By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
AP
SINGAPORE: Singapore's foreign minister said Thursday (4 July) a border dispute that recently flared between Thailand and Cambodia should never have become a problem, and it was unnecessary to take it to the U.N. Security Council.
Speaking as host of Southeast Asia's main security conference, George Yeo suggested that Cambodia's decision to refer the spat to the United Nations may have been premature. Yeo said the two countries should focus instead on promoting tourism and shelve their differences.
"It should not have to go to U.N. Security Council," Yeo said at a news conference following the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' annual security meeting. "It was not a problem, even a few weeks ago. It suddenly became a problem."
Yeo's comments came as the military standoff over the disputed border territory entered a second week, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of eyeing even more of its land and leaflets appearing in the Cambodian capital calling for a boycott of Thai goods.
On Tuesday (22 July), Cambodia asked the U.N. Security Council to intervene in the dispute over land near the ancient temple of Preah Vihear, warning that the two sides were at "an imminent state of war."
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he had no choice but to appeal to the United Nations after discussions with Thailand on Monday failed to produce a breakthrough.
In a countermove Wednesday (23 July), Thailand's ambassador to the United Nations, Don Pramudwinai, said Cambodia was bringing the quarrel before the Security Council because "the Cambodian target is not only Preah Vihear but the entire common border."
The dispute over 1.8 square miles (4.6 square kilometers) of land near Preah Vihear escalated this month when UNESCO approved Cambodia's application to have the temple complex named a World Heritage Site.
Thailand sent troops to the border 15 July after anti-government demonstrators attacked Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government for supporting Cambodia's UNESCO application. They claim the temple's new status will undermine Thailand's claim to land around the temple. Cambodia responded with its own troop deployment.
Cambodia is preparing to hold national elections on Sunday, with some commentators suggesting a resolution may be more likely after the polls when the media and political glare subsides.
Yeo reiterated ASEAN's call for restraint, saying: "Both sides are being watched."
"Both sides should promote tourism, and it's something we should enhance in Southeast Asia as a whole, not become a source of conflict between two countries," he said.
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States will be guided by the views of Southeast Asian countries in assessing the border dispute if it comes up for mediation in the U.N. Security Council.
Speaking as host of Southeast Asia's main security conference, George Yeo suggested that Cambodia's decision to refer the spat to the United Nations may have been premature. Yeo said the two countries should focus instead on promoting tourism and shelve their differences.
"It should not have to go to U.N. Security Council," Yeo said at a news conference following the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' annual security meeting. "It was not a problem, even a few weeks ago. It suddenly became a problem."
Yeo's comments came as the military standoff over the disputed border territory entered a second week, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of eyeing even more of its land and leaflets appearing in the Cambodian capital calling for a boycott of Thai goods.
On Tuesday (22 July), Cambodia asked the U.N. Security Council to intervene in the dispute over land near the ancient temple of Preah Vihear, warning that the two sides were at "an imminent state of war."
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he had no choice but to appeal to the United Nations after discussions with Thailand on Monday failed to produce a breakthrough.
In a countermove Wednesday (23 July), Thailand's ambassador to the United Nations, Don Pramudwinai, said Cambodia was bringing the quarrel before the Security Council because "the Cambodian target is not only Preah Vihear but the entire common border."
The dispute over 1.8 square miles (4.6 square kilometers) of land near Preah Vihear escalated this month when UNESCO approved Cambodia's application to have the temple complex named a World Heritage Site.
Thailand sent troops to the border 15 July after anti-government demonstrators attacked Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government for supporting Cambodia's UNESCO application. They claim the temple's new status will undermine Thailand's claim to land around the temple. Cambodia responded with its own troop deployment.
Cambodia is preparing to hold national elections on Sunday, with some commentators suggesting a resolution may be more likely after the polls when the media and political glare subsides.
Yeo reiterated ASEAN's call for restraint, saying: "Both sides are being watched."
"Both sides should promote tourism, and it's something we should enhance in Southeast Asia as a whole, not become a source of conflict between two countries," he said.
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States will be guided by the views of Southeast Asian countries in assessing the border dispute if it comes up for mediation in the U.N. Security Council.
5 comments:
ASEAN is a hopeless & a useless body which Cambodian should not be part of it.
George Yeo,
Sir with all due respect it was a couple days ago that ASEAN refused to engaged in a diplomatic manner to help resolve this matter because Thailand wants a bilateral solution and have asked ASEAN not to get involved in this matter. It is not a problem for Singapore or Singaporeans. But it is a major problem for Cambodia. We Cambodian felt the word bilateral means pressure to deal with unfriendly neighbor with bigger guns, tanks, and fighter planes such as F-16s.
ASEAN cannot even find a resolution to the Burma’s problem. So how can you felt that you are relegated to minute/useless role when the Cambodian government sought support of the United Nation Security Council?
I am sure Cambodians aren’t afraid of war. Being Cambodian-American, I will return to my country to fight the brutal criminal Thais invader. However, I do feel that war is not the answer to the problem. If the ASEAN and UNSC failed to provide Cambodia adequate support in order to find a solution, war it is.
KevinKhmer
AH George Yeo fail to learn to from Cambodian history in the 1980! Cambodia was invaded in 1979 by the communist Vietnam with the support of the Soviet Union! Communist Vietnam has the fourth largest army in the world and it is Cambodian people who bear the brunt of the Vietnamese invasion for 10 years and nobody understand the issue of invasion more than Cambodian leaders and Cambodian people!
AH George Yeo and his ASEAN members including the Thaicong aggressor need to stop talking by showing some action now in trying to diffuse and to contain the Thaicong-Cambodian conflict as soon as possible bcause more talking won't lead to nowhere and the Thaicong government chose to act in defiant of internation law and order!
The memory of invasion is still fresh on Cambodian people mind and Cambodian leaders will not take any invasion lightly because Cambodian leaders and Cambodian people had been through it all! So for the Thaicong-Cambodian conflict to be solved the ASEAN must change their mindset in trying to understand how the Cambodian leaders and Cambodian people perceive the world! It is no surprise that it is Cambodian leaders and Cambodian people who are the one that want to end this conflict as soon as possible that is why Cambodian urge to the third party(UN) to get involve and ended this conflict quickly before it is getting out of hand!
The are is no point of blaming Cambodia for being a victim of Thaicong aggression or even past Vietcong aggression which led to invasion of Cambodia in 1979!
The Hun Sen government must keep the troops ready.
This is the best that the UN can do for us.
No matter what it is our territory that they are playing with. We need to clean up this mess ourself.
Ah Yeo, what will you say when they come for you?
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