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Mekong Dams Could Threaten Aquatic Life

2010-01-11T21:45:00.000-08:00

Grilled food stall in Vientiane that sells aqua-cultured Tilapia fish (Photo: VOA - D Schearf)Vientiane 11 January 2010Daniel SchearfVoice of America
Plans to build a series of hydropower dams on the Mekong River could threaten already endangered species in the waterway.The Mekong River is the lifeblood of Southeast Asia, with the largest inland fisheries in the world.About 40 million people depend to some degree on the fisheries, worth about $2.5 billion a year.But fisheries experts say plans by Cambodia, Laos and Thailand to build hydropower dams on the Mekong would block fish migration, threatening already endangered species.Environmental activists say plans by Laos to build a dam in the Don Sahong area near the Cambodian border could doom the nearly extinct Irrawaddy dolphin.Soung Ma earns money taking tourists for a rare glimpse of the dolphins. "Local people normally work in dolphin tourism. Everyone has a small boat and can pick up tourists and get money from tourists every day or every month depending on the season," Ma said.The Mekong River Commission works to manage river resources among Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.Jeremy Bird heads the commission and says balancing the pros and cons of hydropower dams is the biggest challenge facing the Mekong basin. "We're talking about the livelihoods of millions of people but we're also talking about a huge potential resource of hydropower which can not only provide foreign revenues to the countries, but can those revenues can then be used to finance other development programs and help countries meet their targets on poverty alleviation and millenium development goals," Bird said.Some dams on rivers feeding the Mekong have disrupted fish populations.Fishermen may have to turn to aquaculture like this tilapia farm in Vientiane to make up for the lost wild catch.Suchart Ingthamjitr, a program officer at the MRC's fishery program, says fish farms help meet demand. "The price of wild fish is higher than cultured fish. But, the problem of wild fish is seasonality," Ingthamjitr said. "Yeah, you can catch and have the wild fish depend on the time of year. But, for tilapia all year round you can buy it in the market."As the sun sets on the Mekong, fishermen try their luck.Environmental and fisheries experts say damming the Mekong will change some of their traditional ways.

Thailand backs Korean role [in Thailand's Cobra Gold miliraty exercises]

2010-01-11T21:44:00.000-08:00

12/01/2010Wassana NanuamBangkok Post
The armed forces have defended the involvement of South Korea in the Cobra Gold military exercises for the first time this year.Gen Ratchakrit Kanchanawat, the joint chief of staff of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, said the exercises were designed for peace-keeping purposes and had nothing to do with the "balance of global power".South Korea, which will send 411 soldiers with their own weapons, has been given permission to play an active part in the annual Cobra Gold exercises with the backing of co-hosts Thailand and the US, Gen Ratchakrit said yesterday.South Korea had been an observer at the exercises for many years and shared similar military doctrines with Thailand and the US, so their participation was welcomed, he said."Don't be concerned about the balance of global or regional powers because of the inclusion of South Korea," he said. "Our aim is to hold a military exercise, keep peace and promote humanitarian aid."Korea is the sixth country to take part in Cobra Gold, launched in 1982, joining Thailand, the US, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore. Under a Thai-US agreement, up to 10 countries could become involved in the exercises.An army source said the US took an active role in backing Korea's participation after reports of joint military cooperation between North Korea and Burma.It could be the first step for South Korea to have a more active role in Southeast Asia, the source said.More than 11,600 soldiers, mostly from the US with 6,217 troops, will gather in provinces such as Rayong, Phetchaburi and Lop Buri from Feb 1 to 11.Meanwhile, the US is also planning joint exercises with Cambodia, but Thai military officials are unconcerned even though Thailand has been at odds with its neighbour on overlapping boundaries."We understand the US. It is a drill for peace-keeping," Gen Ratchakrit said.

Thaksin assets-case hearing today

2010-01-11T21:43:00.000-08:00

January 12, 2010The Nation
The Supreme Court today is holding its second-last hearing in the Bt76-billion assets case against convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders has scheduled sessions for today and Friday before ruling on whether the assets should be devolved to the state.Due to testify today are representatives from the Stock Exchange of Thailand, National Telecommunications Commission, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry and Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).Former ICT minister Sitthichai Pokaiudom and TDRI researcher Somkiart Tangkijvanit will be among the witnesses today.

07 January 1979 marked only a change from one communist regime to another: Thach Setha

2010-01-11T21:42:00.001-08:00

Officials Argue Two Sides of Divisive DayBy Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer Washington11 January 2010
A senior Cambodian People’s Party official defended the government’s celebrating of the contentious Jan. 7 holiday on Thursday, claiming it was a day of victory and arguing against criticism that the day merely marks the beginning of an occupation.Vietnamese forces ousted the Khmer Rouge from Phnom Penh on Jan. 7, 1979, beginning a decade-long occupation that saw years of civil war between government forces and the guerrillas.CPP lawmaker Cheam Yiep said the day was one the ruling party was thankful for, because it augured peace and led to victories in future general elections for the party. The day marked one of survival for Cambodia, he said by phone Thursday,as a guest on “Hello VOA.”However, a second guest on the show, Thach Setha, a senior member of the Sam Rainsy Party, who joined in the Phnom Penh studio, said the day marked only a change from one communist regime to another.Were the Vietnamese intentions benevolent, the country would have done more before 1979, he said. The Vietnamese retained an embassy until 1977, he said, when Phnom Penh was “a ghost city,” and waited until the Cambodians were nearly “extinguished,” before bringing in troops two years later.“So Cambodia suffered by others’ politics,” he said. “They killed us to become ghosts, and then they rose up, wanting us to thank them. So Cambodia, please, understand this history.

US Congressional Delegation Discusses Trade

2010-01-11T21:42:00.000-08:00

Left to right: Joseph Cao (R-LA), Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa) and Mike Honda (D-CA) (Photo: Sok Serey, RFA)By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh07 January 2010
Prime Minister Hun Sen and three US congressmen discussed an extension of trade relations between the two countries on Thursday, while raising the possibility of debt reduction.The congressmen—Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa; Mike Honda, a Democratic from California; and Joseph Cao, a Republican from Louisiana—met with Hun Sen, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh“We did touch on the issue of debt obligations, also on questions of trade and tariffs in trying to bring Cambodia’s trade and economic needs [and] better status especially in trade with the United States,” Faleomavaega told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport Thursday afternoon.The US delegation is scheduled to travel to Laos, having already visited Vietnam. The tour will conclude in Japan.Cambodia owes the US more than $300 million from the Lon Nol period, a debt Cambodian officials maintain should be erased. Faleomavaega said he told Hun Sen he would take the matter to discuss with other US lawmakers.Debt forgiveness could help Cambodia, he said. Faleomavaega said he wanted to play a role in bettering the relationship between Cambodia and the US.Eang Sophaleth, an adviser to Hun Sen, told reporters the premier had thanked the men for continued economic support from the US and was happy to promote a relationship between the two countries.

Video Meeting Joins Local, National Government

2010-01-11T21:41:00.000-08:00

By Chun Sakada, VOA KhmerOriginal report from Phnom Penh11 January 2010
Local authorities and military commanders joined a weekly meeting of ministers Friday through video conferencing in Phnom Penh that officials say will strengthen communication between central government and outlying authorities.Governors, council chiefs and other officials from 24 municipalities and provinces joined in discussions at the weekly Council of Ministers meeting, along with six commanders from military zones, in what Prime Minister Hun Sen called a historic moment.The meeting was meant to “speed up” human resources development in technology to provincial and city governors and others, according to a statement from the Council of Ministers. Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, said the opposition supported the measure, “to help promote the prevention of corruption, deforestation, road reparation, project development and the protection of people’s security and safety.”However, while an effort to strengthen its effectiveness through technology was positive, he said, “the government should additionally increase its willingness to respect and fairly implement the law.”Land-grabbing and other “injustices” continue to plague the populace, he said.Ny Chakrya, a lead investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said the video conferencing would provide an element of transparency to the government, while “providing urgent information to local government’s to fulfill their work and to agree on the goals of the government.”The video conferencing could be shown on television networks for people to watch, he said, “because people sometimes want to know what the cabinet decides and whether the local government fully implements the decisions of the cabinet.”

Trial date set in Rainsy case

2010-01-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

Monday, 11 January 2010Meas SokcheaThe Phnom Penh Post
Observers will want to know whether or not the trial will give justice.SVAY Rieng provincial court has summoned opposition leader Sam Rainsy and five villagers to appear in court on January 27 to face charges stemming from the removal of wooden markers near the border with Vietnam.Choung Choungy, Sam Rainsy’s lawyer, said Sunday that he received a court summons signed by court prosecutor Keo Thea on Friday and would appear to defend his client, who is currently overseas.“I maintain my stance that this story is not a criminal case, and that [Sam Rainsy] is not wrong because he did what he did as a representative of the people,” he said.“This is not a criminal case, but a political story.”Sam Rainsy has been charged with racial incitement and purposely destroying border-demarcation poles after a Buddhist ceremony in Svay Rieng province’s Chantrea district on October 25. Villagers claimed the markers were placed in their fields by Vietnamese authorities, prompting opposition concerns that Cambodian authorities are turning a blind eye to border encroachments.A warrant was issued for Sam Rainsy’s arrest after he failed to appear in court on December 28 for questioning in relation to the incident.Five local villagers – Meas Srey, 39, Prom Chea, 41, Prak Koeun, 38, Prak Chea, 28, and Neang Phally, 39 – were also charged with destroying the border markers and have been summoned to appear in court on the same day.Two of those named, Meas Srey and Prom Chea, have been detained by local authorities, and the other three remain on the run after failing to appear in court last month.Nget Nara, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, said the trial of Sam Rainsy and the villagers would draw the attention of many national and international human rights observers.“This story is very important because it is related to the border issue and the lifting of Sam Rainsy’s [parliamentary] immunity. Observers will want to know whether or not the trial will give justice to Sam Rainsy and those people,” he said.Judge Koam Chhean, who is handling the case, could not be reached on Sunday.

Cambodian FM to attend ASEAN meetings in Vietnam

2010-01-11T21:39:00.000-08:00

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong will attend a series of ASEAN meetings to be held in Da Nam, Vietnam, on Jan. 13 to 14, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.Foreign ministers from 10 member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will discuss measures to move forward community building process and external relations, especially for the year 2010, according to the release.Hor Namhong will also attend the 4th Foreign Ministerial Meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) due to be held from Jan. 16 to 17 in Tokyo, Japan.On the sideline of the meeting, Hor Namhong and Hugo Martinez, minister of foreign affairs of El Salvador, will sign the joint communique on establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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1 comments:
Anonymous said...
Gov't needs to find ways to work together as a team. Life is not always about you or me, its about "us", if we keep on fighting, we will lose everything. All gov't need to focus on what else need to be done? avoid personal conflict at all cost! if khmer don't love khmer no one in the world will!. Alot of us who are living abroad have faced with all sort of challenges in their lives, like struggling with English as second language, racism and other intimidation like even you have completed a degree they would still favour their citizen over you which is normal because they love their people more than you. So, if you don't love each other you will allow other to abuse you. One other thing is no other place like home, so gov't need to act now and act fast to have a system in place to help the poor. Gov't need to focus on generating income from race, fish, oil, gold etc. It would be great if gov't build 1000s of factories around the country, each factory, e.g. specialised in different goods, like dried fish packaging factory etc and than sign a contract with buyers oversea etc. Don't let other nation buy cheap from you and then they will make millions of it while you earn almost nothing!!!!. Be smarter! People come first or else it will be like pol pot where he kept all the money in swiz and now all gone for nothing where all of these monies used to belong to the death. Now swis have it all. k. Intelligent

Thais protest 'double standards'

2010-01-11T21:38:00.001-08:00

Police said thousands hiked up a mountain to Surayud's home but he was not in [Reuters]Monday, January 11, 2010 Al Jazeera
Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters have rallied against a royal adviser they blame for masterminding the 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra from office.Members of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) gathered outside the rural home of Surayud Chulanont located at Khao Yai Thiang, about 175km northeast of the capital Bangkok.Police said some 5,000 protesters hiked up a mountain to Surayud's home on Monday demanding he give up the house, which they say was illegally built in a state-run forest preserve.They also want him charged with trespassing on public land.Police Colonel Direk Plangdee said the protest was peaceful and there were no arrests, adding that Surayud was not home at that time.No intentionLast week, prosecutors agreed that Surayud was not the rightful owner of the plot of land, which he will have to return to the state.
"This area was meant to be allocated to the landless. What is this if not unlawful privilege?" - Jatuporn Phromphan, UDD protest leaderTanapit Moonprauk, a spokesman for the attorney-general's office, said prosecutors would not press charges against Surayud because he had not intended to break the law.Surayud sits on the Privy Council and the UDD says members of this body orchestrated the bloodless military coup that ousted Thaksin in September 2006.A former army chief, Surayud became interim prime minister one month later and served until elections in December 2007.Since the coup, supporters and opponents of Thaksin have repeatedly taken to the streets to spar over who has the right to rule the country, sometimes sparking violence.Double standardsThe UDD, which draws its support largely from the rural poor who helped Thaksin twice win election landslides, accuse Surayud and Thailand's powerful elite of hypocrisy."We want to tell the international community that a double standard exists in the country," Jatuporn Phromphan, a protest leader, told the rally.He said Surayud was able to escape charges "while ordinary people have been sued by the state for trespassing and encroaching on the forest reserve"."This area was meant to be allocated to the landless. What is this if not unlawful privilege?" added Jatuporn.The protest by the so-called "red shirts" is seen as a prelude to a bid later this month to bring down the embattled coalition government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Thai prime minister.Political crisisThe UDD has planned a prolonged anti-government rally while the pro-Thaksin Puea Thai party prepares for a censure debate, probably in February, to exploit cracks in Abhisit's coalition.It comes ahead of a court verdict on whether to confiscate $2.3bn of assets belonging to the Shinawatra family.Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Thai political scientist, said it was unlikely Monday's demonstration or rallies later this month would succeed in toppling the government.He said Abhisit's best hope of easing Thailand's polarising five-year political crisis was to engage with the UDD, which he says cannot succeed "without powerful backers"."Yes, there is much hypocrisy and double standard. They can protest and cause rumblings, but it is unlikely to derail the government," Thitinan said."Right now, it appears the government is winning, but they would be making a mistake if they don't address [UDD] grievances, setting the stage for more frustration and anger."

China's soft power hardens in Cambodia

2010-01-11T21:38:00.000-08:00

Jan 12, 2010 By Sebastian StrangioAsia Times (Hong Kong)
PHNOM PENH - A day after Cambodian authorities spirited 20 ethnic Uighur asylum seekers out of the country on an unmarked charter flight, China's Vice President Xi Jinping touched down at Siem Reap International Airport. During his three-day visit in late December, the Chinese leader signed an unprecedented US$1.2 billion in economic aid agreements with the Phnom Penh government, while rights groups and Western governments howled condemnation over the sudden deportations.The deported Uighurs hailed from China's restive northwest Xinjiang province and were part of a group of 22 who had drifted into Cambodia with the aid of Christian missionary networks in November after braving the long and arduous overland journey from China. Uighur rights groups said that the group fled China after witnessing bloody clashes between Chinese security forces and Uighur demonstrators on July 5 in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital. Two of the group remain on the run. A Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Koy Kuong, said that the Uighurs - who had applied for political asylum through the local office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) - were deported for breaching Cambodia's immigration laws. "We have not specifically targeted these people - we do this in general for all foreign nationals who enter Cambodia illegally," he said at the time.Despite the Cambodian denials, the nature and timing of the seemingly hurried deportations are a vivid illustration of the new bonds of patronage and political accommodation now linking Beijing and Phnom Penh. In recent years, China's global sales pitch - hefty amounts of economic aid disentangled from human rights or good governance conditions - has found a willing recipient in Phnom Penh."China respects the political decisions of Cambodia," said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in September, during a ceremony marking the construction of a $128 million Chinese-funded bridge. "[T]hey build bridges and roads and there are no complicated conditions," he added.The newly promised $1.2 billion in economic assistance comes in addition to the $880 million in loans and grants Cambodia has received from Beijing since 2006, including finance for the $280 million Kamchay hydropower dam in Kampot province and the monolithic $30 million Council of Ministers building in Phnom Penh, given as a "gift" from the Chinese government.The arrival of the Uighurs was an unprecedented test for Hun Sen's regime, forcing it to choose between acquiescing to the apparent demands of its top regional patron and its conflicting obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. To some international observers, China's intent to secure the deportation of the Uighurs from Cambodia was clear from the outset."China takes a very hard line on Uighurs who seek out shelter in other countries, as China does not admit that there are conditions in Xinjiang, where most Uighurs live, that can be oppressive and might cause Uighurs to flee the country," said Josh Kurlantzick, a fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington.The Uighur American Association, a US-based Uighur exile group, claims that in late 2001 and early 2002, Nepal forcibly returned at least two Uighurs to Chinese authorities in Xinjiang, one of whom was executed in 2003 despite having registered with the UNHCR office in Kathmandu. Kurlantzick said the Chinese government has pushed hard to have Uighurs sent back to China from Central Asia and protested aggressively against the transfer of Uighurs held by the US government at Guantanamo Bay to third countries.That includes a strong Chinese Foreign Ministry statement issued on Friday warning Switzerland against accepting Uighur detainees that Beijing says it considers terrorists and a threat to its national security.Overlooked obligationsRights activists and UNHCR officials have demonstrated increasing faith in Cambodia's willingness to abide by the Refugee Convention's protocols in processing asylum cases. In an article published by UNHCR in October 2008, Cambodia was hailed as an emerging "refugee model" for Southeast Asia.The article followed the signing of an agreement between UNHCR and the Cambodian government that month that began the transfer of all asylum cases - except ethnic Montagnards from Vietnam - to a new Cambodian Refugee Office housed at the Department of Immigration. The article described the change of location as "an important move - symbolic of this country's determination to take on new responsibilities in protecting refugees' human rights".The transfer of powers was completed by a government sub-decree signed by Hun Sen on December 17 - just two days before the Uighurs' deportation. Rights activists familiar with the case said that on the previous day, UNHCR vehicles were used to round up the 20 Uighurs and take them to a safe house under joint government-UNHCR administration. On the night of December 18, the Uighurs were then allegedly forced at gunpoint to board Cambodian police vehicles and flown out the following night to an unknown destination in China.Andrew Swan, a project coordinator at the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, described the deportation as a "bolt from the blue" that reversed an earlier apparent willingness to process fairly the Uighur asylum cases. "Prior to the extradition ... there were few indications that the Cambodian government would interfere in the cases of the 22 Uighurs," he said. "Our confidence has been proved tragically wrong, and I believe it will take many, many years for Cambodia to regain both its regional and its international stature."Denise Coughlan, director of Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), which was involved with the Uighur cases, said she was "shocked" at the Cambodian government's actions after formally requesting UNHCR assistance to determine the status of the Uighur group and offering to provide a safe house while their applications were pending. "Like sheep going to the slaughter, the people went to the safe house clearly believing they were going to be protected," she said.The deportation also prompted a storm of diplomatic condemnation. A statement issued by acting US State Department spokesman Gordon Daguid on December 21 said the US "strongly opposed" the deportation, warning it would "affect Cambodia's relationship with the US and its international standing". Graham Watson, a British member of the European Parliament, issued a statement on January 7 decrying the deportation and calling for a fair accounting of the two Uighurs remaining in the country."Cambodia's sneaky decision to extradite 20 Uighurs to China is a disgrace," he said in the statement. "The Cambodian government should give a proper account of why it chose to act in this way."Yet it was perhaps unsurprising that Beijing's $1.2 billion economic aid carrot would trump Cambodia's loose legal obligations under the Refugee Convention. Meanwhile, criticism has also been directed at UNHCR's Cambodia-based office for putting so much trust in the government's claims.Sara Colm, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, said it was "astonishingly poor timing and a gross error in judgment" for the UNHCR to hand control of refugee-processing - and the Uighur cases in particular - to the Cambodian government. "The bottom line is that Cambodia flagrantly violated its obligations under the Refugee Convention, which ended tragically for the 20 Uighurs," she said.Following the deportation, Cambodian officials also vented their frustration at the UNHCR for putting them in a compromised position with the Uighurs. They openly derided UNHCR officials for dragging their feet in processing the asylum applications."[The] UNHCR is the laziest office in Cambodia," said government spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith on December 21. "If they [granted refugee status] within a few days, those people would have been moved to other places, but they were slow and kept them for about a month." He also accused the agency of leaking the story to the press in order to "beat a drum" against the government, forcing it to begin investigations into the whereabouts of the 22 asylum seekers.Kitty McKinsey, the UNCHR's spokesperson in Asia, said that despite the "aberration" of the deportations, which she claims the UNHCR took extraordinary steps to prevent, the essence of the problem is that only states have the power to provide protection to asylum seekers. "We work very diligently and sincerely to assist the government and provide protection, but if a state has signed the Refugee Convention, it's up to the state itself to provide protection," she said.Sebastian Strangio is a reporter at the Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia.

Abhisit urged to opposed to Preah Vihear administration plan

2010-01-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

January 12, 2010The Nation
Since Cambodia was to propose the administration and conservation plan for Preah Vihear on February 1, PM Abhisit Vejjajiva should express Thailand's stance that Thailand has never agreed and joined in the plan making, an academic said Monday.ML Wanwipa Charoonroj of Thammasat University's Thai Studies Institute said the Cambodian plan would be submitted to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris to seek the World Heritage Committee approval in the 34th general meeting in Brazil's Brasilia City.She urged Abhisit to notify the World Heritage Center in Paris about the Administrative Court ruling that evoked the PM Samak Sundaravej's cabinet resolution on June 17, 2008 to assign former foreign minister Noppadol Pattama to sign a Thai-Cambodian statement over the matter.

The Dragon's Swagger

2010-01-11T21:36:00.001-08:00

January 11, 2010By ROGER COHENThe New York Times
BEIJING — A U.S. official here told me he was “getting a little nervous about 2010” when it comes to Chinese-American relations. I’d say there’s plenty of cause for that. I’m not optimistic about the world’s most important relationship in the short term.The Obama administration came in with a deeply held philosophical view about making the Chinese stakeholders, and partners, in an interconnected world. Human rights complaints were muted, the Dalai Lama put on hold, and President Obama swung into town in November with arms outstretched to the rising behemoth.The Chinese were polite enough, if less so at the Copenhagen climate talks a month later, but they’re not buying this touchy-feely interconnection thing. When you’re sitting on sums north of $2 trillion in reserves, riding three decades of near double-digit growth, and just trucked past the United States to become the world’s largest auto market, nationalism trumps globalism.Think of the headiest moments of U.S. expansion — the Gilded Age or the Roaring Twenties — to get some idea of Chinese swagger and possibility.It’s been a rough two months since that November visit. China has snubbed Obama.Top of Obama’s human rights list when he met President Hu Jintao was the case of Liu Xiaobo, the principal author of a pro-democracy manifesto. Liu’s since been sentenced, on Christmas Day, to 11 years in prison. Take that.Top of Obama’s nonproliferation list was Iran and the need for a united front on its nuclear program. China has since said “sanctions themselves are not an end” as the United States tries to harness support for them. Take that, too.Top of Obama’s trade list was the need for China to allow its currency, the renminbi, to appreciate rather than pegging it at an artificially low rate that spurs Chinese exports and, in effect, keeps jobs in Guangzhou as it kills them in Ohio. But a basic rule in China is that it looks inward before it looks outward. Its cheap-currency job-hoarding is about Chinese social stability, which is Job One for Hu and his cohorts, so there’s no sign of any movement.Take that, for good measure, Mr. President — and in a year with a U.S. mid-term election where disappearing jobs are going to haunt Obama and the Democrats.Then there was Copenhagen, of course, where Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s treatment of Obama left a bad taste in Washington; and the forced repatriation of Uighurs who’d fled to Cambodia from China, which infuriated Washington; and the execution of a U.K. citizen with mental problems, which dismayed Washington (and left British leaders seething). Well, you get the idea.“Things are much tougher than I thought possible a couple of months ago,” William McCahill, a former U.S. diplomat who heads a Beijing research company, told me. “With the mid-terms and the Chinese inching toward their succession in 2012, a period when hard-line positions get staked, you can expect the rhetoric to pitch up.”It already has. Since I arrived in China, newspapers have been awash in Chinese outrage at reports of the Obama administration’s approval of a sale by Lockheed Martin of advanced Patriot air defense missiles to Taiwan, the self-governing island that China views as a renegade province. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spoke of “severe consequences” from the sale, part of a $6.5 billion arms package for Taiwan approved under the Bush administration.I have a double reaction to this Taiwan arms contract. On the one hand, Obama’s been stiffed, the United States is obliged under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 to provide arms of a defensive nature to Taiwan, and China responds better to resolve than all that interconnected globe stuff. On the other, come on! Relations between Taipei and Beijing have never been as good, you’re never ever going to get a Chinese buy-in to real cooperation as long as it views Washington as meddling with its core strategic interests in this way, and “one country, three systems” looks a thousand times more likely to me within the next half-century than a Taiwan war that would shred Chinese stability.Of these reactions, the latter is stronger because Obama is accepting a core antagonism of interest in the Chinese relationship even as he’s talked up cooperation. Perhaps that’s inevitable between the world’s superpower and its ultimate likely successor; but the Taipei deal guarantees it.“The arms sales are stupid,” Chu Shulong, a political scientist often critical of the Chinese government, told me. “Yes, Taiwan and its democracy are important for your credibility in Asia, but what’s more important, that or the mainland? As long as America does this, it will be perceived as wanting to check China, divide China and challenge China’s fundamental national interests.”The painful condition of the United States and China is that they are codependent, through trade and debt, but antagonistic. As elsewhere, Obama has changed language but not reality. I see a 2010 of rising protectionism, suspended military dialogue, Iranian discord, human rights disappointments and wars of words.It could be worse. I don’t see outright confrontation now or any time. China wouldn’t risk its rise with that.

Cambodia: Program Inspires Students to Dream Big

2010-01-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

1/11/2010 Source: World Bank
Meas Sokhunthea, a shy 8th grade student at Preah An Kosa secondary school in Siem Reap town, has wanted to be a teacher since she was a little girl. “With the scholarship that I’ve been given and my mom’s strong support for my studies, I believe I will reach my goal,” she said.Sokhunthea is one of 36,000 lower-secondary and primary students who received scholarships through a component of the Education Sector Support Project (ESSP), which is financed by the World Bank in Cambodia. Under the program, students will receive scholarships ranging from US$45 to US$60 per year to support their study. Sokhunthea got US$45, which she used to buy her uniform, books, pen and her school bag. Sokhunthea thanks the program because it helps to reduce her mother’s financial burden of buying her school materials.Her schoolmate, Cheng Sopheap, who received US$60, said the money is helping him to concentrate on his studies. He said it makes him less worried about finding money to buy school materials. Sopheap has three brothers and a sister; all of them are in school. “If there is no support, I won’t be here because my parents are very poor,” he said.In a classroom at Borkeo secondary school in Borkeo district, around 25 km from Ratanakiri provincial town, another 9th grade scholarship recipient, Pov Theary, has been given a scholarship for grades 7, 8 and 9. Each school year she gets $60. Like most of other scholarship students, Theary uses the scholarship money to buy books, uniforms, and a bicycle, and the rest she gives to her mom for buying food for the family.Theary had been asked by her mom to quit school when she finished grade 6 because her family could not support her continuing schooling.

Cambodia firm on Thaksin job

2010-01-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia, plunged to a new low late last year when Phnom Penh appointed the fugitive billionaire Thaksin (above) as an economics guru. -- PHOTO: ReutersJan 11, 2010 AFP
PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA refused on Monday to revoke the appointment of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an adviser and said it was up to Bangkok to resolve the diplomatic row between the two countries.Relations between Thailand and Cambodia, which have fought a string of deadly gunbattles on their border, plunged to a new low late last year when Phnom Penh appointed the fugitive billionaire Thaksin as an economics guru.Both recalled their ambassadors in November and expelled senior diplomats, while diplomatic tensions soared further when Phnom Penh refused to extradite Thaksin during his first visit to Cambodia.'It (the appointment of Thaksin) is the sovereign right of Cambodia. Thailand has no right to interfere in this issue,' Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told AFP in an interview. 'The appointment was made by the king's royal decree, we cannot revoke as (Thai Foreign Minister) Kasit Piromya has demanded.''It is not a childish game.'Thailand's Kasit said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Monday that the two countries could not normalise relations until Cambodia revoked Thaksin's appointment.

Cambodian govt returns air traffic firm to Thais

2010-01-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2010The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Cambodia's government on Monday returned management of the country's air traffic control company to its Thai owners, a small concession in a dispute over its overtures to ousted former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.Control of Cambodia Traffic Air Services, or CATS, was seized in November after Cambodia arrested a Thai employee, Siwarak Chutipong, on a spying charge. He allegedly stole the flight schedule of Thaksin -- who is a fugitive from Thai justice but who was visiting Cambodia as a VIP guest -- and gave it to a Thai diplomat.Other Thai employees of the company were barred from coming to its offices, but not otherwise penalized.Samart Corp., the parent firm of CATS, said Cambodia's Cabinet returned control of the company on Monday.In 2008, a Thai court sentenced Thaksin in absentia to two years in prison for violating a conflict of interest law, but he fled into exile before the verdict. He was ousted by a 2006 military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power.In early November, Cambodia named Thaksin as an adviser to the government on economic affairs. The appointment, and a subsequent visit by Thaksin, set off a diplomatic imbroglio in which the two countries recalled their ambassadors. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thaksin had been unfairly convicted for political reasons.Siwarak was convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail by a Cambodian court but was pardoned soon afterward and allowed to leave for Thailand.The statement by Samart quoted its president, Watchai Vilailuck, as expressing appreciation for the handover and saying that it signaled "that Kingdom of Cambodia is open and fair to the foreign businesses and shall win investor's confidence in the long-term."It said that Samart in 2001 won a concession to operate CATS for 32 years.

Cambodian FM to attend ASEAN meetings in Vietnam

2010-01-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong will attend a series of ASEAN meetings to be held in Da Nam, Vietnam, on Jan. 13 to 14, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.Foreign ministers from 10 member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will discuss measures to move forward community building process and external relations, especially for the year 2010, according to the release.Hor Namhong will also attend the 4th Foreign Ministerial Meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) due to be held from Jan. 16 to 17 in Tokyo, Japan.On the sideline of the meeting, Hor Namhong and Hugo Martinez, minister of foreign affairs of El Salvador, will sign the joint communique on establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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1 comments:
Anonymous said...
Gov't needs to find ways to work together as a team. Life is not always about you or me, its about "us", if we keep on fighting, we will lose everything. All gov't need to focus on what else need to be done? avoid personal conflict at all cost! if khmer don't love khmer no one in the world will!. Alot of us who are living abroad have faced with all sort of challenges in their lives, like struggling with English as second language, racism and other intimidation like even you have completed a degree they would still favour their citizen over you which is normal because they love their people more than you. So, if you don't love each other you will allow other to abuse you. One other thing is no other place like home, so gov't need to act now and act fast to have a system in place to help the poor. Gov't need to focus on generating income from race, fish, oil, gold etc. It would be great if gov't build 1000s of factories around the country, each factory, e.g. specialised in different goods, like dried fish packaging factory etc and than sign a contract with buyers oversea etc. Don't let other nation buy cheap from you and then they will make millions of it while you earn almost nothing!!!!. Be smarter! People come first or else it will be like pol pot where he kept all the money in swiz and now all gone for nothing where all of these monies used to belong to the death. Now swis have it all. k. Intelligent

China's soft power hardens in Cambodia

2010-01-11T21:30:00.000-08:00

Thais protest 'double standards'

2010-01-11T21:29:00.000-08:00

Cambodia: Program Inspires Students to Dream Big

2010-01-11T21:28:00.001-08:00

Abhisit urged to opposed to Preah Vihear administration plan

2010-01-11T21:28:00.000-08:00

The Dragon's Swagger

2010-01-11T21:27:00.000-08:00

Cambodia firm on Thaksin job

2010-01-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia, plunged to a new low late last year when Phnom Penh appointed the fugitive billionaire Thaksin (above) as an economics guru. -- PHOTO: Reuters

Jan 11, 2010
AFP

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA refused on Monday to revoke the appointment of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an adviser and said it was up to Bangkok to resolve the diplomatic row between the two countries.

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia, which have fought a string of deadly gunbattles on their border, plunged to a new low late last year when Phnom Penh appointed the fugitive billionaire Thaksin as an economics guru.

Both recalled their ambassadors in November and expelled senior diplomats, while diplomatic tensions soared further when Phnom Penh refused to extradite Thaksin during his first visit to Cambodia.

'It (the appointment of Thaksin) is the sovereign right of Cambodia. Thailand has no right to interfere in this issue,' Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told AFP in an interview. 'The appointment was made by the king's royal decree, we cannot revoke as (Thai Foreign Minister) Kasit Piromya has demanded.'

'It is not a childish game.'

Thailand's Kasit said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Monday that the two countries could not normalise relations until Cambodia revoked Thaksin's appointment.

CCHR's Public Forum Video now Available on Youtube

2010-01-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

CCHR is pleased to announce the availability of our latest public forum's video clips now available on you. Please follow the following link. We will continue to add as clips become available.
http://www.youtube.com/user/cchrcambodiaThe public forum is organized by CCHR in Chi Kreng, Siem Riep, a site of violence land eviction and arrests of villagers. Chi Kreng has been mostly off limit to NGOs and people were prevented from speaking out. CCHR was able to organize the forum where all were invited to free speak with parliamentarians and authorities.

Soil to Oil

2010-01-11T07:32:00.000-08:00

How Energy Grows on Jatropha Trees
By An Sithav & Sam CampbellEconomics Today
Cambodia remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels for electricity generation and transport, and with domestic sources of oil and gas not likely to be viable in the short term, biofuels are increasingly appealing.
Cambodia possesses domestic resources for the production of electricity from clean sources but making use of oil and gas reserves to fuel the growing demand from transport will take time, said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) report "Status and Potential for the Development of Biofuel and Rural Renewable Energy Cambodia."
"Biofuel is one option for use in transport, and biofuel will remain a worthwhile option for a diversified energy supply even after the country's oil reserves become available," added the report. In the short-tomedium term, both the urban and rural electricity supply will continue to be dominated by oil-fired generators, making decentralized biofuel production for transport and electricity an attractive option.
A Poisonous Blessing
While most efforts are focused on the production of gasoline-like ethanol from food crops like corn or cassava, the production of so-called bio-diesel from Jatropha curas could be much more suitable for Cambodia. Well-known in provincial Cambodia as Lahong Kwong in Khmer, the perennial poisonous shrub has been grown in Cambodia for generations, mostly as a natural fence to deter hungry cattle. The plant, originating in Central America, has spread to Asia and Africa. It is highly resistant to aridity, can be planted on marginal land unable to support food crops, and can grow even in the desert.
Peter Bolster, chief technical advisor for GTZ in Cambodia, said that Jatropha must not compete with the cultivation of food. But, since the plant also grows on soil not suitable for normal agricultural usage, dormant or fallow land can be put into biofuel production.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has said that Cambodia has great potential to expand jatropha plantations because of the many economic land concessions in Ratanakiri, Monldikiri, Stung Treng, Kampot, Koh Kong, Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang, each with unused or underutilized land of from 30,000 ha to 315,000 ha.
Already-cleared forest areas, unused land, and forest areas that have been converted to agriculture can be planted with Jatropha, and should not create competition with other food crops.
A Seedy Business
Jatropha seeds contain 27-40 percent oil (with an average of around 35 percent) that can be processed to produce a high-quality biodiesel fuel, usable in a standard diesel engine.
Jatropha oil can also be used as a lubricant and for making high-quality soap, and the seed cake residues from oil extraction can be used as a high-grade fertilizer and industrial fuel.
According the 2008 World Bank report "Agriculture for Development," biofuel offer a potential source of renewable energy and possible large new market for agricultural producers. "With few alternative fuels for transport, Brazil, the EU, the US, and several other countries are actively supporting the production of liquid biofuels," said the report. "As a renewable energy source, biofuel could help mitigate climate change and reduce dependent on oil in the transportation sector and may also offer larger new markets for agricultural producer that could stimulate rural growth and farm incomes."
The countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), namely Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, are poised to embark on, or have already begun, biofuel development, said ADB report.
The main advantages of biofuels are a reduced dependence on foreign oil and consequent savings on energy expenditure that could instead be invested in other development activities. Biofuel production can thus boost a country’s energy security. A second advantage is the potential of biofuel production to promote rural development. Biofuels present an opportunity to diversify agriculture and, if properly planned, can attract investment and new technology to invigorate agriculture.
By introducing a 5 percent biofuel blend into retailed fuels from 2011 to 2015, and a 10 percent blend by 2020, more than 300,000 tons of imported fuel could be saved every year. At current yields, this goal would be achievable if Cambodia planted 200,000 ha of Jatropha, a move that would create around 200,000 new jobs.

Cambodia still lacks anything approaching a national power grid, with power supplies generated by 24 unconnected, isolated grids, one in each of the 24 provinces. The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (MIME) has responsibility for 10 provinces and Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) runs operations in 14 provinces, including Phnom Penh. Generation relies mostly on imported diesel and 2 mini-hydro plants with an installed capacity of 13 MW, the report states.
In Cambodia, the price of electricity is much higher than neighboring countries, competing for the dubious honor of the world's most expensive supply.
"Many parts of the Cambodian countryside do not yet have electricity and this is hindering development," said Peter Bolster. Jatropha plantations owned by Cambodian farmers can generate energy locally for households without massive infrastructure investments, enabling a bottom up, 'grassroots' economic development, he claimed, not least since existing diesel generators can be used without modification.
Bun Haq, a Jathropha oil entrepreneur in Banteay Meanchey province, claimed it should be easy to understand why jatropha is a good crop. Every family can profit from growing Jatraopha, he said, because the 5-metre-tall plants can live for up to 70 years.
"I believe this experiment will work here. We are helping initiatives set up by communes that have no electricity yet," said Peter Bolster.
However, while Cambodian farmers traditionally extract Jatropha oil to burn for lighting, the growth of Jatropha plantations has been small-scale and sporadic. A recent interest in extracting the oil and marketing it on a commercial scale has attracted small-scale farmer entrepreneurs, the ADB report said, with farmers reporting that 1 ha of Jatropha yields about 2,500 kg of seeds with 25 percent oil content. Thus, an estimated total of 68,000 tons of Jatropha seeds are currently produced every year in Cambodia, with an annual yield potential of 17,000 tons of oil.
Efficient Processing
The plant’s fruits must be collected daily. Good timing is important: the majority of the fruit bunches must have turned from green to yellow, indicating that they are ripe and ready to be harvested. Unripe or overripe seeds result in reduced oil content.

Processing the fruits into fuel is surprisingly efficient, with little waste products. "Every level and stage has own financial benefits," said Dave Granger of of Biodiesel Cambodia, the first firm to commercially produce biodiesel in Cambodia.

Jatropha-derived biodiesel also has benefits over other veg biofuel feedstocks for the end consumer. "All biofuels have limitations as regards to the climates they can be used in," Granger explained. "Other types have high gel points [the temperature the liquid fuel turns into a gel], meaning colder countries are not an option. But Jatropha [derived biodiesel] gels in the negative temperatures," meaning any excess fuel can be exported.
Despite its advantages, Jatropha cultivation is not without hardships. An industry saturated with misinformation and confusion makes good advice for farmers hard to come by. Established opinions on Jatropha- derided as a worthless weed by many rural Khmers-combined with the bitter failure of other failed 'miracle crops', mean that convincing locals to start growing is not always easy, admitted Granger. A lack of technical skills and poor education can also lower yields, he said, and reliable markets closer to production centers are urgently needed.
Alexander Noack, an engineer, said that Cambodia's climate is ideal for the cultivation of Jatropha. "Here we do not have a cold winter like in Europe. The temperatures are constant and therefore very suitable for plant technology."
Jatropha has become a favorite response to biofuel criticism but experience cultivating Jatropha curcas as a crop is lacking, and agricultural techniques have yet to be established, said Chey Chong Siang, a researcher from the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan. "A period of research and development will be needed to establish Jatropha curcas as a plantation crop that can be cultivated on a commercial basis. Regardless, many countries and companies are going ahead and injecting capital into the development of large-scale plantations, which is an alarming situation."
Experience with biofuel processing in Cambodia is project-based, meaning a not-for-prrofit ethos that can often result in delays and inefficiency.

A lack of interest from investors means that there have been so far no large-scale Jatropha operations in Cambodia, said Douglas Clayton, CEO of Leopard Capital. "Jatropha hasn't yet attracted the large scale plantations necessary to support a significant biofuels refinery. It's a chicken-and-egg problem," he told Economics Today.
While the development of Jatropha plantations in Cambodia has slowed during the downturn, there is interest in the sector, said David Foo, a biodiesel consultant. "We are waiting for next year to invest in growing Jatropha because the economic crisis currently affected our source of funding. Now, we are negotiating with the US for next year," he told Economics Today. He said that cultivation of Jatropha in Cambodia has increased moderately since last year.
Q & A with David Granger, Biodiesel Cambodia

-->
By An SithavEconomics Today
Could you tell me briefly about Jatropha production in Cambodia? Which provinces have Jatropha production?
There is a Chinese company growing about 700ha in Kampong Speu, a Malaysian company growing about 60ha in Kampong Speu, (both of these companies have local Khmer partners). There is some local companies growing Jatropha in Battambong, Banteay Meanchey, and Pursat. There is also a Japanese company growing in Pursat and a Malaysian company doing contract farming in Banteay Meanchey. There are a coupe of other Japanese projects but I'm not sure where they are growing. I've also heard that MH- Biofuels (the ethanol people) have moved into Jatropha, but you'd need to contact them to confirm if this is true.
I estimate the national yearly production of Jatropha seed to be at about 300 tons of seed.
How is the market for Jatropha in Cambodia and elsewhere?
As a result of encouragement by MIME and other organizations, some local companies have joined early foreign investors as the first movers of growing Jatropha in Cambodia. These farms are now 2 to 3 years old and producing seed. Many of these first movers are now complaining of no market for their seeds, but in actually fact there is a market-it just doesn't offer the same high buying price as their own unrealistic expectations.
I am always looking for large volumes of seed to purchase, but every time I speak to current growers, they demand prices for their seed that just aren’t realistic—prices as high as US$6 per kilogram. When you take into account that it takes 4kg of seed to make 1 litre of oil, and that 1 litre of oil must compete with the cost of 1 litre of diesel fuel, it is clear that such high prices for buying of seed are not possible. The only time people will pay such a high amount for seed is if the seed is intended for use as planting material, and even then, the seed must qualify as being suitable by meeting certain quality standards and be of the correct genetic origin.
People seeking to buy commercial quantities of Jatropha seed so that they can extract the oil and make biodiesel are able to pay between CR 400-500 per kilogram of seed. This should be the standard market price for seeds in Cambodia. Now and again people establishing new plantations will buy a few hundred kilograms of seed and pay a much higher price per kg and this is giving sellers of large quantities of seed the wrong impression. They then seek to sell their many tons of seed at this same high price.
I think in another year or two, once more people have planted Jatropha and larger quantities of seed are available, the market price will stabilise to a more realistic and financially viable level of about CR500 per kilogram.
There are current buyers of Jatropha in Cambodia, though they are using the seeds either for plantations or for local crushing activities. The current national production of Jatropha is not sufficient to interest the international market. Anyone seeking to export Jatropha seed needs to have about 100 tons per shipment to make it economically feasible.
What constraints are there on the Jatropha industry in Cambodia?
I have observed the development of Jatropha in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. One thing that I observe is missing in Cambodia is the support of national research institutions. In both Thailand and Vietnam, there are agricultural universities and government institutions that are heavily involved in research and development of agriculture. They give enormous help to both local farmers and foreign investors when establishing and operating agricultural projects. They can provide scientific testing of soil and plants, give information on weather and soil types, and assistance in pest and disease management. If such support was readily available to farmers and companies in Cambodia, it would be of great benefit and would result in not only a higher participation rate, but higher economic output.
Talking about Jatropha production, do you think this crop is the potential crop to grow or not? why?
I strongly believe in the potential of Jatropha farming to provide an economic benefit to local farmers, as well as providing a locally-grown feedstock to drive the production of a national biofuel industry. Such an industry can decrease the countries current 100% reliance on foreign, imported oil and improve the efficiencies of many sectors of the national economy, such as industry, transport, and agriculture.
I have personal experience and, so, great confidence in the ability to grow Jatropha profitability on degraded soils that cannot otherwise be used productively. I also believe that Cambodia has a great deal of currently idle land that could be brought to economic use, bringing increases in employment and the contributing to the growth of supporting local industries in rural areas, where it is needed most.
Can Jatropha farming boost rural development? Does this development help the rural poor?
There are three models of Jatropha farming—plantation, contract farming, and local growers, all of which contribute to rural employment.
The first, a plantation model, is where a company obtains land and is responsible for all aspects of the farming. In this case they need to employ local farmers to work on the plantation. This contributes to a rise in local employment and in the cases of large plantations, can also encourage the reversal of urban migration by enabling family members who have moved to the cities to return to their rural homes to work. When plantations are established, they invariably drive the creation of many other smaller businesses that are required to support the needs of the local workforce, such as food growers, sellers, and distributors.
The second model, contract farming, is where a company will assist local farmers to grow on their own land by providing materials and monies needed to establish their Jatropha crop. This assistance is provided in exchange for the guaranteed sale of the seeds they grow at a certain price to the company. This also creates rural employment and economic activity, though greater responsibility is put upon the farmer to ensure he produces enough crop to achieve a financial benefit.
The third model of Jatropha farming is where a farmer is responsible for all costs of establishment and managing Jatropha on his own land. Although the farmer requires his own capital for this type of farming, he has more freedom where to sell his crop and more freedom in the price he can demand for it.
When the Jatropha that is produced from any of these forms of farming is used for the production of a locally produced biofuel, this often results in the availability of a lower-priced fuel for farmers to use. With a lower price for fuel, greater levels of mechanisation and increased productivity are achieved in local farming. It also means savings in households that depend on such fuel for power needs. All this means higher real incomes for rural areas.
How should government and stakeholders develop Jatropha farming in Cambodia?
I have observed that most current Jatropha operations are poorly established and managed, ignoring some of the basic technical requirements needed to produce high seed yields. These growers can never expect to achieve the high yields that will bring them the maximum financial benefit.
I would like to see the creation of an industry association to support growers by providing them with the most accurate technical information on the growing of Jatropha. If a farmer decides to get involved in growing Jatropha, he should be informed on the best way to do it, so he can be successful in achieving the highest yields.
It would be great to see Cambodia’s rural universities receive some substantial grants to research Jatropha and provide real support to local farmers and foreign investors seeking to grow Jatropha. It would also be great to have a government portal specifically for Jatropha where companies could easily access useful information from government departments such as weather data, soil data, and a database of local business and industries needed to establish Jatropha farms, all at no cost.

SRP MPs to visit jailed Svay Rieng villagers

2010-01-11T07:31:00.001-08:00

11 Jan 2010Everyday.com.khTranslated from Khmer by Komping Puoy
All 25 SRP MPs, as well as a number of SRP officials, plan to pay a visit to 2 villagers who are currently being jailed in Svay Rieng provincial prison for their involvement in the uprooting of border stakes in Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province. According to RFA, Yim Sovann, SRP MP and party spokesman, indicated that SRP MPs and party officials plan to visit Mrs. Meas Srey and Mr. Prum Chea who are currently being jailed in Svay Rieng. Yim Sovann added that this visit is planned for 19 January and it is undertaken to encourage these two villagers who are currently unjustly suffering in jail. The two villagers were arrested by the Svay Rieng provincial authority on 25 December of last year, they were charged with uprooting of stakes for border post #185, located in Koh Kban Kandal village, Samrong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province.

Docdoeurtoeur Xok An rakes in his "chap chae" PhD

2010-01-11T07:31:00.000-08:00

11 Jan 2010Everyday.com.khTranslated from Khmer by Komping Puoy
Xok An, the vice-PM and minister of the Council of ministers, was granted an honorary PhD in political diplomacy by the South Korean Wu Suk University. The Korean university recognized and highly valued Xok An’s action and effort to serve the nation and the people, to strengthen international relationships with tenderness and wisdom through diplomacy. The diploma granting ceremony for Xok An was held in the evening of08 January 2010 at the office of the Council of ministers. Dr. Ra Jong Il, the rector of Wu Suk U said, during the ceremony, that vice-PM Xok An is a famous VIP for the Cambodian people. He is a famous diplomat who is filled up with wisdom and he received numerous successes in diplomacy.

No scale available to evaluate corruption in Hun Xen's Cambodia?

2010-01-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

ADB's whistleblower plans in graft crackdownMonday, January 11, 2010AFP
A survey released last year by Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) found that many of the developing Asian countries scored from 6.70 to 8.32 in a scale where zero is the least corrupt and 10 the most.Many of the poorest Asian countries like Cambodia and Laos were not even included in the survey.MANILA — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday unveiled new safeguards for whistleblowers in a crackdown on corruption.The Manila-based ADB, which offers multi-million-dollar loans and grants to developing countries, said it would protect the identities of workers and those outside the organisation worried about reprisals for reporting misconduct."ADB does not tolerate corruption in any form. By improving the information and protections available to whistleblowers and others who also provide evidence of misconduct, ADB is strengthening its ongoing efforts to combat fraud and corruption," said ADB anti-corruption chief Peter Pedersen."Individuals who come forward with information will receive protection from any retaliation due to their decision to report that information," the bank added.Contractors, consultants and project beneficiaries would be covered by the new policies, the ADB said.The ADB has been stepping up efforts to cut down on misuse of its funds and resources. In 2008, it sanctioned 41 firms and 38 individuals for corruption.The institution provided more than 11 billion dollars in loans and grants last year to Asian countries, many of which are rife with corruption.A survey released last year by Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) found that many of the developing Asian countries scored from 6.70 to 8.32 in a scale where zero is the least corrupt and 10 the most.Many of the poorest Asian countries like Cambodia and Laos were not even included in the survey.

Date set for Cambodian opposition leader's trial in border row case

2010-01-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

Mon, 11 Jan 2010DPA
Phnom Penh - The opening court hearing against Cambodia's main opposition leader is set for January 27 over the destruction of border markers, national media reported Monday. Sam Rainsy, leader of the party that bears his name, is accused of destruction of property and racial incitement. The charges relate to an October incident in Svay Rieng province in southern Cambodia when six wooden posts marking the border with Vietnam were removed.The Sam Rainsy Party charged that Cambodian farmers' land rights in the area are not being respected in the border demarcation process currently under way.Sam Rainsy is out of the country. His lawyer Choung Chou Ngy told the Cambodia Daily newspaper, "I will go and join the trial on behalf of my client, [but] I do not know if he is coming or not," adding that his chances of winning the case were remote. The court has also issued arrest warrants for five farmers over the incident. Two are in pre-trial detention while the other three have fled. The charges carry jail terms of up to three years, meaning Sam Rainsy could lose his parliamentary position if convicted.The opposition leader was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in November over the incident in a vote that was boycotted by the opposition. His party insisted its leader has done nothing wrong and was simply standing up for impoverished farmers."[Farmers] are losing land because of these demarcation poles," party spokesman Yim Sovann said. "The people do not agree with that because they have only a few hectares of land to feed their families, and now they are losing everything."In late December, the Svay Rieng provincial court issued an arrest warrant for Sam Rainsy after he failed to appear for questioning over the incident, which riled Hanoi. The two nations are currently demarcating their 1,270-kilometre border in a process that was scheduled to be completed by 2012.Vietnam has significant interests in agribusiness, aviation, telecommunications and banking in Cambodia. In December, Hanoi signed an agreement with Phnom Penh that could result in investments worth billions of US dollars, including a deal to look for aluminium ore, known as bauxite, in Cambodia's border province of Mondolkiri.Three opposition parliamentarians were stripped of their parliamentary immunity in 2009 over various charges. Critics accused the ruling Cambodian People's Party of using the courts to move against its perceived opponents in politics, the media and civil society.

Thailand's diplomacy: searching for new dynamics

2010-01-11T07:28:00.001-08:00

11-01-2010Kavi ChongkittavornThe Nation (Thailand)
"The Thai-Cambodian diplomatic dispute, coupled with the deportation of 4,500 Hmong refugees at the end of last year, left a huge scar on Thai diplomacy. It made a mockery of the country's much professed human-rights oriented policy and standing"Entering its second year, Thailand's government under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will pay more attention to Thai diplomacy and strategic interests. His government's ultimate aim is to fit the country, individually and as an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member, into the regional and broader Asia-Pacific region in the next decade, especially within the current effort to build regional architectures.While political uncertainties and polarisation continue to haunt the government, Abhisit will have more time in coming months to focus on key foreign policy issues that would bring back investors' confidence and increase employment as well as public and private corporate social responsibility. Notably, no other Thai government in recent memory has put so much energy into ensuring the proper image of Thailand in the global stage as the Abhisit government.Last year, Thailand was in a big mess, resembling almost a failed state, confronted with a series of continuous political crises. Governing the country became a daily high-wire crisis management job, making long-term and strategic plans almost impossible. Worse still, the internal turmoil seriously impacted on the Thai chairmanship of Asean when the scheduled Pattaya Summit was postponed, further delaying declarations and overall cooperation.The threat of using force by the government's opponents also placed subsequent summit preparations constantly in a standby mode, turning into endless sources of bilateral bickering and ridicule between the host and the colleagues from Asean and dialogue partners.Given the do-or-die circumstance of the past 12 months, Abhisit and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya have done relatively well in coping with myriads of challenges from within and abroad. Their achievements could have been given greater value if not for the year-end negative developments. The Thai-Cambodian diplomatic dispute, coupled with the deportation of 4,500 Hmong refugees at the end of last year, left a huge scar on Thai diplomacy. It made a mockery of the country's much professed human-rights oriented policy and standing.Right after the government took power last January, the government was flabbergasted by the widespread reports of torture and forced repatriation at sea by the Thai authorities of the Rohingya asylum seekers from Burma.Despite continuous severe attacks and criticism from the international community, the Abhisit government managed to allay fear that they would not be pushed back without a proper screening process from UN-related and humanitarian organisations.Somehow, the Abhisit government was unable to do the same with the Hmong who have been living here for the past three decades. Again, the repatriation brought universal condemnation.Throughout the tumultuous Asean chairmanship, Thailand faced a huge dilemma - how could it speak for the conservative Asean, without undermining its own outward looking foreign policy objectives?At certain points, it was extremely difficult to distinguish the Thai and Asean policies as diplomatic parlance and activities got blurred, because the Asean chair must speak on behalf of the bloc as well as itself.The aborted joint Asean appeal asking for a pardon for Burma's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, last fall was a case in point. Kasit thought the time had come when Thailand and Asean must take a stronger stand on Burma-related issues, particularly on Suu Kyi's fate and push for a national reconciliation process.With flurries of diplomatic activity at the global level on Burma, Asean also needed to intensify engagement with its pariah member. Securing Suu Kyi's freedom and wishing for a democratic Burma - Thailand's longstanding wish-list - quickly crumbled when it took on the Asean initiative.With a long common border, Thailand has to shoulder all political, economic and social problems emanating from Burma's oppressive regime. Other Asean members did not care that much.Thailand's overwhelming support for the role of civil society groups in the Asean top-down decision making process was another good example. It was far too progressive and subsequently was blocked by most of the Asean members that have yet to recognise the work of non-government organisations in the region.At the forthcoming Asean summit under the chair of Vietnam, the interface between the Asean leaders and representatives from Asean-based civil society groups used in the previous two summits, will no longer apply. It is not compulsory for Asean leaders to meet up with people-oriented delegates. Earlier, Thailand's strong advocacy for more human rights protection in Asean was quickly neutralised by the strong Asean objection.No wonder, the government's nine-point comprehensive foreign policy announced on December 30, 2008 was unable to implement in totality. Thai diplomatic objectives, while seeking to promote universal norms and standards, are just not compatible with Asean thinking as they are considered too progressive.Looking back, the government succeeded only partially in pushing forward at least five diplomatic agenda: developing ties with neighboring countries; trying to make Asean a people-centred organisation;strengthening cooperation and strategic partnership with major powers; promoting the country's interaction with the global community in setting international standards on important transnational issues including human rights; promoting public awareness and understanding of global changes that affect Thailand so as to forge consensus in the formulation and conduct of foreign policy.The remaining four objectives - promoting close cooperation with Muslim countries; supporting entry to international agreements including ratifications; building the country's confidence and people-to-people understanding in the international community; protecting and promoting Thai interests overseas - will be the main focus of this year's diplomatic efforts.It was unfortunate that the Thai-Cambodian dispute received all the media attention and coverage, giving the impression of the government's obsession with Cambodia and its leadership links with fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra. Truth be told, Thailand's present relations with other neighbours including Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are very good, marked by closer cooperation and concrete progress.Later this month, Abhisit will attend the 40th World Economic Forum at Davos, where he left his mark on global leaders last year.This time, he must be even more prudent in presenting his country's credentials because the world is watching and needs to be convinced that Thailand is led by a visionary, and is not a banana republic in the making, as generally perceived.

Habits and Sacrifices

2010-01-11T07:28:00.000-08:00

First published in September 2008 in The Phnom Penh Post as part of the Voice of Justice columns. One and one-half years since the publication of this article, Emma continues to flower into a beautiful little girl with personality, rhythm and grace - a product of great parenting, nurturing environment and opportunities. We owe our children and the new generation opportunities and a nurturing environment for them to realize their human potential.A nurturing environment to replace the current ugly environment -- of vulgarity, deceit, pettiness, women-hating, self-loathing and divisiveness -- does not come by without reflection and sacrifices from each of us wherever we may find ourselves, with a narrow or wide sphere of influence. And I cannot emphasize enough the need for each of us to READ, READ, READ and READ some more...this is a habit that should never leave us even if we're 90 years old as we should never stop learning and should be teachable at any age!
HABITS AND SACRIFICESMy niece, Emma, who is fifteen-months old and lives in Irvine, California, has been attending music class. It's impossible to know fully the impact that music will have on her life, but already her face lights up every time she hears music and moves and grooves to the tunes confidently, playfully, in perfect rhythm and style. In seeing Emma dance, I am reminded of Tiger Woods who as a toddler putted golf balls every day with his father and the excellence of the Olympians achieved through discipline and habits instilled at tender ages.The wisdom of millennia back continues to resonate: Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.The problem with habits is that the good ones require intentionality, discipline, patience and hard work while the bad ones come only too naturally.What are the admirable habits you as a parent, we as a society – intentionally, purposefully, sacrificially – are instilling in our children and young people? Alternatively, what are the dark habits you as a parent, we as a society are encouraging and permitting through carelessness, apathy and lack of vision?If we are wise and visionary, we must be intentional and purposeful in our living by forming life-enriching habits in ourselves and our children. We are a generation, post-Khmer Rouge, uniquely cast with an opportunity and a burden: Shall we squander the lessons of the past and let our parents and family die in vain?Or, shall we live sacrificially and meaningfully for change, for transformation – from violence to peace, hatred to love, vulgarity to decency, fear to courage, arrogance to humility, mediocrity to excellence, pettiness to largeness of heart, envy to praise, folly to wisdom, inanity to knowledge, vacillation to perseverance, apathy to passion, falsehood to truth, humiliation to dignity/nobility – in order that our children may move away from this present darkness to build a brighter future and join the world community of the 21st century?Shall we merely exist, or shall we LIVE and live passionately by giving the new generation strong shoulders to stand on, a firm foundation from which to build for globalized, 21st century living?The answer cannot be the current status quo. It must be the latter; we must live sacrificially; we must live intentionally and passionately with shrewd single-mindedness for peace, love, decency, courage, humility, excellence, generosity, nobility, wisdom, knowledge and truth -all these words we throw around as good and true.However, when I look around our society, I shudder at what I see and hear being instilled and formed in our young people. I see elementary school students bribing their way through schools, through their young life – encouraged and applauded by the parents and our leaders, very much comfortably at ease with corruption as a way of life.I see young children in my neighborhood scavenging for rubbish when they should be attending school, sniffing glue to numb their existence. I see a void of leadership at all levels of society, beginning with us as civic leaders. I see indecency and hear vulgarity from us, about us.What I do not see often enough is children reading, adults reading, parents parenting, leaders leading. What I hear is lip service to these values; what I do not see is the acting out of these values.These words of nobility, goodness, peace etc. are only words, empty rhetoric if they are not habitually, incrementally instilled and developed in each one of us. We cannot do otherwise; we cannot afford anything else. Phrases such as "proud to be born Khmer" ring hollow if we continue to cheat, kill and lie to and about each other.A long time ago, I learned that there is no short cut to life. In a bling-bling culture, where only the surface matters, where things are not what they seem, we are fooling ourselves to think we can exist as we are now and acquire good habits and virtues without discipline, without efforts, without education, without hard work, without opposition.We must know our history, world history. We must be better readers of the patterns of life spanning the years and events of these histories. If we are at all paying attention, we would know that anything of value and meaning must be paid for in real terms. We value dignity? Fight for it. Earn it. We value freedom? Fight for it. Earn it. Apartheid did not end in South Africa without decades of struggle, costing lives and 27 years of imprisonment for Nelson Mandela. Think Gandhi and his struggle for independence from British imperialism and what it cost him and his countrymen. Barack Obama is standing on the shoulders of giants who came before him and paved the way for his historic presidential candidacy; think Martin Luther King, Jr. and decades of the civil rights movement.What are the sacrifices we are making for our children? What are the habits we are intentionally living and imparting to prepare for a more prosperous present and future? What are the character-forming habits we would like to see more in ourselves and in future generations? What are we doing to actualize them from empty rhetoric?I agree with Dr. Mark Strom – my new favorite author – that the answer to these habits and sacrifices which allow us to "live well" is not magical but practical. I also agree with him on four little sayings as good reminders and a place to start: take care in little things; big door swing on little hinges; faithful in little things, faithful in big things; and leave people better than you found them.
And always, READ.Theary C. SENG, former director of Center for Social Development (March 2006—July 2009), founded the Center for Justice & Reconciliation (www.cjr-cambodia.org) and is currently writing her second book, under a grant, amidst her speaking engagements.

Price of gasoline jumps up again

2010-01-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 11, 2009Everyday.com.khTranslated from Khmer by Koming Puoy
The price of gasoline in Cambodia jumps up again at the end of last week while gas stations are increasing their price to reflect the increase of oil price on the international market. On Sunday, along various gas stations, such as Total, Caltex and Sokimex, the price of gasoline varies between 4,350 and 4,450 riels per liter following a 200 riels increase last Wednesday and Thursday. Stephan Dion, the chairman of Total Cambodia, told The Phnom Penh Post on Sunday that: “We started increasing the price on Thursday.” He added: “The price of gasoline increases because the price of crude oil on the international market has increased.” He said that “If the price on the international market increases, we will increase accordingly.” On Sunday, the average price of gasoline in Phnom Penh varies between 4,100 riels and 4,150 riels per liter. Two weeks ago, the price of gasoline ranges between 3,900 and 3,950 riels per liter. Total stations have the highest price: 4,450 per liter as of Sunday.

The Mekong River Under Threat

2010-01-10T18:49:00.001-08:00

Milton Osborne
The Asian Pacific Journal, 2-2-10, January 11, 2010

Until the 1980s the Mekong River flowed freely for 4,900 kilometres from its 5,100-metre high source in Tibet to the coast of Vietnam, where it finally poured into the South China Sea. The Mekong is the world’s twelfth longest river, and the eighth or tenth largest, in terms of the 475 billion cubic metres of water it discharges annually. Then and now it passes through or by China, Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is Southeast Asia’s longest river, but 44% of its course is in China, a fact of capital importance for its ecology and the problems associated with its governance.

The Mekong is Southeast Asia's largest river, seen here at sunset in Luang Prabang, Laos. (Photograph by Milton Osborne)

In 1980 not only were there no dams on its course, but much of the river could not be used for sizeable, long-distance navigation because of the great barrier of the Khone Falls, located just above the border between Cambodia and Laos, and the repeated rapids and obstacles that marked its course in Laos and China. Indeed, no exaggeration is involved in noting that the Mekong’s overall physical configuration in 1980 was remarkably little changed from that existing when it was explored by the French Mekong Expedition that travelled painfully up the river from Vietnam’s Mekong Delta to Jinghong in southern Yunnan in 1866 and 1867. This was the first European expedition to explore the Mekong from southern Vietnam into China and to produce an accurate map of its course to that point.

Since 2003, the most substantial changes to the Mekong’s character below China have related to navigation. Following a major program to clear obstacles from the Mekong begun early in the present decade, a regular navigation service now exists between southern Yunnan and the northern Thai river port of Chiang Saen. It is not clear whether the Chinese, who promoted the concept of these clearances and carried out the work involved, still wish to develop navigation further down the river, as was previously their plan. To date, the environmental effects of the navigation clearances have been of a limited character.

The Mekong and its Lower Basin

The Mekong plays a vital role in the countries of the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB): Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. (Burma is not within the basin). In all four LMB countries the Mekong is a source of irrigation. In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta the annual pattern of flood and retreat insure that this region contributes over 50% of agriculture’s contribution to the country’s GDP. For all four LMB countries the Mekong and its associated systems, particularly Cambodia’s Great Lake (Tonle Sap), are a bountiful source of fish, with the annual value of the catch conservatively valued at US$2 billion. More than 70% of the Cambodian population’s annual animal protein consumption comes from the river’s fish. Eighty per cent of the Mekong’s fish species are migratory, some travelling many hundreds of kilometres between spawning and reaching adulthood. Overall, eight out of 10 persons living in the LMB depend on the river for sustenance, either in terms of wild fish captured in the river or through both large and small-scale agriculture and horticulture.

Construction of dams in the Lower Mekong Basin will have devastating effects on the fish stocks that feed the populations of the region, such as these fishermen at Luang Prabang. (Photograph by Milton Osborne)

Changing character

Since the 1980s, the character of the river has been steadily transformed by China’s dam-building program in Yunnan province. The important changes that had taken place on the course of the river since 1980 and up to 2004 were outlined in the Lowy Institute Paper, River at Risk: The Mekong and the Water Politics of Southeast Asia. In 2010 three hydroelectric dams are already in operation and two more very large dams are under construction and due for completion in 2012 and 2017. Plans exist for at least two further dams, and by 2030 there could be a ‘cascade’ of seven dams in Yunnan. Even before that date and with five dams commissioned China will be able to regulate the flow of the river, reducing the floods of the wet season and raising the level of the river during the dry. In building its dams, China has acted without consulting its downstream neighbours. Although until now the effects of the dams so far built have been limited, this is set to change within a decade, as discussed below.

Map of the Mekong

For despite the limited environmental costs of the dams China has so far completed, and of the river clearances to aid navigation, this state of affairs will change once China has five dams in operation. And the costs exacted by the Chinese dams will be magnified if the proposed mainstream dams below China are built.

China’s Xiaowan Dam, upper reaches of the Mekong in Yunnan province, is the world’s tallest at 958 feet (Photograph by International Rivers).

Chinese dams

Even if no dams are built on the mainstream below China, the cascade to which it is committed will ultimately have serious effects on the functioning of the Mekong once the dams are used to control the river’s flow. This will be the case because the cascade will:

alter the hydrology of the river and so the current ‘flood pulse’, the regular rise and fall of the river on an annual basis which plays an essential part in the timing of spawning and the migration pattern. This will be particularly important in relation to the Tonle Sap in Cambodia, but will have an effect throughout the river’s course;
block the flow of sediment down the river which plays a vital part both in depositing nutrients on the agricultural regions flooded by the river and also as a trigger for fish migration — at present well over 50% of the river’s sediment comes from China;
at least initially cause problems by restricting the amount of flooding that takes place most importantly in Cambodia and Vietnam; and
lead to the erosion of river banks.

Proposed dams below China

So China’s dam-building plans are worrying enough, but the proposed new mainstream dams would pose even more serious concerns. In contrast to what has occurred in China, and until very recently, there have been no firm plans for the construction of dams on the mainstream of the Mekong below China. This situation has changed over the past three years. Memoranda of Understanding have been signed for 11 proposed dams: seven in Laos; two between Laos and Thailand; and two in Cambodia. The proposed dams are being backed by foreign private capital or Chinese state-backed firms. Government secrecy in both Cambodia and Laos means that it is difficult to judge which, if any, of these proposed dams will actually come into being. Attention and concern have focused on two sites: Don Sahong at the Khone Falls in southern Laos and Sambor in northeastern Cambodia. The reason for this attention is that if built these dams would block the fish migrations that are essential to insure the food supplies of Laos and Cambodia.

Throughout much its course in Laos the Mekong narrows to flow through sharply rising hills and so providing ideal sites for dam construction, as is the case with this section of the river above the old royal capital of Luang Prabang. (Photograph by Milton Osborne)

Those built at sites higher upstream would cause the least damage to fish stocks, but if, as currently seems possible, the most likely dams to be built would be at Don Sahong and Sambor, the costs to fish stocks could be very serious. This is because unanimous expert opinion judges that there are no ways to mitigate the blocking of fish migration that would occur if these dams are constructed. None of the suggested possible forms of mitigation — fish ladders, fish lifts, and alternative fish-passages — are feasible for the species of fish in the Mekong and the very large biomass that is involved in their migratory pattern. Fish ladders were tried and failed at the Pak Mun dam on one of the Mekong’s tributaries in Thailand in the 1990s.

Why are the governments of Laos and Cambodia contemplating the construction of dams that seem certain to have a devastating effect on their populations’ food security? The answers are complex and include some of the following (a) a lack of knowledge at some levels of government (b) a readiness to disregard available information on the basis that it may be inaccurate (c) a belief or conviction that fishing is ‘old-fashioned’ whereas the production of hydroelectricity is ‘modern’. In Cambodia’s case, and in particular in relation to the proposed dam at Sambor, the fact that a Chinese firm is seeking to construct the dam raises the possibility that Prime Minister Hun Sen is unready to offend the country that has become Cambodia’s largest aid donor and Cambodia’s ‘most trusted friend’. In Laos, the proposal for a dam at Don Sahong is very much linked to the interests of the Siphandone family for whom southern Laos is a virtual fief. Of all the proposed dam sites Don Sahong is the most studied in terms of knowledge of fisheries so that it can be safely said that the planned dam would wreak havoc on a migratory system that involves fish moving through the Hou Sahong channel throughout the year, movement that takes place in both directions, upstream and downstream.

Governance and the Mekong

In the face of the threats posed by both the Chinese dams and those proposed for the downstream stretches of the river, there is no existing body able to mandate or control what individual countries choose to do on their sections of the Mekong. The agreement establishing the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in 1995 does not include China or Burma, and though the latter’s absence is not important, the fact that China is not an MRC member underlines the body’s weakness. In any event, the MRC members’ commitment to maintaining the Mekong’s sustainability has not overcome their basic commitment to national self-interest. A prime example of this is the manner in which the Lao Government has proceeded in relation to the proposed Don Sahong dam. For at least two years while the dam was under consideration there was no consultation with Cambodia. Similarly, so far as can be judged, Cambodia’s consideration of a possible dam at Sambor has taken place without consultation with the governments of either Laos or Vietnam.

At the moment the best hope is that both the Cambodian and Lao Governments will abandon their plans for Sambor and Don Sahong. If they do not, the future of the Mekong as a great source of food, both through fish and agriculture, is in serious jeopardy. At the time of writing the intentions of the Lao and Cambodian governments remain uncertain.

Climate change

Concern about dams in China and the LMB is given added importance in the light of worries associated with the likely effects of climate change in the region through which the river flows. Research suggests there will be a series of challenges to the Mekong’s future ecological health. Until recently concerns about the likelyimpact of climate change tended to focus on the ongoing reduction in the size of the glaciers from which its springs in the Himalayas and which feed it as the result of snow melt. But while there is no doubt that a diminishment in size of the glaciers feeding the Mekong is taking place, recent research has suggested that a more immediate serious threat to the river’s health will come from sea-level changes, particularly as rising levels could begin to inundate large sections of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. To what extent the threat posed by rising sea levels will be affected by another predicted development linked to climate change — greatly increased precipitation leading to more flooding during the wet season — is not yet clearly established. But research is pointing to a greatly increased precipitation that is likely to cause major increases in flooding in the future, possibly as early as 2030.

A bleak future

Against the pessimistic views outlined in this article perhaps the best that can be hoped for is that once serious consequences begin to become apparent advice can be offered to mitigate the worst effects ofthe developments taking place. Where once it was appropriate to write ofrisks, when assessing the Mekong’s future it is now time to write of fundamental threats to the river’s current and vital role in all of the countriesof the Lower Mekong Basin.

Milton Osborne has been associated with the Southeast Asian region since being posted to the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh in 1959. A graduate of Sydney and Cornell Universities, his career has been divided almost equally between government service and academia and he has served as a consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He is the author of ten books on the history and politics of Southeast Asia, Including The Mekong: turbulent past, uncertain future (2006) and Southeast Asia: an introductory history, which is about to be published in its tenth edition. Milton Osborne is a Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute and has been an Adjunct Professor and Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Asian Studies at the Australian National University.

This article draws on the author’s Lowy Institute Paper 27, 2009. See the complete paper here. To read the complete paper, it is necessary to type in the current year after entering the site.

Laos first stop as P Penh goes complaining

2010-01-10T18:49:00.000-08:00

Monday January 11, 2010
Saritdet Marukatat
Bangkok Post
COMMENTARY

A small story sometimes has big implications. What is happening between Cambodia and Laos nicely fits this definition.

Cambodian Deputy Foreign Minister Long Visalo went to Vientiane last Tuesday. His mission to the northern neighbour was clear. The Cambodian government wanted to brief Laos about its dispute with Thailand.

In the Laotian capital, Long Visalo lectured some 200 Lao Foreign Ministry officials on the history of Preah Vihear, the ruling by the International Court of Justice in 1962 that the Hindu temple belonged to his country, as well as Cambodia's right to list it as a World Heritage Site under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in July 2008.

The Cambodian deputy minister also told his hosts about the border dispute between his country and Thailand, which started after the latter country made a U-turn on its previous stance which had been in support of Cambodia's attempt to list Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site.

The Cambodian campaign cannot be seen as anything but the start of its efforts to drum up backing from other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to help sort out the border conflict with Thailand for good.

And Laos will not be the only stop in this tactic. On the list, of course, are Burma and Vietnam (the latter is scheduled to take the Asean chair till December).

Phnom Penh's strategy is to turn the dispute over the overlapping land boundary of 4.6 square kilometres into a regional issue by trying to bring in the involvement of other Asean members.

Thailand thinks otherwise, with its intention to keep the matter as a quarrel between two neighbours which should be settled by the two neighbours only.

The more countries jumping in, the more difficult it will be to resolve the problem.

The talks in Vientiane did not cover the issue of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra - at least as far as the information made public shows.

But then again, the Thaksin issue is not a main factor at all for Cambodia.

Ending Thaksin's role as an economic adviser to Phnom Penh is Bangkok's condition for diplomatic normalisation with Cambodia. No country can stand seeing its citizen, who has been sentenced to jail, given recognition by another government.

But for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, the root cause goes beyond last year when he added Thaksin to the long list of advisers to his government. It began right there on the border between Cambodia' Preah Vihear province and Kantaralak district in Si Sa Ket province.

The whole issue is about the temple and the land dispute in that area.

"You raise the issue of Thaksin, but you forget the issue of Preah Vihear," Hun Sen said in October, during one of his verbal onslaughts on Thailand.

It is not difficult for anybody to guess that there is no way in sight for the two countries to end the sour ties, given their vastly different positions which are beyond the reach of a compromise. But, as Asean members, they cannot leave relations festering this way, either. Other countries view what is happening between Thailand and Cambodia as an obstruction to Asean's attempts to bring unity into the club which, five years from now, is to become one single community. However, what can other Asean countries do but watch and hope that there will be a miracle to end the two neighbours' quarrel?

Another worry from the Thai-Cambodian spat is that it could spill over to poison ties between Thailand and other members in Asean who are very close to Cambodia. One of them is Laos. The history of their jungle warfare to drive out, first the colonialists and then the Western-supported governments, has made Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam brothers, who also have same positions on issues in Asean. As countries with Thailand as their immediate common neighbour, Cambodia and Laos have long been aware of the rising Thai influence in their country.

So far there are no problems in the relations between Thailand and Laos. But that does not mean everything will go smoothly. Problems still exist but they have been swept under the carpet by Vientiane over the past years because it needed help from Thailand to host the SEA Games last year.

Now the Games are over. Now the Cambodian deputy minister has visited Vientiane. And now the story of Thai-Laos relations in the post-SEA Games era begins.

Saritdet Marukatat is News Editor, Bangkok Post.

Thai ultimatum to Cambodia over Thaksin's role

2010-01-10T18:48:00.000-08:00

Kasit Piromya (Photo: TNA)

January 11 2010
By Tim Johnston in Bangkok
Financial Times (UK)

Battle lines have deepened in a long-running diplomatic standoff between Thailand and Cambodia after Bangkok issued a blunt ultimatum to its neighbour.

Kasit Piromya, Thailand's foreign minister, said that there would be no normal-isation of the country's strained relations with Phnom Penh until the Cambodian government revoked the appointment of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Thai prime minister, as a financial adviser.

The decision by Hun Sen, Cambodia's long-serving prime minister, to appoint Mr Thaksin as a government adviser in October brought relations between the south-east Asian neighbours to breaking point. Both sides withdrew their ambassadors.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Kasit said that relations were unlikely to improve as long as Mr Thaksin's appointment stood.

"The only thing we have told Hun Sen is that his appointment of Thaksin and his interference in Thai politics is not acceptable by any international norms and standards. It is blatant interference, so it is not acceptable," Mr Kasit said.

"He must delink himself from Thaksin, otherwise there cannot be normalisation of diplomatic relations, pure and simple."

The relationship between the two countries had already been strained by a border dispute over land near the 10th-century Preah Vihear temple. Although the World Court awarded the temple itself to Cambodia in 1962, Thailand still claims a block of the surrounding land. There were a number of skirmishes between troops guarding the border last year.

Late last month Mr Hun Sen said he had obtained a document outlining a Thai government plan to mount a coup against him. He said he had passed the document to Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni to show the "bad character of our neighbouring leaders".

Mr Thaksin was removed from office in a military coup in 2006. He is now living in exile to avoid a two-year prison sentence imposed in absentia after he was found guilty of breaching conflict of interest laws - a verdict which, he says, was politically motivated.

Despite his exile, the telecommunications billionaire remains the de facto leader of Thailand's opposition and the arch-enemy of the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the current prime minister. Mr Thaksin's supporters, known as "red shirts", have vowed to launch a series of street demonstrations, starting today, until the government resigns.

"There is no international norm or practice for any leader of any country to say that 'I back one political party in order to topple down the existing and rightful government'," said Mr Kasit, who is trying to win over other regional governments to his cause.

Mr Hun Sen is unapologetic. In October he refused to extradite Mr Thaksin on the grounds that his conviction was politically motivated. He also startled observers by comparing the former prime minister, whose administration was dogged by widespread allegations of corruption and brutality, to Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate being detained in Burma.

Kumnith Kh-nhom - "My thought": A Poem in Khmer Chau Monykhemara

2010-01-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

Click on the poem in Khmer to zoom in

Fucking foursome

2010-01-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

Ya estamos aqui

2010-01-10T05:56:00.000-08:00

Cambodia: Nothing left for sale!

2010-01-10T02:16:00.000-08:00

Map prepared by Sithi.org

Development Trends in Cambodia

Maps presented here highlight the extent to which the government is signing off concessions for development which is monopolizing land, forest and other natural resources to private companiesboth Cambodian and international. Land conflict is a major issue which raises questions not only about poverty reduction and human rights but sustainable development in general.

The development trends presented on these maps signifies a new approach to viewing the information on land allocation for concessions and other development initiatives. It is hoped that by taking a holistic approach to viewing development trends across sectors national and international organizations, the RGC and their relevant departments along with development Donor groups can begin to analyse and potentially rethink development from a new paradigm perspective. Hopefully influencing more environmentally sustainable development models which are socially equitable and just.

Click here to learn more about this issue

Cambodia: A land rich with ... violations?

2010-01-10T02:15:00.000-08:00

Map of violations in Cambodia (Sithi.org)

Violations

The map and table below set out different human rights violations occurring throughout Cambodia. Much of the data provided has been collected as part of the USAID/EWMI/TAF funded Cambodia Human Rights Database Project, which aims to enable widespread and sophisticated documentation and investigation of human rights violations in Cambodia and better awareness raising and collaborative advocacy for change. The database – Openevsys – has been developed by Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems International (HURIDOCS) and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR).

You can search the violations by ‘human right’. Use the drop down menu above the map to select the human right that you are interested in, and the map and table will reveal only those violations that relate to that right. Use the drop down menu to further narrow down the violations according to sub-categories of the particular right, victim, start date, case status, and location. Click on the map markers to view reports on the violations. For more guidance on using Sithi.org, click here to view the Instruction Manual.

Click here to learn more about violations in Cambodia

The Nonviolent Movement toward Khmer-Krom Self-Determination is an Affirmative Hope

2010-01-10T02:13:00.000-08:00

THE PREYNOKOR NEWS
Year II Volume 101

The Nonviolent Movement toward Khmer-Krom Self-Determination is an Affirmative Hope

At the year-end meeting of the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF) from 12-13 December 2009 in San Jose, California, Mr. To Kim Thong, KKF Chairman, had an interview with the Preynokor News regarding to the roadmap that the KKF has been advocating to seek for the right to self-determination for the indigenous Khmer-Krom people as follows:

Son Socheat: What are the main reasons of the KKF’s annual year-end meeting?

To Kim Thong: The KKF has its members all over the world. It is necessary to have a year-end meeting to discuss about the activities that KKF had done for a year. The year-end meeting provides the opportunity for the KKF leaders around the world to share ideas and experiences. It is also a chance for KKF leaders to re-evaluate its objectives and plans to execute them more effectively in the coming years.

Son Socheat: Do you think that the Khmer-Krom could achieve the right to self-determination or not? And why so?

To Kim Thong: This is a good question and I believe that there are many other people asking the same. My answer to the first part of your question is simply: Yes. As to the question why, it takes a little more time for reasoning.

First of all, we should know what self-determination means. This phrase has become a topic inspiring the writers to write poems and motivating the nationalists to sacrifice their lives in exchange for the rights of their people. Originally, the word self-determination had been initiated by American President Woodrow Wilson and Soviet Union leader Vladimir llyich Lenin and others in Versailles after World War I. Mr. Ho Chi Minh used the principle of this theory to demand the independence from French colonizer. East Timor and Kosovo that recently gained independence also followed the principle of the self-determination. On Thursday, September 13, 2007, the General Assembly, by a majority of 144 states including Vietnam, adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The third article of this declaration clearly states that “Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”

The possible result of an exercise of self-determination would be in three different options:

Indigenous peoples live peacefully under the governing of the colonial authorities, but the colonial authorities have to respect the human rights, justice and dignity of the indigenous peoples. The model of this form is similar status of the Native American in the United States.
Indigenous peoples have their own autonomy government, but it is under the umbrella of the Federation or Union states. The model of this form is similar to the status of Nunavut in Northern Canada.
Indigenous peoples have their own independent country. The model of this form is similar to the situation of Kosovo in Yugoslavia and East Timor in Indonesia.

The KKF’s vision on self-determination is to focus on the sovereignty. To simply put, Khmer-Krom must have freedom to build their own society on their territory without being forced, ordered, or pressured from Vietnam. The history has clearly proved that the Khmer-Krom is the owner of this land for thousand years. It was not as the Vietnamese wants us to believe that the land was theirs since their ancestors started encroaching and gradually controlling the wilderness in the 17th century. As rightful owner of our home, we must have the rights to maintain or arrange things around our home the way we wish. As for how to do that, it depends on situations.

We strongly believe that our peaceful movement will succeed because the truths are on our side. These truths are: (a) the tradition of relentless struggle of the Khmer-Krom people, (b) our entitlement to the land of the Kampuchea-Krom,(c) the advocacy of the International Laws and Conventions, especially the UNDRIP, and (d) it is the best interest of the Vietnamese people to have a peaceful, developed, mutual respect, and true friendship with the Khmer-Krom people.

Son Socheat: What are the achievements of the KKF’s nonviolent movement for the Khmer- Krom who currently live in our homeland and abroad?

To Kim Thong: The KKF’s nonviolent movement has gained many benefits for the Khmer- Krom people who live in our homeland and overseas, such as:

We have reminded the Vietnamese government that regardless what tactics it has used to eliminate our Khmer race from our ancestral land, the Khmer-Krom who is the children of the Angkor builders, will never stop fighting to keep our identity alive. Therefore, the Vietnamese government has to soften its ethnic policies toward Khmer-Krom.
We have brought awareness to the international community about who the Khmer-Krom is, and we have gained the support from many foreigners. Now, the Vietnamese government cannot arrest or imprison Khmer-Krom without a legitimate reason or to arbitrarily kill them as they did in the past. We have the international community to help defending our people all the time.
We have successfully made the Vietnamese government to face the truth and forced it to reluctantly pay attention to the well-being of the Khmer-Krom people; for example building houses and giving some money to the poor.

Looking back, we would clearly see the good outcomes for what we have done. The Vietnamese government hoped that their plan for eliminating the Khmer-Krom race would be completed by 1975. They hoped that Khmer-Krom identity would become “Dong Bao Dan Toc” and Angkor Watt temple to become “De Thien De Thich”. What the Vietnamese government could not imagine was that the falling of international communist regimes and the formidable resistances of Khmer-Krom people to keep their identity that make Hanoi government fail to implement its ethnic cleansing policy.

Son Socheat: Does KKF have any support from other governments, countries or international organizations?

To Kim Thong: The UN DRIP and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights are indications that the demanding of the right to self-determination of the indigenous peoples has enough legitimate support from the signatory countries. Last year, the declaration of European parliamentary and the reports of Human Right Watch condemned the Vietnamese government committed human right violations against Khmer-Krom. KKF has also made close relationship with the donors and investment countries in Vietnam. Moreover, KKF also has the international law experts, the historians, the researchers, and the volunteers as the consultants and the advisors. Many people from Italy, England, Singapore and the United States of America, etc have collaborated with us to publish a book for more than 300 pages that confirm the sovereignty of the Khmer-Krom people in Kampuchea-Krom.

Son Socheat: What are the plans of the KKF in 2010?

To Kim Thong: The plans for 2010 focus on the visions called “Long March forward to the Motherland”. It outlines the things we would do on the international stage, in Cambodia, and in Kampuchea-Krom.

Son Socheat: On behalf of the Preynokor News, I would like to thank for your valuable time to have an interview with us today and clearly explain the KKF’s vision regarding the right to self-determination of the Indigenous Khmer-Krom Peoples in Kampuchea-Krom.

Letter from Mr. Sarun Chhin to President Obama regarding Hun Xen's regime

2010-01-10T02:12:00.000-08:00

January 10, 2010

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As a President who has expressed his strong determination to defend democracy and to promote peace throughout the world, we would like to call your attention to the case of a recent human right violation by the Phnom Penh government.

On December 19, 2009, the Phnom Penh government forcibly repatriated a group of 20 asylum seekers, members of China's Uighur community, back to China before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR] had the chance to complete its refugee status determination.

As Cambodian-Americans, we are concerned with the well-being of all people, we would like to inform you that we strongly condemn the inhumane acts of the Phnom Penh government in arresting Uighur refugees and deporting them to China. We suggest that the United States government put serious pressure on the Phnom Penh government to stop such cruel actions and comply with the law of the United Nations(1951) and the Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia concerning human rights (23 October 1991). The deportation of Uighur refugees is a death sentence, indicative of the Phnom Penh goverment’s willingness to violate human rights for its own interest.

We refer to this governmental structure as the “Phnom Penh” government because its creation is not by the will of Cambodian people and does not represent the interest of Cambodians as a whole. The existing government in Phnom Penh assumed power by a bloody coup on 5-6 July 1997. Subsequent elections that have allowed them continual power have not been free and/or fair and are rejected by the Cambodian people.

The Phnom Penh government, having ruled the country now for almost three decades, has committed numerous human rights violations, such as restraining freedom of press, manipulating justice in their courts, and carrying out unlawful evictions for land-grabbing, leaving thousands of Cambodians homeless nation-wide. The inhumane acts of the Phnom Penh government against Uighur refugees, along with other human rights abuses against the Cambodian people are wholly unacceptable.

This government’s decision to repeatedly violate the basic rights of all people, as provided by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is indicative of its willingness to commit crimes against the United States and its allies by way of providing support (and possibly training grounds) for terrorism, the most dangerous threat to the international community.

We, therefore, would like Mr. President Barack Obama and the United States Government to stop this distrustful government from such inhumane acts in order to obtain real peace, freedom, and justice, the characteristics of a successful democracy. This is our hope for the people of Cambodia.

Thank you for your prompt consideration of this matter.

Yours truly,

Sarun Chhin
P.O.B 131927
Houston, Texas, 77219-1927

The Nurse - Another slide show/interview by Stephane Janin

2010-01-10T02:11:00.000-08:00

The Nurse

Malida's journey from Khao-I-Dang refugee camp to serving the needy in Lowell

(All photos: Stéphane Janin)

Malida’s Suong parents fled Cambodia after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, and escaped to Khao-I-Dang refugee camp on the Thai border, where an estimated population of 160,000 refugees was living. Malida was born there in 1981. In 1985, the whole family finally left for a new life in a new country, the United States. After a short period in Maine, Malida’s family moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, where South-East Asian refugee families had already settled, among them a big majority of Cambodians. Malida’s parents found jobs easily there, factory works… It’s not until she traveled back to Cambodia in 2004 - the first time since her family had left the country - that Malida envisioned the career she wanted to embrace: public health and nursing. In May 2009, she has graduated with a Masters in Science and received her license to be a nurse practitioner. Malida is now working at LCHC (Lowell Community Health Center), a non-profit organization that started in 1970 to serve the diverse ethnic population of Lowell, with high quality and affordable health care services.

Click here to watch Stephane's slide show

Click here to see Stephane's still photos

Lost in Cambodia

2010-01-09T22:49:00.001-08:00

Why did a radical British professor become a cheer-leader for Pol Pot? And why was he murdered on the very day he'd met the brutal dictator? Andrew Anthony on the extraordinary life and death of Malcolm Caldwell

Sunday 10 January 2010
Andrew Anthony
The Observer

The name of Malcolm Caldwell is remembered now by very few people: some friends, family, colleagues, and students of utopian folly. In the 1970s, though, Caldwell was a major figure in protest politics. He was chair of CND for two years, a leading voice in the anti-Vietnam war campaign, a regular contributor to Peace News, and a stalwart supporter of liberation movements in the developing world. He spoke at meetings all over the country, wrote books and articles, and engaged in public spats with such celebrated opponents as Bernard Levin.

The name of Kaing Guek Eav is, arguably, known by even fewer people, at least outside of Cambodia. Instead it is by his revolutionary pseudonym "Duch" that Kaing is usually referred to in the press. Duch is the only man ever to stand trial in a UN-sanctioned court for the mass murder perpetrated by the Cambodian communist party, or the Khmer Rouge, in the late 1970s. His trial on charges of crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, and homicide and torture concerning thousands of victims, drew to a close in November. Justice has taken more than 30 years, but a verdict and sentence are expected sometime in the next few weeks.

Although their paths crossed only incidentally, the two men shared two main interests. They both had a pedagogic background: Caldwell was a history lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, while Duch, like many senior Khmer Rouge cadres, started out as a schoolteacher. And they both maintained an unbending belief in Saloth Sar, the leader of the Khmer Rouge revolution, who went under the Orwellian party title of Brother Number One, but was known more infamously to the world as Pol Pot. It was an ideological commitment that would shape the fate of both men and they held on to it right up until the moment of death – in Caldwell's case, his own, for Duch, the many thousands whose slaughter he organised.

In each circumstance, the question that reverberates down the years, growing louder rather than dimmer, is: why? Why were they in thrall to a system based on mass extermination? It's estimated that around two million Cambodians, more than a quarter of the population, lost their lives during the four catastrophic years of Khmer Rouge rule. What could have led these two individuals, worlds apart, to embrace a regime that has persuasive claim, in a viciously competitive field, to be the most monstrous of the 20th century?

When Caldwell appeared at SOAS for an interview in the late 1950s, the senior faculty thought that they had landed one of the academic stars of the future. Caldwell, who took his PhD at Nottingham University, had gained a reputation as a bright young talent and, according to college legend, he presented himself as a sober scholar.

"So they hired him," recalls Merle Ricklefs, a former SOAS colleague and now a history professor at the National University of Singapore. "Then he showed up for lectures and suddenly he was this Scottish radical with long hair, looking unkempt, and they felt as though they'd been betrayed.

"I thought he was actually a very good economic historian," says Ricklefs, who remembers "an extraordinary character… very ideologically committed". He was also struck by his warmth and good manners. As a young American, who dressed in conservative fashion, arriving in England during the height of the Vietnam war, Ricklefs expected to be greeted with a certain amount of antipathy, but he found Caldwell to be "always cordial. Always looking slightly dishevelled and revolutionary, but never the slightest hint of discourtesy."

The picture of a friendly, if rather unconventional character, is confirmed by others who knew him. Professor Ian Brown was Caldwell's successor at SOAS and he was also his former student. "He was well liked – I suspect not by the SOAS hierarchy," says Brown, "but certainly loved by students and colleagues."

He describes a "skinny, somewhat emaciated, rather scruffy character who, bizarrely, always used to wear a suit – though it was clearly a suit that had been bought in the 1950s equivalent of Oxfam and not seen too many dry cleaners." Caldwell never hid his politics from his students, indeed he made a point of proselytising to them. One of his protégés was Walter Easey, who, according to Easey's obituarist, Caldwell converted to "a fierce and angry communism". But to Professor Brown, "he was a gentle person, quietly spoken, and very tolerant of opposing views. He treated everyone well. He was very encouraging and a really inspiring teacher."

Both Brown and Ricklefs use the same word to describe this well-travelled, extremely well-read and highly intelligent man: naive. SOAS, says Brown, was a college whose standing and ethos rested upon sound empirical study. "Everyone else in the history department went off every summer to the archives in Rangoon, Baghdad, etc, and got deep inside the data. Malcolm didn't. He was a man with very clear theoretical and ideological views and the empirical basis didn't seem to worry him hugely."

It's not that Caldwell was lost in bookish abstraction, for he did visit the various communist regimes he extolled. It was more that when he got there he was all too willing to accept state propaganda as verified fact. For example, he praised the "magnitude of the economic achievements" of Kim Il-Sung's impoverished North Korea and, returning from a trip to the highly secretive state, he wrote that the country was "an astonishing tribute not only to the energy, initiative and creativeness of the Korean people, but also to the essential correctness of the Juche line". "Juche" was the mixture of ultra-nationalism and self-reliance on which Kim built his monumental personality cult. About the totalitarian surveillance and ruthless political repression, Caldwell said nothing.

Although academic traditionalists may have disapproved of Caldwell's slanted scholarship, many idealistic students were inspired by his lectures. Tariq Ali, who became famous as a 1968 student leader, recalls going to see him talk on southeast Asia when Ali was at Oxford. They soon got to know each other and in the summer of 1965 went to a peace conference together in Helsinki. "We had to fly to Moscow," says Ali, "then there was a train, via Leningrad as it was then, to Helsinki. We talked a lot and became very friendly. It was later on that his Cambodian deviation was a bit off-putting. And he could never completely explain it."

At one time, the pair discussed opening a Vietnamese restaurant as a sort of act of antiwar gastro-prop. "He would say that after a few drams," Ali recalls. "He was a great whisky drinker. He was also a great cricket fan and an early Scottish nationalist."

Cricket is mostly followed in Scotland by the upper classes, but Ali got the impression that his old friend came from a middle-class background. His Wikipedia entry states that he was the son of a miner. "You know," says Ali, "we never bothered about these things. We were so totally immersed in politics and the state of the world, we never really talked about each other, our personal lives or social backgrounds."

In seeking to understand why this idealistic Scotsman became a cheerleader for Pol Pot, it would be wrong to consign him to the maverick margins. A member of the Labour Party, he stood as a candidate in the 1977 local elections in Bexley. John Cox, who followed in Caldwell's footsteps as chair of CND, is adamant that there was nothing out of the ordinary about his predecessor's politics. "He was well in the mainstream of what I would call generally progressive liberal thinking," says Cox.

This idea that support for the most illiberal systems of government is all part of the liberal tradition is one of the more bemusing aspects of progressive politics. But the missing factor in the equation is the view that the United States of America is the ultimate villain. The background to the brutality visited on Cambodia was the brutality visited on Vietnam by US forces.

Although the Vietnam war was more complex than is often acknowledged (the tensions between North and South, for example, long predated the war), the Americans essentially inherited France's colonial conflict. But they fought it in the context of the Cold War. As much as US administrations may have seen the battle as one between communism and the free world, to the majority of Vietnamese it was a liberation struggle.

In an effort to close down North Vietnamese supply lines to the South, the US also launched a devastating bombing campaign on neighbouring Cambodia. Instead of winning the war in the former, it served only to destabilise the latter. To make matters worse, an American-supported coup put in place the corrupt government of Lon Nol in Phnom Penh. So there was a tendency among many anti-war protesters to see the Khmer Rouge as just another national liberation movement, fighting to escape from under the American yoke.

One man who observed the truth up close, four years before the Khmer Rouge came to power, was a French ethnologist called François Bizot. In 1971, while out researching Buddhist practices, he was captured in the Cambodian countryside by Khmer Rouge insurgents. He was held captive with scores of Cambodian prisoners at the M-13 prison camp, a precursor to the 196 santebal (secret police) offices that were set up after the Khmer Rouge seized power. The head of the camp, and the Frenchman's tireless interrogator, was Duch.

Bizot wrote about the encounter in a remarkable memoir called The Gate. After three months, during which he was shackled and repeatedly accused of being an American spy, he was suddenly released – all the other prisoners were executed. So relieved was the Frenchman that he asked Duch if he would like a gift. His jailer thought for a while and then replied, "with the look of a child writing to Father Christmas, 'The complete collection of Das Kapital by Marx.'"

Three days before Christmas in 1978, Malcolm Caldwell received an early present. On the final day of a two-week tour of Cambodia, he was told that he would meet Pol Pot. This was indeed a rare privilege. Unlike most other communist leaders, Pol had not created a personality cult. There were no posters of him. He was seldom seen or quoted. Many Cambodians had not even heard of him. Only seven westerners were ever invited to what had been renamed Democratic Kampuchea. And Caldwell was the first and only Briton.

There were several reasons why Caldwell had been received in Phnom Penh. He was on good terms with China, Cambodia's main ally in the region. There were also growing tensions between Cambodia and its larger neighbour Vietnam and, fearful of an invasion, Pol Pot was belatedly attempting to improve Kampuchea's image abroad. Most of all, while other supporters had wavered, Caldwell had remained steadfast. Only months before, he had written an article in the Guardian, rubbishing reports of a Khmer Rouge genocide. He cited Hu Nim, the Kampuchean Information Minister, who blamed the deaths on America. Caldwell was unaware that Hu had himself already been tortured to death in one of Pol Pot's execution centres. Such killings that the Khmer Rouge had committed, argued the peace activist, were of "arch-Quislings who well knew what their fate would be were they to linger in Kampuchea".

Travelling with Caldwell were two American journalists, Elizabeth Becker and Richard Dudman. Becker had been a foreign reporter in Phnom Penh during the civil war that brought the Khmer Rouge to power. She knew the terrain, and had been to Thailand to talk to refugees. She and Caldwell argued endlessly about the true nature of the situation.

"He didn't want to know about problems with the Khmer Rouge," she says. "And that carried over to not wanting to know about problems between Cambodia and Vietnam. He was stuck in '68 or something."

Yet for all their disagreements, she liked Caldwell. "He was a lovely man, very funny, very charming," she says. "A real sweetie. He was also very homesick for his family and he said he'd never spend another Christmas away from them."

According to Becker, Caldwell had not read François Ponchaud's Cambodia: Year Zero, the book that first catalogued the Khmer Rouge genocide. A friend of François Bizot, Ponchaud was a Catholic missionary who was in Phnom Penh when the victorious Khmer Rouge army marched into town. His book became required reading for anyone interested in what was happening in Cambodia. "The fact that Malcolm, a professor, had not read it before he went, that I couldn't believe," says Becker. "I think it was almost ideological that he didn't read it."

It's perhaps not that strange that Caldwell had neglected to read Ponchaud, given that he had already dismissed the Frenchman's credibility in print. He based his damning opinion on a brief extract of Year Zero which the Guardian had published and a critique of the book by the American academic, Noam Chomsky. An icon of radical dissent who continues to command a fanatical following, Chomsky had questioned the legitimacy of refugee testimony that provided much of Ponchaud's research. Chomsky believed that their stories were exaggerations or fabrications, designed for a western media involved in a "vast and unprecedented propaganda campaign" against the Khmer Rouge government, "including systematic distortion of the truth".

He compared Ponchaud's work unfavourably with another book, Cambodia: Starvation and Revolution, written by George Hildebrand and Gareth Porter, which cravenly rehashed the Khmer Rouge's most outlandish lies to produce a picture of a kind of radical bucolic idyll. At the same time Chomsky excoriated a book entitled Murder of A Gentle Land, by two Reader's Digest writers, John Barron and Anthony Paul, which was a flawed but nonetheless accurate documentation of the genocide taking place.

We can never know if Caldwell would have taken Ponchaud more seriously had Chomsky not been so sceptical, but it's reasonable to surmise that the Scotsman, who greatly admired Chomsky, was reassured by the American's contempt. In any case, the 47-year-old Caldwell arrived in Cambodia untroubled by the story that Ponchaud and others had to tell. In fact, he had just completed a book himself that would be posthumously published as Kampuchea: A Rationale for a Rural Policy, in which he wrote that the Khmer Rouge revolution "opens vistas of hope not only for the people of Cambodia but also for the peoples of all other poor third world countries".

With Dudman and Becker, Caldwell was escorted around the country to a series of staged scenes. Alarmed by the changes she saw and frustrated by what she was not allowed to see, Becker grew increasingly combative with her hosts. "It was so clearly awful," says Becker. "One of the problems was the absence of what I saw. The absence of people. And that's a different kind of proof to 'I don't see any people being executed.'"

Caldwell was not unduly bothered. "He preferred to stay in the car and laugh at the clumsy photo opportunities prepared for us," Becker wrote in her book on Cambodia, When The War Was Over.

"He'd travelled to other communist countries," she tells me now, "and he knew exactly what the PR routine was and he thought that all governments do PR. He did not know Cambodia, and he didn't speak the language. If you don't speak the language, don't know the country, you can edit out a little more easily."

At the end of the tour, the party returned to Phnom Penh, which Dudman described as "a Hiroshima without the destruction, a Pompeii without the ashes". They stayed at a guest house near the centre of Monivong Boulevard, one of the empty city's main thoroughfares. Close by was the secret facility of Tuol Sleng, a former school that had been turned into an interrogation centre. Known as S-21, Tuol Sleng specialised in gaining confessions through torture. Between 14,000 and 16,000 prisoners – men, women and, most hauntingly, children – passed through its gates, including Hu Nim. Only seven survived. It was run by Duch.

Nowadays Tuol Sleng is a genocide museum, and an established part of the southeast Asian tourist trail. Although they were intent on erasing history, Pol Pot and his senior cadres were obsessed with the accomplishments of the 12th-century Hindu dynasty that built the temple complex of Angkor Wat and constructed elaborate damn and irrigation systems. They considered their own contribution to Khmer culture to be of a similar, if not greater, significance. It speaks eloquently of the Khmer Rouge's achievements that, while Angkor Wat remains the country's main tourist attraction, the next most popular sights for visitors are Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, where the prisoners from S-21 were taken to be "smashed" – usually with an ox-cart axle. A ghost town under the Khmer Rouge, Phnom Penh is now a bustling, sprawling city, dense with people and commercial activity. In May 1975, one month after the Khmer Rouge evacuated the capital, the Swedish author Per Olov Enquist wrote: "The brothel has been emptied and the clean-up is in progress. Only pimps can regret what is happening."

If that was blatant wishful thinking, it's an unpalatable truth that the pimps have returned. A potent mix of Developing World poverty, cheap flights and sexual licence has made Cambodia a magnet for sex tourists and paedophiles. The upmarket hotels around the riverside are full of western and Japanese businessmen, and a certain kind of furtive middle-aged traveller, stubble-chinned and plump-stomached, is a conspicuous presence in the bars and clubs frequented by young and under-age prostitutes.

Cambodia has just two seasons: wet and dry. It either rains or it doesn't, a binary climate that may have helped shape the Khmer Rouge Manichean view of the world – revolutionary or counter-revolutionary, insider or outsider, good or bad. It was the dry season when I visited in late November, and a cooling wind blew through the hot, polluted streets. At first sight, Tuol Sleng's large courtyard, lined with coconut palms, provides welcome respite from the noise beyond. A respectful silence is maintained by visitors, including groups of western backpackers, with their cameras and guidebook glaze. The three-storey buildings have been left pretty much as they were abandoned in 1979, slightly dilapidated with jerry-built cells, barbed-wire fences and medieval instruments of torture. The effect is to transport the visitor not just back in time, but also into the reptilian depths of the imagination, a merciless place of zero compassion.

In the courtyard of the prison is a poster listing the rules of the camp. None of them makes for pleasant reading. For example, number 2 states in an imperfect translation: "Don't try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that. You are strictly prohibited to contest me." It vividly articulates the mentality that shaped S-21, and indeed Kampuchea beyond, the relentless determination to remove every option from the prisoner – and citizen – to reduce them to absolute compliance. But perhaps the most disturbing is number 6: "While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry out at all." Denied every human and judicial right, the inmates were also refused the one prerogative of the tortured: the right to express pain.

I visited the archive on the second floor of the building, where some of the 4,000 files the Vietnamese discovered are housed. Here, I was brought the "confession" of John Dewhirst, a 26-year-old teacher from Newcastle who was captured in 1978, while sailing with friends through the Gulf of Thailand. Intercepted by a Khmer Rouge patrol boat, they were placed in S-21 and tortured over the course of a month. As the weeks passed, Dewhirst made a series of ever more bleakly surreal confessions. They start out as straightforward biography – he explains that he had studied at Loughborough university. Then he admits to being a CIA agent, recruited at Loughborough where the CIA, he is made to say, maintains one of its covert training bases. It "was housed in a building disguised as the Loughborough Town Council Highways Department Surveyor's Office". He also reveals that his father is another CIA agent, using the cover of "headmaster of Benton Road secondary school". Dewhirst was murdered by the Khmer Rouge in 1978.

S-21 was not concerned with the truth. Its only aim was to derive the fullest possible confession in accordance with party requirements. In his book Voices From S-21, the historian David Chandler quotes Milan Kundera's phrase (used to describe the Soviet bloc secret police) of "punishment seeking the crime" to sum up the prison's project. To this end, the most depraved techniques – electric shocks, rape, the forced eating of excrement, medical experimentation, flaying, and lethal blood extraction – were employed. It's hard to comprehend that these agonies were not just formalities, they were preliminaries. It wasn't a question, on arriving at the prison, that an inmate would be lucky to get out alive. He or she would be lucky to get out just dead. A guidebook for interrogators clarified the issue: "The enemies can't escape from torture; the only difference is whether they receive a little or a lot."

The precise level of punishment was decided upon by Duch. If the confession was not sufficiently elaborate, the punishment was increased. In these situations Duch impressed upon his staff that "kindness is misplaced". Some interrogators were more disposed to brutality than others. And some were simply demented sadists. The most sadistic of them all went by the name of Toy, a pitch-black irony that his English-speaking victims were in no position to appreciate. In recent testimony, a prison guard recalled that one of Dewhirst's party (either the young teacher himself or the New Zealander or Canadian travelling with him) was burned alive in the street. The order that they be incinerated came directly from Pol Pot.

Just a few months after that grisly murder, Caldwell prepared himself to meet the man who commissioned it. The Scotsman knew little or nothing of Dewhirst's fate. Instead his mind was on agrarian revolution. Caldwell believed that the world was accelerating towards a global famine and that the answer was Developing World self-sufficiency. But Cambodia was a strange place to test his theory. As Professor Ian Brown notes: "This is a part of the world that historically had not been a food-deficient area, so you wouldn't go looking for a crisis there. Again, that seems to indicate a more fundamental flaw in his approach: he comes at it with a theoretical position. And therefore he'd search for an argument, not necessarily evidence, that will sustain that."

In Pol Pot, Caldwell found someone with an argument that suited his purposes. Pol's plan was a massive increase in rice production to finance Cambodia's reconstruction. It required collectivisation and slave labour, though Caldwell preferred to see the effort in terms of spontaneous revolutionary spirit. In the event, owing to the shortage of technicians and experts (who were killed as class enemies) and lack of peasant support, production fell well short of targets. But terrified of underperforming, regional commanders still sent their designated contribution to be exported. The result was the opposite of self-sufficiency: famine. Unable to accept the shortcomings in his plans, Pol instead blamed spies and counter-revolutionaries, and that meant that, in the absence of rice, spies and counter revolutionaries had to be produced. The network of torture camps was the only area of Democratic Kampuchea's infrastructure that met its targets.

Of these dreadful facts, Caldwell remained ignorant on the Friday morning in Phnom Penh that he was taken in a Mercedes limousine to see Pol Pot. The setting for the meeting was the former Governor's Palace on the waterfront, built during the French colonial period. In a grand reception room replete with fans and billowing white curtains, the two men sat down and discussed revolutionary economic theory.

Becker had met Pol Pot earlier the same day, and in When the War Was Over she writes: "He was actually elegant, with a pleasing face, not handsome but attractive. His features were delicate and alert and his smile nearly endearing."

The perennially shabby academic and the fastidious dictator must have made for an odd couple. In any case, Caldwell left the meeting a happy man. He returned to the guest house he was sharing with Becker and Dudman, full of praise for Pol Pot and his political outlook. "We went over stuff," says Becker. "He thought he had had a good conversation. He had avoided at all costs any discussion of Vietnam. And he was looking forward to going home."

That night they all had dinner together and afterwards Dudman went to his room. Becker and Caldwell "stayed at the table to have our last argument about Cambodia". He took the longer view and said that the revolution deserved support. She, on the contrary, was even more convinced of the refugees' testimonies. "That night," she writes, "Caldwell tried once more to get me to change my mind."

Becker went to bed at 11pm and was woken a few hours later by the sound of what she took to be dustbins. Coming to her senses, she realised there were no dustbins in Phnom Penh. What she had heard was gunfire. She opened her bedroom door to see a young man pointing a pistol at her. He was wearing two bands of ammunition and carrying an automatic rifle over his shoulder. She begged him not to shoot and locked herself in her bathroom.

Meanwhile Dudman had woken up and, looking out of his window, saw a file of men running along the street. He knocked on Caldwell's door. The two men spoke briefly and then a heavily armed man approached. The man shot at the floor and Dudman ran into his room. Two shots were fired through his door. The two Americans remained hiding in their rooms for the next hour before an aide arrived and told Becker to stay where she was. Almost another hour passed before she was allowed to come out. Caldwell, she was told, had been shot. He was dead.

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) are located in a large, purpose-built court on the dusty outskirts of Phnom Penh. During the course of last year, hundreds of Cambodians made the trip out from the city and in from the countryside to bear witness to a long-overdue reckoning.

The lone defendant in the trial is a slim, well-preserved 67-year-old with small, sensitive eyes. With his thick grey hair and concentrated expression, he looks like a sprightly grandfather, a little stiff and formal, but sufficiently attuned to the contemporary world as to be smartly dressed in a Ralph Lauren shirt or, on another occasion, a cream cashmere roll-neck sweater. A giant bullet-proof glass screen divides the court from the auditorium, where 500 or more people sit watching the proceedings. Centre stage is Duch (pronounced "Doik" in Khmer), seated with his back to the audience. To his left is a bank of lawyers, and behind them in the corner the relatives of victims. In front of the defendant sit the judges, on an imposing two-tier stand. Ten years, some 400 staff, a dozen judges, a battery of international lawyers, an ongoing legal wrangle, and many millions of pounds is what it has taken to put Duch on trial.

Following Caldwell's murder, four guards assigned to the tourist's protection team were arrested and taken to S-21. Owing to the importance of their alleged crime, the commandant of the prison was instructed to head their interrogation. So the stories of Caldwell and Duch came together at the inevitable point of a torture camp. Here, amid bestial squalor, is where the liberation dream ended.

Two of the "confessions" made by guards referred to in their S-21 files as "the Contemptible Met" and "the Contemptible Chhaan", outline a baroque conspiracy involving many other people. The Contemptible Chhaan gives an explanation for the murder: "First, we were attacking to ruin the Party's policy, to prevent the Party from gathering friends in the world… And in attacking the guests on this occasion, we would not attack them all. It would be enough to attack the English guest, because the English guest had written in support of our Party and the Kampuchean people for a long period of time already… Therefore, we must absolutely succeed in attacking this English guest, in order that the American guests would write about it."

Whether this was yet another example of innocent men implicating other innocent men, it's impossible to know. Certainly there must have been some kind of in-house involvement, as the guests were guarded. But who instructed the guards, and why they did so, remains a subject of speculation. Some argue that the Vietnamese were behind the killing, others that it was a function of an internal party struggle.

Caldwell's brother, David, wrote a letter to the Guardian, expressing his belief that "Mal" had "discovered the truth about the Pol Pot regime" but "dared not admit this to either Becker or Dudman". This seems unlikely. David Chandler told me that he once met the translator of the meeting between Caldwell and Pol Pot, who remembered a very pleasant exchange conducted in a spirit of enthusiastic agreement. If that anecdote suggests Caldwell died a dedicated Pol Potist, it tells us little about Pol, a man for whom the word "inscrutable" might have been invented. As his deputy, Ieng Sary, later recalled: "Pol Pot, even when he was very angry, you could never tell. His face… his face was always smooth. He never used bad language. You could not tell from his face what he was feeling. Many people misunderstood that – he would smile his unruffled smile, and then they would be taken away and executed."

But why would he seek international support by killing one of his few remaining friends from abroad? It makes no sense. "Don't apply rational thinking to the situation," Becker cautions. "It was crazy. Crazy. Malcolm's murder was no less rational than the tens of thousands of other murders." The journalist Wilfred Burchett claimed to have seen a Cambodian report not long after Caldwell's death, which stated that he "was murdered by members of the National Security Force personnel on the instructions of the Pol Pot government". Burchett theorised that Caldwell had changed his mind about the regime, but all the available evidence indicates otherwise. In the end, Becker's conclusion seems to be the most satisfactory: "Malcolm Caldwell's death was caused by the madness of the regime he openly admired."

The confessions of Caldwell's alleged killers were completed on 5 January 1979. Either that day or the following one, the four men were bayoneted to death in the prison itself. They were very possibly the last killings to take place at S-21. On 7 January, the Vietnamese army arrived in Phnom Penh, and Pol Pot and his associates fled into the jungle.

The contrast between the care taken to observe Duch's legal and human rights and the indifference with which he dispatched his victims is lost on no one. But as Philippe Canonne, one of the lawyers representing the relatives of the victims, said of the urge to inflict on Duch what he had meted out to his prisoners: "We must give voice to this sentiment, but then have the strength to transcend it."

It's this sort of resolution that has made the trial a legal landmark in a nation that has had little experience of the rule of law. That it was ever staged at all is a major accomplishment. For 20 years after the Vietnamese invasion, Duch lived at liberty. At first he followed the bulk of the Khmer Rouge into exile on the border with Thailand. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the US and China refused to accept the Vietnamese puppet government installed in Phnom Penh. In a shameful version of the principle that my enemy's enemy is my friend, they instead persuaded the UN to recognise a coalition resistance movement, of which the Khmer Rouge formed the major player. Thus Pol Pot was afforded the support of China, the protection of Thailand, and the indirect recognition of the United States.

For two decades the Khmer Rouge waged guerrilla warfare against the government in Phnom Penh. Then, in 1997, Pol Pot was placed under house arrest by his fellow Khmers Rouges. He died peacefully in his sleep on 15 April 1998. A year later the photojournalist Nic Dunlop found Duch working for a Christian relief agency. An interview was duly published and Duch handed himself in to the Phnom Penh authorities.

In theory, the trial is a joint effort between the UN and Cambodia, but the effort has been all the UN's. The Cambodian People's Party, which has ruled since Pol Pot was overthrown, is led by onetime Khmer Rouge members who, under threat of purging, had defected to Vietnam. One of these is Hun Sen, a former revolutionary soldier, who has been prime minister since 1985. His government was accused by Amnesty International of widespread torture of political prisoners, using "electric shock, hot irons and near suffocation with plastic bags". And for many years, senior former members of Pol Pot's government lived under protection in Cambodia, some with family links to the government. So there were several reasons why a major trial with international media coverage was potentially embarrassing or inconvenient.

After much pressure, in November 2007 the Cambodians finally arrested the four most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leaders: Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan. Their trial is scheduled to start in 2011, though few observers will be surprised if it is indefinitely delayed. All of them claim ignorance of any wrong-doing. Perhaps the most galling example is a long letter of evasion and self-justification that Khieu Samphan, Pol Pot's chief ideologue, wrote to Cambodian newspapers in 2001. "I do not see any importance in bringing up this tragic past. We would be better off to let everyone be at peace so that all of us can carry on our daily tasks… I tried my best for the sake of our nation's survival, so that we might enjoy development and prosperity like other nations. I am so surprised that this turned out to be mass murder."

In one form or another, this exculpation has been used over and again by the supporters of communist revolutions, from the Russian via the Chinese through to the Cambodian. Each new manifestation commanded the fervent advocacy of a new generation of radicals. Sooner or later the grim reality was revealed, which, paradoxically, only raised the hope that the next version would get it right. As the French philosopher Jean-François Revel has remarked: "Utopia is not under the slightest obligation to produce results: its sole function is to allow its devotees to condemn what exists in the name of what does not."

Somehow the link between Marxist-Leninist ideology and communist terror has never been firmly established in the way, for instance, that we understand Nazi ideology to have led inexorably to Auschwitz. As if to illustrate the point, earlier last year the ECCC announced that Helen Jarvis, its chief of public affairs, was to become head of the victims unit, responsible for dealing with the survivors, and relatives of the dead, of S-21.

Jarvis is an Australian academic with a longterm interest in the region, who was recently awarded Cambodian citizenship. She is also a member of the Leninist Party Faction in Australia. In 2006 she signed a party letter that included this passage: "We too are Marxists and believe that 'the ends justify the means'. But for the means to be justifiable, the ends must also be held to account. In time of revolution and civil war, the most extreme measures will sometimes become necessary and justified. Against the bourgeoisie and their state agencies we don't respect their laws and their fake moral principles."

Jarvis refused to speak to me about these matters. But Knut Rosandhaug, the UN's deputy administrator for the tribunal, said that the administration "fully supports" her. In this sense, although she was never a Pol Potist herself, Jarvis shows that the spirit of Malcolm Caldwell has survived the last century. It lives on in the conviction that the ends justify the means, and in the manner that liberal institutions can house the most illiberal outlooks.

The means, of course, always become the ends. Duch or someone like him is the method and the madness, the process and the final product. At least the man himself claims to grasp what continues to elude too many who should by now know better. In his deposition to the court, he said: "I clearly understand that any theory or ideology which mentions love for the people in a class-based concept is definitely driving us into endless tragedy and misery."

The following day, his lawyer, Kar Savuth, asked that Duch be acquitted and set free.

Caldwell didn't trouble himself with the means in Cambodia. He was too focused on an imaginary end, which meant that he never glimpsed the deadly real one approaching.

"He may have been starry eyed," says John Cox. "But we all do that. Even my local football team I support long after they've been destroyed match after match. It's a human failing."

A few days after Caldwell's murder, a testimonial was published in the Guardian.

"Caldwell," the writer said, "was an irreplaceable teacher and comrade whose work will undoubtedly suffer the customary fate of being better appreciated after his death."

As it turned out, history has forgotten Caldwell. But the amiable apologist for tyranny should be remembered, if only so that we don't forget history.

Som Niyeay Phorng - Editorial by Angkor Borey News

2010-01-09T22:49:00.000-08:00

Click on the article in Khmer to zoom in

Peace, stability and cooperation are keywords for ASEAN 2010

2010-01-09T17:06:00.000-08:00

09/01/2010

What is the viewpoint of ASEAN in the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia?

Deputy foreign minister Dao Viet Trung: ASEAN’s standpoint and principle is not intervening into the internal affairs of each other. Based on this principle, we believe member countries can solve for disputes for themselves based on a spirit of peace, dialogue, cooperation and development. As a neighboring country of Thailand and Cambodia, Vietnam believes the two countries will solve this matter to their own common interest and for the development of the association.

Chief SOM ASEAN-Vietnam Pham Quang Vinh: At a meeting of ASEAN’s foreign ministers in July 2008, the two countries announced related developments. ASEAN Foreign Minister issued a declaration about this issue, which expresses the wish that Thailand and Cambodia will solve the dispute based on the spirit of ASEAN peace, friendship and union. ASEAN is also willing to assist Thailand and Cambodia if it is requested. We believe that this declaration is still valuable at present.

VietNamNet Bridge – At an international press conference announcing ASEAN Year 2010, during which Vietnam assumes the ASEAN Chairmanship, questions were answered on regional issues, including the East Sea dispute.

As ASEAN Chairman, will Vietnam raise the East Sea dispute for discussion in ASEAN’s meetings this year?

Chief of the ASEAN-Vietnam Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM ASEAN) Pham Quang Vinh: Within the framework of ASEAN, issues relating to ensuring peace, stability and cooperation in Southeast Asia, including the East Sea and those that promote the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), are among the common interests of ASEAN and China and countries in the region.

Promoting efforts to maintain a favorable environment and conditions for peace, stability and cooperation in the region, including the East Sea, as well as promoting the implementation of the DOC will be content that ASEAN and its partners will continue discussing and implementing.

As Chairman of ASEAN, what initiatives and solutions might Vietnam have to deal with the East Sea dispute?

Pham Quang Vinh: We realize that the common interest of Southeast Asian countries and China and other related countries is a peaceful, stable environment for cooperation and development. The ASEAN-China relations are a strategic partnership and the two sides have many fields of cooperation and commit to promote cooperation and implement the Declaration of the ASEAN-China strategic partnership.

ASEAN has the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation (TAC), with the participation of many ASEAN’s partners, including China and most recently the USA. This is a document building trust, enforcing efforts for peace, stability and regional cooperation.

In 2002, ASEAN and China signed the DOC. This is an important document confirming the commitment and determination of participating countries in building mutual trust and striving for peace, stability and cooperation in the region. It is not about making the situation more complicated but about seeking common cooperative measures between the two sides.

We think that this document is a common product of ASEAN-China. In 2010, the two sides will continue exchanging and promoting measures to effectively implement the DOC.

It is said that the Indonesian Commerce Industry proposes to postpone tax reductions on 228 items which are slated for a tax rate to zero percent in the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area Agreement. What is the view of Vietnam as the Chairman of ASEAN?

Pham Quang Vinh: We know through the media that Indonesia asked for delays in cutting down the tax rate for 228 items. We will check this information through ASEAN information channels. The participating countries in the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area Agreement, including Vietnam, expect all participating countries to follow the roadmap to benefit member economies and two-way trade.

If this information is correct, we understand that if a country wants to adjust related regulations, as a member of the agreement that country will have to consult the opinions of all related sides and follow the rules of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area Agreement.

What is the ASEAN’s response to the recent statement by Myanmar officials about upcoming elections in Myanmar?

Deputy Foreign Minister Dao Viet Trung: Along with ASEAN member countries, Vietnam has paid attention to the situation in Myanmar. We really hope Myanmar can boost a process of conciliation and national concord and promote the implementation of a seven-point democratic itinerary, including an election.

At ASEAN’s recent meeting, Myanmar’s leaders emphasized to organize a peaceful, democratic and legal election. We believe that this is the wish and the common goal of ASEAN countries for the stable development of not only Myanmar but also ASEAN.

In its recent statement, ASEAN has confirmed that ASEAN countries are willing to assist Myanmar if Myanmar has specific requests. ASEAN’s has experience in working with Myanmar, for example ASEAN and Myanmar’s cooperation in dealing with the consequences of typhoon Nagis in 2008.

What is the viewpoint of ASEAN in the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia?

Deputy foreign minister Dao Viet Trung: ASEAN’s standpoint and principle is not intervening into the internal affairs of each other. Based on this principle, we believe member countries can solve for disputes for themselves based on a spirit of peace, dialogue, cooperation and development. As a neighboring country of Thailand and Cambodia, Vietnam believes the two countries will solve this matter to their own common interest and for the development of the association.

Chief SOM ASEAN-Vietnam Pham Quang Vinh: At a meeting of ASEAN’s foreign ministers in July 2008, the two countries announced related developments. ASEAN Foreign Minister issued a declaration about this issue, which expresses the wish that Thailand and Cambodia will solve the dispute based on the spirit of ASEAN peace, friendship and union. ASEAN is also willing to assist Thailand and Cambodia if it is requested. We believe that this declaration is still valuable at present.

Govt in process of setting up halal certification body

2010-01-09T17:05:00.001-08:00

Institute will mean Muslims will not be forced to buy goods on faith alone

Photo by: ELLIE DYER

A shop sells Cambodia-produced Mee Yeung instant noodles carrying the halal logo. The Kingdom is yet to establish a formal halal certification process.

CAMBODIA’S government could set up a body to certify halal food in the country as early as this year, the official in charge of the proposed Cambodian Halal Institute said.

The Ministry of Commerce is working in consultation with the Cambodian Muslim Development Foundation under orders from Prime Minister Hun Sen on a certification body, which will most likely be set up by sub-decree, Sop Ra, deputy director general of domestic trade at the Ministry of Commerce said.

No official launch date had been set, and progress has been slow to date due to a lack of resources.

“We have plans to create the body, but now we have only a small taskforce,” Sop Ra said. “We are in a slow process of writing books about the definition of Islam and a directory of Islamic food in Cambodia.”

In the absence of a certification agency, Cambodia’s Muslims have to rely on faith alone to ensure the food they eat is prepared according to Islamic dietary laws, said Othsman Hassan, president of the Cambodian Muslim Development Foundation and a secretary of state at the Ministry of Labour.

“Now we don’t have a proper law to certify halal food, which is why some people put the word halal on their products, but sometimes Islamic people still don’t eat their products because they don’t trust the label,” he said.

One of the most widely recognised products made in Cambodia bearing the halal label is the Mee Yeung (Our Noodle) brand of instant noodles produced by Men Sarun Co.

The company produces four varieties of noodles. The chicken, seafood and beef variants are labelled halal, while the fourth – pork – does not carry the label, given that it is not eaten under Islamic law.

A Men Sarun representative said he was not authorised to speak to the media Thursday and referred questions as to the halal status of the company’s products to another company employee who could not be reached.

Sources within the Cham Muslim community say Othsman Hassan was initially charged with setting up the certification body through the Muslim foundation, but Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh successfully lobbied Hun Sen to transfer authority to the ministry.

Othsman Hassan denied there was any conflict between the foundation and the ministry.

Ministry of Culture and Religion Secretary of State Jakya Adam admitted that Cambodia was taking a different approach to establishing the certification body than most other countries, where halal certification was traditionally the role of local Islamic communities.

“In most other countries, this is completely the work of Islam,” he said. “But for Cambodia, we don’t want to do it that way. We want cooperation between Islam and the government.”

Sop Ra said he has attended courses on halal food in Brunei, India, Malaysia and Thailand and was currently researching halal products sold in Cambodia.

“We are searching which companies import those products and which countries certify them,” he said, adding that they are also searching Halal products which are locally made.

Ihab Mattar, general manager and chef of Phnom Penh’s Le Cedre restaurant, which serves halal food, said he imports most of his products from Lebanon. He also sourced meat locally from Cambodian Muslims, trusting them that it was prepared according to halal methods.

“In Cambodia, they don’t know anything about certifying halal food,” he said.

Clothing sector finds benefactor in US Congressmen

2010-01-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

January 09, 2010
Fibre2Fashion

Three visiting American Congressmen have promised to lobby for free-trade access for clothing exports to the US markets from Cambodia. This was revealed by them after a meeting with the Prime Minister of Cambodia.

Joseph Cao of Louisiana, Eni Faleomavaega, a non-voting Congressional delegate from American Samoa, and Mike Honda from California after their tour of Vietnam touched the shores of Cambodia.

Cambodian officials have also requested the US for a cancellation of a US $300 million in debt accrued during the Lon Nol period. Reacting to the request, Honda said, “It is possible to deal with the request by the three of us in Congress.”

Rong Cham Chan Reah - "Waiting for the moon to rise": A Poem in Khmer by Chau Monykhemara

2010-01-09T17:03:00.000-08:00

Click on the poem in Khmer to zoom in

Sounding off and Thanking Ms. Theary C Seng by KI-Media Reader

2010-01-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

Personally, I could not thank you enough for taking the time to post your writings/thinkings here on KI-Media.
Evidentially, our friends praise you while our foes continue to abuse their anonimity to show off their worst ugliness yet towards us all. And yes, it could be very comforting but also very discouraging when facing these kind of realities.

As a Khmer/Cambodian, although brought up and raised in the States, I see myself no other than being Khmer. This is simply because I don't know any other way. Ms. Theary, you have shown us and given us an example of how each and everyone of us can do to help our beloved Cambodia/Khmer, regardless of our background and abilities . For that and with my safest assumption, we are grateful.

Ultimately and despite everything, we can only imagine whether all of our scholars, intellectuals, politicians can put their head together to save our homeland.

Very truly yours,
At Keo
North Carolina (U.S.A)

P.s. Jusqu’au moment où nous nous verrons un beau jour, Theary, un gros bisou de ma part, bien sûr!

Timeshare for Tycoons and Autocrats

2010-01-09T04:16:00.000-08:00

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