visits to the country.

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni made five state visits to China between 2005 and 2010.

Hun Sen has no reservation in hailing Cambodia's close diplomatic ties with China.

"Starting from the restoration of Cambodia-China diplomatic relations in 1994, the ties developed to a level of mutual trust and confidence by 2004. We are now in the state of comprehensive cooperation and partnership," he said recently.

The premier was also lavish in expressing Cambodia's gratitude to investments from China, which totaled $5.6 billion from 2008 to June last year.

"I would like to express my sincere thanks to our Chinese friends for their help so that Cambodia could get to the objectives it has planned," he said at a ground-breaking ceremony in December for one of the five Chinese-financed hydropower plants.

The growing economic ties between China and Cambodia have prompted words of caution from Washington.

Speaking to Cambodian students during a visit to Phnom Penh in November, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had this advice to Cambodian leaders: "You look for balance. You don't want to get too dependent on any one country. You want to be able to have partnerships that cut across regional geographic lines."

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'Hello, we're back!'

Govt vows to get tough as yellow shirts officially turn on ex-ally Abhisit

While the number of protesters was far from their peak of the past few years, the yellow shirts provided all the other ingredients for a deja vu when they returned to their familiar spot near Government House yesterday. In fact, the Abhisit government must have felt something eerily familiar as it suggested it was not taking the seemingly peaceful protest for granted.

As big TV projectors sprang up, cooks started working and the sounds of "clappers" in the Makkhawan Bridge area revived old memories, government leaders immediately rejected the three main demands of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) concerning Thailand's territorial conflicts with Cambodia.

The three PAD demands are:

n Cancellation of the year 2000 memorandum of understanding with Cambodia;

n Thailand's withdrawal from the World Heritage Committee working on the Preah Vihear Temple management;

n Push "encroaching" Cambodians back.

The government vowed to get tough if peace is broken at any point in what the PAD promised would be a prolonged encampment.

"We simply can't yield to their demands," said Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban. "The demands will put national security in danger."

The Centre for Situation Monitoring (CSM), which has replaced the now-defunct Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation, believes that the PAD, and its splinter group - the Thai Patriots Network - which had been protesting to push for similar demands on the other side of Government House, were hell-bent on a protracted stay. Normal non-military surveillance has been in place in the area, but military units have been instructed to be ready for reinforcement requests.

The yellow crowd was estimated at between 2,500 and 3,000 protesters yesterday, but security officials expected the number could climb to 5,000 in the next few days.

The CSM decided that there was no need to invoke the Internal Security Act, which allows more stringent measures on crowd control, at the moment. However, the CSM does not rule out use of the law if things take a turn for the worse in the future.

Sondhi Limthongkul, on the yellow-shirt stage, reminded Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, "whose handsome look still fools many people", of the time when relentless PAD protests immobilised the Thaksin government and eventually triggered its downfall.

Abhisit can also be forgiven for shrugging off a promise by another PAD leader, Chamlong Srimuang, that protesters would behave themselves and "not go anywhere", at least for now.

"We apologise to the public if this protest is causing disturbances, but we are doing it for the country," Chamlong said in what could also sound eerily familiar. "We will not move anywhere in the first few days and we will immediately call off the protest if the demands are met."

The PAD leaders claim that this time they are out on the streets to defend 1.8 million rai of Thai soil from being encroached by Cambodia and condemned the Abhisit administration for not defending Thailand's national sovereignty.

As evening fell, the crowd began to swell and its less powerful leaders such as Praphan Koonmee began attacking Abhisit and the administration, claiming the government was selling out Thai soil along the border with Cambodia.

"Since I was born, I have never seen any prime minister speak harmfully to Thai people and his own country," Praphan told the crowd.

"You are fake!" he shouted, referring to Abhisit.

The movement's supporters, such as taxi driver Nattasun Thitiraet, told The Nation that the latest fight was more serious than the one against Thaksin Shinawatra because it was about national sovereignty.

"We'll purge it. This government is going to fall," he predicted. "The people will be roused."

Protester Nattasun, who is in his 50s, said Abhisit had simply let the PAD down. "He himself doesn't cheat but he allows people around him to do so. He doesn't do anything and simply wants to hang on as prime minister."

The yellow shirts are back. And if Thaksin Shinawatra could say anything to Abhisit, it could be: "Welcome to the party!"

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Nic Dunlop: ‘We must understand the [Burmese] junta’

Nic Dunlop (Photo: Reuters)

25 January 2011
By FRANCIS WADE
Democratic Voice of Burma

British-born photojournalist Nic Dunlop first came to attention in the late 1990s as the man who tracked down Khmer Rouge leader and head of the infamous S-21 torture centre, Comrade Duch, in rural Cambodia. Dunlop’s discovery of Duch eventually led to his conviction on charges of crimes against humanity, becoming the first of Pol Pot’s henchmen to be sentenced. Later, Dunlop turned his attention to Burma, and has spent more than a decade documenting the regime and its atrocities. The recent film, Burma Soldier, co-directed by Dunlop, Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern, and co-produced by LeBrocquy Fraser Ltd and Break-Thru, tells the story of Myo Myint, a former Burmese army soldier turned pro-democracy activist.

Tell us about how the idea for the film came about

Many years ago I started working on Burma and it was over a period of 10 years taking photographs for what I hoped would be a graphic book about the dictatorship that it occurred to me that we know so little about the military. It was very difficult to get photos of them inside Burma, which only increased my interest. Everyone talks about what’s wrong with Burma, but very few people reflect on what it is that created the Burmese military – it’s as if they arrived from outer space. And if you could peel back the layer of a brutal dictatorship then you’d have an oriental idyll of a Buddhist paradise where people just wanted to go about their lives. It’s that kind of picture-perfect image of Southeast Asia that so many Westerners have. And nobody seemed to be very interested in what created this army of occupation, so during my many travels and interviews with refugees, dissidents, and people inside the country I’d always ask this question and people often didn’t have anything close to an answer.

So I realised what I needed to do was meet former Burmese troops who were willing to talk about why they joined the army, what it was like, what they were taught in training, how they viewed the ethnic minorities and civil war, and so on. And it was during this research that I was at the AAPP [Assistance Association for Political Prisoners] office in Mae Sot and I was introduced by Bo Kyi, the president, to Myo Myint, who was a former political prisoner but who had an extraordinary story to tell: in his previous incarnation he’d been a soldier in the Burmese army and had grown up in a military family in Rangoon, and I found somebody who could explain not only about why people join the military, but could also include the Burmese civil and the quest for democracy in a single story. Very often one of the problems with the coverage of Burma is that there’s a great separation between the civil war, which runs central to the Burmese crisis, and the issue of democratisation, which is symbolised by Aung San Suu Kyi. I wanted to bring the two together in a single story, and Myo Myint’s story is extraordinary for many reasons, but particularly so because you could do that.

Is there a gap in media coverage of Burma – or indeed a misunderstanding of the ‘other side’ – that your film will fill?

That was the intention, but people who watch it can assess for themselves. It’s come to the point now that much of the coverage by outsiders is as much about projection as it is about the real situation. Now, Aung San Suu Kyi pitched against the generals isn’t an incorrect reading; it’s just incredibly simplistic. But being complex doesn’t mean it has to be boring or off-putting, as I think it is for a lot of journalists. So when the Karen walked into Myawaddy recently it was reported by many as though it’s a completely separate sideshow to the crisis, whereas it runs right to the centre of what is wrong with Burma. So Aung San Suu Kyi’s cult-like status in the West is in danger of creating a more nuanced understanding of the problem. I have high regard for her and her courageous stance, but she isn’t the only figure in Burma. I understand the media well and I understand how people gravitate towards that reading of the crisis, and my point is to get beyond that and start talking about the other parts of this jigsaw puzzle. And the military is so key, yet so unknown, and so I wanted to open up new avenues of debate.

Is the sacrosanct air surrounding Suu Kyi limiting the progress of the pro-democracy movement?

I don’t know if it’s limiting progress but I think it’s got to the point where the fate of one woman is drowning out the fate of millions. And whilst I understand that, and it makes sense on one level, there is an urgency to talk about the civil war. Although there are ceasefires amongst many [armed] groups in Burma and there isn’t same degree of fighting that there was 20 years ago, the tensions still remain – nothing has been resolved and if anything it’s getting slightly worse, and I think that needs to be addressed.

Why is it so important that the wider context of Burma – including what pushes such people to do such things – is understood before we can hope for transition?

It’s important of course that we empathise with the victims of oppression, but it’s just as important, if not more so, that we learn something of the perpetrator and that we recognise that we all have the potential to be both, perhaps even at the same time. The perpetrators are always ‘them’, and never ‘us’, and if we approach these problems with a degree of humility there’s much greater room for understanding and progression. What happens, with the Burmese military particularly, is that they are vilified for what they’ve done, and rightly so, but they are a fact of life. They’re not simply going to go back to the barracks because of the moral condemnation and outrage; they have to look at the situation realistically without losing sight of the principles that are embodied by Aung San Suu Kyi’s stance.

So with Myo Myint, he is possibly a perpetrator, but certainly a victim, and I think that that’s a very healthy place for outsiders to realise that the Burmese army is not made up of baby killers, but that they’re ordinary men. How many of us can answer the question with any certainty of how we’d respond if we were in a situation where our lives were under threat every day; where we’d been indoctrinated with the idea that any Burman is inferior? I just think it’s important, in fact essential, that we engage with that world view.

Have you ever received criticism for talking about people like Duch, or indeed Myo Myint, with a degree of sympathy?

No. All I can do is just be as honest as I can with the truth of the story as I see it – if you don’t like it, then fine. It’s just like the fact that we may have relatives who are soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan, and who knows what they’ve been doing? The victims’ world view is not the dominant, and shouldn’t be the dominant, worldview, and as in the case of the court of law, which is a good metaphor, what you’re trying to do is present cases from as many different angles as you can and hopefully get to some sort of truth. But there are no absolutes, and that’s why what I thought was important about the Duch case and with Burma, and any place with a crisis of this magnitude, is that there are many contributing factors that have to be taken into account – we can’t project what we think Burma is or should be about. That’s extremely dangerous; that’s what the regime does, and in the most brutal way.

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Couple run the distance

Jeff Dean and wife Natalie Samson jog along a dirt road during their 500km run alongside the Mekong River last week. Photo Supplied

via CAAI

Monday, 24 January 2011 15:00 H S Manjunath

American Jeff Dean and his Canadian wife Nathalie Samson completed their 500-kilometre run across Cambodia on Thursday afternoon, ending their 11-day mission to help the cause of clean water access in rural areas.

The couple set out from Stung Treng province on a route that followed the course of the Mekong River, ending in Prey Veng province.

“Eleven days and 11 marathons,” said Dean, recalling their incredible feat of endurance.

Taking heart from their previous 240km run between Angkor Wat in Siem Reap and Preah Vihear temple last year, the Ottawa-based pair chose to return for a more challenging run along the Mekong in the hope that their exploits would yield greater benefits for the cause they were championing. Their charity organisation One Filter One Family helps provide wells and bio-sand filters for selected villages in the Kingdom.

Both Jeff and Nathalie are counting this as a success well beyond their own estimation.

“We have seen and experienced a Cambodia that is very special,” Dean told The Post on Thursday.

“The run was epic in its scenery, taught us more about managing sports hydration needs, challenged us with a scorpion sting, a dog bite, a few running-induced strains and pain ... and filled us with the laughter and smiles of the Cambodian people which we will carry in our mind’s eye forever.”

The runners revealed they were made to feel most welcome by the families that they stayed with during their trip.

“We were overwhelmed by this hospitality,” said Dean.

The couple conceded their run would not have been a success without the support of Paul Hufford and Bunna from the Australian Firefighters International, who drove with them for the entire distance. Dean claimed their “route choice was amazing and exactly what we’d hoped for, and more”.

They also gave special thanks to the Trailblazers Foundation, an organisation that shares the same goals as One Filter One Family, which they have supported for the past two years.

“We will continue [to help support this cause] whenever we can,” said Dean, hinting of another epic journey to come.

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Equestrian body hails latest success

The Cambodian national equestrian team and trainers celebrate their success from a recent event in Thailand last week at the show jumping park of the Cambodian Country Club. Photo Supplied

via CAAI

Monday, 24 January 2011 15:00 H S Manjunath

THE Cambodian Country Club and Hagar Catering and Facilities Management jointly celebrated the national equestrian team last week which returned with a clutch of ribbons from the Christmas Jumping Competition in Thailand.

A gathering of media personnel, sponsors of the Cambodian Equestrian Federation and some staunch supporters hailed the performances of the three-member team as a great leap for the sport in the Kingdom.

“This was our way of expressing our joy over the achievements of our national team and also to thank our sponsors like Hagar, Horse Ware, Comin Khmer and Property Care Services for their unwavering support,” said Federation Technical Director Soraya Ourrais.

“We were quite honoured to have members of the media alongside our sponsors and our team members. It was a memorable occasion for the CEF.”

The CEF Secretary General Phillip Garcia emphasised the historical significance of the team’s Thailand visit.

“This is the first time since the 1956 Melbourne Olympics that a Cambodian equestrian team had taken part in an international event,” he said.

“Our success in Thailand and the aptitude of the team members will certainly lead us to a reintegration with the international community.

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Broken strings sting Bowen

Asian tennis stars Danai Udomchoke of Thailand (second left), Vishnu Vardhan of India (third left), Weerapat Doakmaiklee of Thailand (third right) and Kittipong Wachiramanowong of Thailand (right) meet with Tennis Federation of Cambodia Secretary General Tep Rithivit (second right) after arriving at Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday morning ahead of this week’s ITF Men’s Futures event. Photo by: Sreng Meng Srun

via CAAI

Monday, 24 January 2011 15:00 H S Manjunath

High intensity drama surrounded the sensational exit of second seeded Bowen Ouyang of China in the first round of the qualifiers for this week’s US$15,000 ITF Men’s Futures tennis tournament at the National Training Centre yesterday evening.

In the day’s last fixture, 1009th ranked Bowen was poised for victory over tenacious South Korean opponent Dae-Soung Oh at 5-4 in the third set after the two had shared the first two sets. But it was not to be his day after all. A strange set of circumstances contrived to make life miserable for him on court.

Bowen managed to break the strings on all three of his racquets, and as he scouted around for a spare racquet, he was given a verbal warning, then a point followed by a whole game as a penalty.

Up stepped Cambodian national team player Tan Nysan, who handed over two of his racquets to Bowen only for the Chinese player to again break strings on one of them.

It seemed as if misfortune was following Bowen every step of the way, and he blew a couple of match points in a tense tie break after the dour South Korean had levelled the scores at six games all.

Finally at 9-9 in the tie-break, the Korean gleefully wrapped up the match by reeling off the next two points after Bowen had messed up an easy overhead on match point. The final score line read 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (11-9) to Dae-Soung in a battle stretching more than two and a half hours.

The rest of the qualification seeds fared better in the rest of the day’s card as top seeded Wang Chuhan of China led the parade to the crucial second round in this draw of 32. Canada’s Kelsey Stevenson took Wang to a tie break in the first set, but the Chinese talent took control of the match with an early break in the second.

The other first round winners included five Indians – Divij Sharan, Kaza Vinayak Sharma, Christopher Marquis, Abhijeet Tiwari and Ashutosh Singh – three Indonesians – Trijati Sunu Wahyu, Elbert Sie and Susanto David Agung – as well as Jan Blecha of Czech Republic, Araik Arutunyan of Russia, Luca Margaroli of Switzerland, Vladamir Ivanov of Estonia, Hsu hung Yuan of Taiwan, and New Zealander Mat Simpson.

Cambodian wild cards Orn Sambath and Long Samneang were both beaten in straight sets. Sambath lost to Ashutosh Singh 6-1, 6-2 while Long Samneang was swept by love sets by Matt Simpson.

Second round matches play today with the eight winners qualifying for the 32-player main draw beginning tomorrow.

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Broken strings sting Bowen

Asian tennis stars Danai Udomchoke of Thailand (second left), Vishnu Vardhan of India (third left), Weerapat Doakmaiklee of Thailand (third right) and Kittipong Wachiramanowong of Thailand (right) meet with Tennis Federation of Cambodia Secretary General Tep Rithivit (second right) after arriving at Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday morning ahead of this week’s ITF Men’s Futures event. Photo by: Sreng Meng Srun

via CAAI

Monday, 24 January 2011 15:00 H S Manjunath

High intensity drama surrounded the sensational exit of second seeded Bowen Ouyang of China in the first round of the qualifiers for this week’s US$15,000 ITF Men’s Futures tennis tournament at the National Training Centre yesterday evening.

In the day’s last fixture, 1009th ranked Bowen was poised for victory over tenacious South Korean opponent Dae-Soung Oh at 5-4 in the third set after the two had shared the first two sets. But it was not to be his day after all. A strange set of circumstances contrived to make life miserable for him on court.

Bowen managed to break the strings on all three of his racquets, and as he scouted around for a spare racquet, he was given a verbal warning, then a point followed by a whole game as a penalty.

Up stepped Cambodian national team player Tan Nysan, who handed over two of his racquets to Bowen only for the Chinese player to again break strings on one of them.

It seemed as if misfortune was following Bowen every step of the way, and he blew a couple of match points in a tense tie break after the dour South Korean had levelled the scores at six games all.

Finally at 9-9 in the tie-break, the Korean gleefully wrapped up the match by reeling off the next two points after Bowen had messed up an easy overhead on match point. The final score line read 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (11-9) to Dae-Soung in a battle stretching more than two and a half hours.

The rest of the qualification seeds fared better in the rest of the day’s card as top seeded Wang Chuhan of China led the parade to the crucial second round in this draw of 32. Canada’s Kelsey Stevenson took Wang to a tie break in the first set, but the Chinese talent took control of the match with an early break in the second.

The other first round winners included five Indians – Divij Sharan, Kaza Vinayak Sharma, Christopher Marquis, Abhijeet Tiwari and Ashutosh Singh – three Indonesians – Trijati Sunu Wahyu, Elbert Sie and Susanto David Agung – as well as Jan Blecha of Czech Republic, Araik Arutunyan of Russia, Luca Margaroli of Switzerland, Vladamir Ivanov of Estonia, Hsu hung Yuan of Taiwan, and New Zealander Mat Simpson.

Cambodian wild cards Orn Sambath and Long Samneang were both beaten in straight sets. Sambath lost to Ashutosh Singh 6-1, 6-2 while Long Samneang was swept by love sets by Matt Simpson.

Second round matches play today with the eight winners qualifying for the 32-player main draw beginning tomorrow.

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Abhisit stands firm in face of joint rally

Three-sided protest arises from border spat

24/01/2011
Bangkok Post

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is insisting the government will not bow to pressure from the People's Alliance for Democracy, Thai Patriots Network and the Santi Asoke sect ahead of their planned joint rally this week.

Mr Abhisit said in a televised address last night that the government would not submit to the groups' demands, particularly the revocation of the memorandum of understanding signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2000 governing the two countries' border disputes.

The PAD is calling on the government to revoke the memorandum which they say puts Thailand at a disadvantage in its dealings with Phnom Penh.

It also want the government to force Cambodians from every disputed area and to cancel Thailand's membership of Unesco's World Heritage Committee.

"[The PAD and Thai Patriots Network's] actual goal is not to push for the revocation of the memorandum, it is to oust the government from office," Mr Abhisit said.

He insisted he would not allow a repeat of the 2008 yellow shirt PAD seizure of Government House, when the pressure group targeted the Samak Sundaravej government.

A member of a security team led by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban predicted yesterday that the number of PAD protesters tomorrow would be relatively small at between 3,000 and 3,500.

"But the PAD's capability cannot be underestimated," the source said.

The PAD, the Thai Patriots Network and its ally, the Santi Asoke sect, might appear to be at odds, but "the three groups remain unified and their supporters have the capability to hold and continue with protracted rallies".

The Thai Patriots Network and Santi Asoke are already encamped outside Government House to try to force the government to alter its stand on its dealings with Phnom Penh.

A team of advisers to the prime minister also said they were concerned about the demonstrations.

They believe the ultimate goal of the rallies is to ensure there will be no general election later in the year.

The security source said the government must explain to the public its position on the border dispute, especially the middle class in the capital who represent a strong PAD support base.

The leaders of the PAD could again convince members of the middle class to support the yellow shirt movement, which played a key role in the ouster of the elected Thaksin Shinawatra government in 2006 and succeeding Thaksin-backed nominee administrations in 2008.

"If the government fails to curb the PAD rallies, the red shirts are expected to cry foul over double standards and they too will mount pressure on the government," the source said.

PAD spokesman Panthep Phongphuaphan said yesterday the rally planned for Makkhawan Bridge on Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue tomorrow would go ahead and would continue until the group's demands were met.

But he denied the PAD was seeking to overthrow the government.

Mr Panthep was confident the PAD, the Thai Patriots Network and Santi Asoke would unite at the mass rally tomorrow.

Santi Asoke leader Samana Photirak stressed his sect's rally would be peaceful and they would make the ultimate sacrifice by going on hunger strike.

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Danish Support for Cambodia to Stop

24 January 2011
Gregers Moller
ScandAsia.com

Denmark's Minister for Development Søren Pind announced on Thursday that he over a few years will stop all development support for Cambodia and two countries in Africa, Zambia and Benin. Mr. Pind made his announcement in an interview with the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The minister was quoted as referring to "strategic considerations" as the reasons for cutting further development support for the three countries.

When asked by the newspaper whether the problem is that the three countries are located strategically in the wrong places for Denmark, the Minister replied:

Søren Pind: - I do not think they perceive themselves as being in the wrong place. But one can say that Danish interests justify that our commitment must lie somewhere else.

The newspaper quotes internal papers from the Ministry of Development why the two African countries should be taken off the list of countries that Denmark supports, but the interview did not give any clues why Cambodia was taken off the list along with them.

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VN invested in Hoon Xhen, now they settle in with their power plant

Vietnam invests in Cambodia power plant

23/01/2011
VietnamNet

Vietnam Ministry of Planning and Investment has licensed the US$800 million hydro-electric power plant to be constructed in Cambodia, according to the ministry’s Foreign Investment Agency.

This project by state-owned Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) is solely invested by its joint-stock subsidiary EVN International, whose shareholders include major state companies and corporations, such as PetroVietnam, EVN, and Vietnam Rubber Group.

The power plant, Lower Se San 2, is located in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province on its Se San river, a major tributary of the Great Mekong River flowing through Indochinese countries from China.

Its capacity is estimated at 400MW with an average output of 1998 million KWh per year, half of which will be sold back to Cambodia.

EVN International also currently carries out other energy projects and researches for investment in neighboring Lao and Cambodia.

Construction for the plant is to begin this year and it is expected to go into operation in 2016.

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30th ASEAN Tourism Forum ends in Cambodia

January 22, 2011

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - The 30th Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum concluded on Friday evening with a closer cooperation among ASEAN countries and its dialogue partners, said Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon at the closing ceremony.

"Our great achievement made in the forum this year is the adoption of the ASEAN tourism strategic plan 2011-2015 aimed to turn the ASEAN into a world class tourist destination by 2015," he told about 400 participants.

"Besides this, I hope that buyers and sellers have met their business partners for future cooperation," he said, adding that the forum also created a closer environment of cooperation among ASEAN countries and ASEAN with dialogue partners including China, Japan, South Korea, India and Russia.

The 30th ASEAN Tourism Forum kicked off on Jan. 15.

During the event, there had been a series of meetings of ASEAN tourism ministers, ASEAN tourism ministers+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) and ASEAN tourism ministers+ India and Russia.

Also, there was the ASEAN Travel Exchange with the participation of up to 1,500 sellers with 512 booths from hotels, airline companies, tour operators and travel agencies in ASEAN countries and 466 buyers from the ASEAN, Asia, Europe and the United States of America.

The 31st ATF will be held in Indonesia in 2012.

The ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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Bangladesh to take Cambodian lands on lease to produce rice [-More forced evictions on the way?]

Dhaka, Sunday January 23 2011
Nazmul Ahsan
Financial Express-Bangladesh

Bangladesh will take Cambodian lands on lease to produce rice over there and import it to meet the local demands for the same.

Besides, Bangladeshi businessmen will establish rice husking mills in different cities of Cambodia.

A recent inter-ministerial meeting, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), took the decision. Foreign Secretary Mijarul Kayes presided over the meeting, sources said.

Representatives from ministries of agriculture, commerce, food and foreign affairs attended the meeting.

The decision came following the visit of foreign minister Dipu Moni, to Cambodia in late December, 2010, a high official in the foreign ministry said.

The meeting decided to form an expert team comprising representatives from different ministries concerned and private sector. The proposed team, likely to be headed by foreign secretary, will shortly visit Cambodia to complete necessary formalities with Cambodian government, sources said.

"The team to visit Cambodia will explore all potentials in taking lease of their lands to produce food grains, particularly rice and import the same to Bangladesh," a top official in the foreign ministry said.

"A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh and Cambodia will be signed following the visit," he added.

The foreign ministry officials said the government of Cambodia responded positively to a request for leasing out their lands to Bangladesh for agricultural purpose during the visit of Dipu Moni.

The terms of condition, particularly the lease-period and annual fees for the leased land, will be finalised by expert teams of contracting countries, sources said.

Asked, a high official in the foreign ministry, however, said no government ministry or agency conducted any feasibility study on the issue so far.

Bangladesh annually imports 3.0-3.2 million tonnes of food grains to meet the local demand.

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Two Allegiance Health nurses traveling to Cambodia to help people in need, spread God's word

via CAAI

By Tarryl Jackson

Jackson Citizen Patriot

Friday, January 21, 2011

Two Allegiance Health nurses and sisters are traveling abroad to provide medical help and the word of God for those in need.

Hannah Blondke, 26, and her sister Leah, 24, will be in Cambodia and working alongside doctors and volunteers to set up a medical clinic for underprivileged residents until Jan. 31.

The Blondkes were scheduled to leave for their trip today.

The trip was coordinated by Operation Renewed Hope, a North Carolina-based nonprofit focused on medical missions and disaster relief in the U.S. and abroad. Founded in 1991, the organization also offers opportunities for medical professionals, teens and other volunteers to serve God through short-term and long-term missions, according to its web site.

This will be Leah’s fifth trip through the organization, which has had missions in places like Peru, Uganda and Indonesia.

“We try to teach people how to increase their life expectancy,” Leah said. “I see the impact it has on people.”

On all the missions Leah has gone on, the people are always thankful for what the volunteers have done.

“When you leave, you see a difference already,” she said. “Everything is so positive and rewarding for us and for them.”

The Blondkes grew up in Pittsford. Leah has been a registered nurse at Allegiance Health for more than two years, and Hannah has been there for more than a year.

Leah graduated from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wis., in 2008, and Hannah graduated from Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C., in 2009.

This will be Hannah’s first trip through Operation Renewed Hope.

Along with using the skills she has developed as a nurse, “I’m looking forward to what the Lord will do,” she said.

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Yellow-shirts to continue rallying

22/01/2011
Bangkok Post

Yellow-shirt supporters of the Thai Patriots Network insisted on Saturday that they would continue rallying at Government House even though the five Thais were freed by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday, reports said.

“We will keep on protesting until the remaining two Thais are released”, a network core leader said on the rally stage.

The court on Friday afternoon gave each of the five Thais, including Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth, a suspended jail term as they were found guilty on two counts of trespassing on Cambodia territory and illegal entry into military area.

The verdict has not yet been passes on the cases of Veera Somkwamkid, a coordinator of the network, and his secretary Ratree Pipatanapaibul.

They both face allegations that they spied on Cambodian military affairs and have been charged with espionage.

Mr Veera has been denied bail and remains at Prey Sar prison.

Ms Ratree was granted a bail and is staying at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

Army of reporters are now waiting at Suvarnabhumi airport to report the return of the five Thais after they were jailed in the neighbouring country's prison alomost one month.

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Documentary Shows Rare Look at Dissent in Myanmar Military

January 21, 2011
By SETH MYDANS
The New York Times

BANGKOK — It is the most vilified army in Southeast Asia, known for crushing pro-democracy demonstrations in Myanmar and for its brutal suppression of ethnic groups seeking self-rule in the region’s longest-running civil war.

The 400,000-strong army in the former Burma is remarkable for its cohesion, cemented by a system of rewards and punishments, and military analysts have found little sign of dissent in its ranks.

But in its lower levels, at least, it is made up of men who come from a society that widely fears and distrusts the military and who join for the steady employment and status it offers, according to Myo Myint, 48, a former soldier who joined the democratic opposition led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mr. Myo Myint is the central figure in a new documentary called “Burma Soldier,” a film that traces his life from the battlefield, where he lost a leg and an arm, to his 15 years in prison after joining the opposition and then his departure through a Thai refugee camp to the United States in 2008.

“While the top ranks control and repress people, most soldiers are like me. They join the military because they need to earn money for their daily survival,” he said in a telephone interview from Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he lives now.

In addition, he said, “There are so many soldiers serving in the military who secretly support the opposition but cannot expose their feelings. They will be sent to prison and a very heavy imprisonment.”

He added: “I hope that after watching the film, some soldiers will think about their actions and their treatment of civilians, whether it is good or bad, right or wrong, just or unjust.”

In quiet and measured tones in the film, broken at one point by tears, Mr. Myo Myint describes his journey, with interviews in the refugee camp interspersed with rare and sometimes horrifying footage of military maneuvers and attacks on ethnic minority villages. The film’s director, Nic Dunlop, an Irish writer and photographer, said the extraordinary images were taken at great risk by dissident groups.

Mr. Dunlop said he was attempting to deliver this message through what he called “reverse pirating.”

The film will be released next year on HBO, he said, but he and his producers have already made a Burmese-language version of the film and have begun smuggling it into Myanmar on DVDs and on the Internet.

“We are encouraging Burmese to make as many copies as they can and give people inside a chance to hear an alternative history, and hear it from a man who was part of the military,” Mr. Dunlop said.

“There’s an irony in this,” he said, referring to an earlier documentary, “Burma VJ.” “They were struggling to get information and images out, with a great deal of difficulty and an enormous amount of risk.”

That documentary, by Anders Ostergaard, told the story of the Buddhist monk-led uprising in September 2007 and the military’s harsh response, in part through the work of video journalists on the scene.

“What we are doing is the absolute reverse,” Mr. Dunlop said. “We are trying to get the film into the country illegally by pirating our own film in Burmese.”

Mr. Dunlop is sending a message, to audiences both inside and outside Myanmar, that was also at the heart of his book “The Lost Executioner” (Bloomsbury 2005), about the Khmer Rouge prison chief in Cambodia, Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch.

Mr. Dunlop was working as a photographer in 1999, when he discovered Duch in a remote area of Cambodia, a discovery that led to the first of the Khmer Rouge trials and the conviction of Duch last year. Duch was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Four other defendants are facing trial this year.

“I wanted to know what it was that had turned a seemingly ordinary man from one of the poorer parts of Cambodia into one of the worst mass murderers of the twentieth century,” Mr. Dunlop wrote in the prologue to his book.

Myanmar presents a similar challenge, he said.

“One of the problems of Burma is that it reads better as a story when you have forces of evil pitted against the forces of good, symbolized by Aung San Suu Kyi,” Mr. Dunlop said.

“I think it’s not enough to condemn people or regimes but we have to look past that,” he said. “The world is not divided into good and evil, with us or against us, black and white, but is much more nuanced. If we stop looking at the world in this polarized way, we stand a greater chance of trying to prevent these crimes.”

In the cases of both the Khmer Rouge, who ruled Cambodia in the late 1970s, and the army of Myanmar, he said, “It’s crucial to look at the world of the perpetrators, to contextualize the evidence and the people rather than seeing them as monsters, but see them as human beings, and that we are all capable of doing these kinds of things in given circumstances.”

For example, as Mr. Myo Myint said in the interview, the soldiers who shot down civilians in pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and 2007 in Myanmar were drawn from distant battlefields where they had been fighting separatist ethnic armies.

“The soldiers are uneducated and don’t understand politics,” he said. “They are told that everyone who supports the demonstrations and opposes the government are enemies of the people and we have the right to kill these people.”

For them, the killings are not only justified but necessary, he said. “It is our duty.”

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Cambodia Should Rethink Its Plan For NGOs

The Cambodian government is considering plans to impose controls on the large number of foreign and domestic non-governmental organizations.

01-21-2011

Voice of America

Editorials

We urge Cambodian officials to reconsider whether such a measure is needed.

The Cambodian government is considering plans to impose controls on the large number of foreign and domestic non-governmental organizations that operate medical, educational, humanitarian, civil society and other programs in their country.

The law, as currently drafted and announced in December, would impose burdensome restrictions on civil society organizations, including requirements to register and report their activities every year, in addition to several other vague requirements for obtaining permission to continue their work. The Royal Government of Cambodia says the law is needed to increase transparency among the Southeast Asian nation's network of NGOs, and prevent terrorists and criminal gangs from using groups based in Cambodia as fronts for their operations.

The move is drawing mounting criticism from civil society representatives, who fear the law represents an effort by the government to control what their groups do for the Cambodian people and where they do it. Small community-based groups say compliance with the current draft law would be difficult and could threaten their very existence.

The United States shares these concerns, opposing any law that constrains the legitimate activities of NGOs. We urge Cambodian officials to reconsider whether such a measure is needed.

A strong and free civil society is vital to strengthening democratic institutions, enhancing economic and humanitarian well-being and promoting a sustainable economy. In Cambodia, as in many other countries, NGOs and other similar groups make important contributions in these areas. Government officials there have asked for input from civil society representatives about the draft law, and the United States urges the Royal Government of Cambodia to take their concerns very seriously as they move forward on the issue.

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Eviction day to be remembered

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Staff prepare for the dinner crowd at the iBBQ restaurant on the site of the former Dey Krahorm community in Phnom Penh’s Chamkarmon district yesterday.

via CAAI

Friday, 21 January 2011 15:01 Kim Yuthana

About 200 former residents of Phnom Penh’s Dey Krahorm community will return to the site for a ceremony on Monday, the second anniversary of their violent eviction by police and construction workers employed by developer 7NG.

Chan Vichet, a Dey Krahorm representative, said the gathering would remind people about the 2009 eviction and also allow villagers to convey the hardships they have suffered since their relocation.

On the morning of January 24, 2009, Dey Krahorm was bulldozed by police and construction workers hired by 7NG. Its residents were relocated to Damnak Trayeung, a site on the outskirts of Phnom Penh that lacked basic services and infrastructure such as shelter, sewage systems and fresh water.

Sia Phearum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force, said that while service provision had improved at the Damnak Trayeung relocation site, a recent study found 70 percent of residents had moved back to the city so they could work and earn money.

“Income generation is a problem for people in Damnak Trayeung,” Sia Phearum said. “It is hard for them with their future, many own small businesses and have to rent rooms in the city.”

He said the quality of services was also lower than that in the city, with some children abandoning their studies because of the poor quality of the schools in the area.

Scant development

According to a billboard posted outside the 3.6-hectare Dey Krahorm site in June, 7NG said it had plans to build luxury apartments, as well as offices and retail space on the site.

To date, however, the site has not been significantly developed by 7NG: It holds a company building, soccer ground, some multi-purpose sporting facilities and a restaurant.

7NG’s Executive Director Srey Chanthou has said development of the site was set to begin in 2011 and 2012, but no definite start date has even been given.

“We don’t have a plan for what we will do with the rest of the land after we finish building the fitness centre. We don’t know what we will do in the future,” he said in June.

Vuthy Tung, supervisor of the 7NG sports areas, said the football fields were rented out for US$70 per match.

Khun Pov, 36, a former Dey Krahorm resident, now living in Damnak Trayeung village, said he was disappointed 7NG had not heeded residents’ request for proper compensation, and that there had since been so little development at the site.

“I feel pain when I’m reminded that 7NG forced us to leave and used machines to knock down our homes under the tears and protests of residents and under the watch of rights groups,” Khun Pov said.

7NG chairman Srey Sothea could not be reached for comment yesterday.

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Lawyers appeal to Cambodian Supreme Court to free Veera

January 21, 2011
The Nation

Cambodian lawyers submitted another appeal yesterday to the Supreme Court to free on bail Thai nationalist activist Veera Somkwamkid - the only one of seven Thai nationals being held in jail for allegedly entering the country illegally.

The appeal court earlier rejected Veera's bail request on the grounds he might hurt public order and would not be safe if freed from jail.

The Supreme Court will take five days to consider the new request, Thai foreign minister's secretary Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said.

Veera and the other six Thais - including Democrat lawmaker Panich Vikitsreth - were arrested near Sa Kaew province's Ban Nong Chan while inspecting the disputed border area on December 29.

They were charged with illegal entry and unlawfully entering a military zone, charges that could bring them combined prison sentences of 18 months.

Six were freed on bail but had to stay in Cambodia awaiting the trial, which was set for February 1.

Veera and his aide Ratree Pipatanapaiboon were additionally charged with espionage for allegedly collecting information that could harm Cambodia's security. They could face a maximum 10 years' jail if convicted.

Unlike Ratree, who was temporarily freed on bail despite facing the same charge, Veera insisted he was arrested in territory under Thai sovereignty and did not come under Cambodian court jurisdiction. He refused to cooperate with the court in the prosecution and would not accept a translator provided by the court, requesting a new one from the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh.

The Thai government was unable to intervene in the case and will not oppose the Cambodian judicial system's work until proceedings end.

A speedy trial was the only option the Thai government had requested from the Cambodian authorities, Chavanond said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called a meeting with officials, including Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, to seek solutions to help the seven Thais.

Abhisit asked the two ministers to find channels to help bring back all the Thai nationals quickly and safely, Chavanond said after the meeting.

The Thai government is under pressure from Veera's group, the Thai Patriots Network, which has been protesting in front of Government House demanding that officials take a tough stance on the Thais' release. They also demanded that senior officials - including Abhisit and Kasit - step down for their failure to help the seven Thais.

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CNVLD unveil Cup logo

Photo by: Photo Supplied

A poster released by the CNVLD shows the new 2011 WOVD Standing Volleyball World Cup logo ahead of the event this July.

via CAAI

Thursday, 20 January 2011 15:00 H S Manjunath

The Cambodian National Volleyball League (Disabled) has launched a new logo for the 2011 WOVD Standing Volleyball World Cup to be staged at the Olympic Stadium from July 21 to 26.

The design by graphic artist Keith Kelly features representations of Preah Vihear, one of the Kingdom’s world heritage sites, and a lotus flower, which is an important symbol in Buddhism.

CNVLD Secretary General Christopher Minko told The Post yesterday that preparations to host an unprecedented third successive World Cup in Phnom Penh had been proceeding at a “brisk pace”.

“We are determined to make this event the best ever and no effort will be spared to achieve this,” he said.

“As of now, Malaysia, Slovakia, Germany, Egypt, India, Poland and Sri Lanka have confirmed their participation. We are still awaiting word from USA, China, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Korea, Australia and Laos.

“Uzbekistan could be here as an exhibition team only,” Minko added.

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Local pair primed for event

Photo by: Sreng Meng Srun

National tennis team coach Braen Aneiros gives shot advice to Cambodia’s No 1 ranked player Bun Kenny at the National Training Centre ahead of this weekend’s start of the first ITF Men’s Futures event.

via CAAI

Thursday, 20 January 2011 15:00 H S Manjunath

Contrasting styles and diverse attributes make Bun Kenny and Tan Nysan an odd pair on the tennis court. But what unites them is the single-minded devotion to raising the Kingdom’s profile on an international stage.

They could not have hoped for a better opportunity to accomplish their mission than at the two back-to-back Men’s Futures events to be played on courts that they know like the back of their hands.

Both Bun Kenny and Tan Nysan figure in the main draw next week as wild cards and carry the aspirations of Cambodian tennis with them.

“The weight of expectation is quite huge on them, and we have to see how well they shoulder it,” National head coach Braen Aneiros told The Post yesterday morning after a practice session at the National Training Centre.

“Both have been working very hard on court and both have more muscle on their games,” added Aneiros.

“They are far more confident than they were before and it is a question of producing their best on a given day.”

However, the coach recognised the high standard of the field that will be attracted for the two US$15,000 events.

“It is a tough bunch to deal with and they know that. It is not easy for someone outside of the 1,000 rankings like Bun Kenny and Tan Nysan to beat one within that. But both are capable of causing flutters.”

The coach noted the pros and cons of playing at home.

“The home advantage could work in different ways for Bun Kenny and Tan Nysan. Kenny puts a lot of pressure on himself quite often, especially when he is surrounded by an expectant home crowd. He is the sort of a guy who is more relaxed when there is less attention on him, and he also gets thoughtful on the calibre of his opponents.

“Nysan on the other hand loves attention and he absolutely knows no pressure.”

Photo by: Sreng Meng Srun

Double SEA Games bronze medal winner Tan Nysan is Cambodia’s strongest hope for success at the Futures event next week.

Bun Kenny, who picked up his first ATP point a couple of months ago in Laos, admitted that he gets a bit edgy especially at the start of a match, but is working hard to get over it. “With Braen and Nysan helping me along I think I can work this problem out,” he said.

“I am hitting much better now and Nysan as a sparring partner has been a great inspiration. I can feel that change since I started knocking with him nearly a month ago.

Tan Nysan, meanwhile, exerted his trademark confidence ahead of his first return to competitive tennis since March of last year.

“I am ready for it. I have never felt better with myself and my game,” he said.

“It has taken me a while to get back to shape and regain my touch after nursing an ankle injury for months. I am happy with the way things are right now.”

Nysan’s flamboyance goes well with his known aggression on court to make him a fearless opponent. His typical robust approach and disregard for the reputation of his opponents has earned him plaudits at the two previous SEA Games held in Thailand and Laos. Against all odds and expectation, Nysan netted a bronze medal at each tournament.

“Nysan was a revelation then; he is our ray of hope now,” said Tennis Federation of Cambodia secretary General Tep Rithivit.

“It is as much their [Nysan and Kenny’s] best chance as it is ours to make a mark on the international stage.”

It will come as a relief to both local stars that they will go directly into the Main draw rather than face the rigours of qualifying rounds.

“Here in the main draw they know that they have to win just one match to pick up a [world ranking] point, but they need to win three if they have to go through the qualifiers, and they are never easy,” said coach Aneiros.

The countdown for the two US$15,000 events has already begun, and by 8:30pm Cambodian time today the list of direct entries for the main draw will be finalised at the London headquarters of the International Tennis Federation.

The first round of the qualifiers will be played on Sunday with the eight qualifiers to be identified the following day. The first round of the main draw will be spread over Monday and Tuesday.

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