Khieu KanharithSunday, August 24, 2008
Agency reports
Posted by the Bangkok Post
Phnom Penh - Cambodia plans to build a Berlin-style wall to shut off Thailand and develop tourist facilities around the still disputed Preah Vihear temple, a senior official said on Sunday.
The Cambodian government will build a series of walls at "complicated border areas," while still calling for talks to mark and properly demarcate the frontier, Khieu Kanharith, Information Minister and government spokesman, told reporters at a press conference.
Both sides should start to discuss to plant border markers from undisputed border areas to the complicated border areas and some complicated border areas will be built with border markers or concrete walls, Khieu Kanharith said.
Cambodia will allow private companies to invest at least $2 million dollars at the Preah Vihear Temple to set up cable cars for tourists, he said, adding that the government is also trying to build a road to the temple.
The Preah Vihear border gate to Thailand will be open when the situation there is stable, he said, adding that foreign tourists could visit the temple from the Cambodian side.
At the moment, authorities have closed the temple grounds to visitors. For decades, the only way to get to Preah Vihear was through Thailand, because the temple is situated atop a sharp cliff on the Cambodian side.
Cambodia and Thailand share a border of over 800km with only 73 demarcation markers, the Cambodian official said on Sunday.
At a meeting on Aug 18-19, Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers agreed to arrange a second-phase troop redeployment at the disputed border area near the temple.
They agreed to a meeting of the Cambodian Temporary Coordinating Task Force and the Thai Regional Border Committee on Aug 29 in Cambodia to discuss the troop redeployment.
The two foreign ministers also agreed to recommend to their governments that the next meeting of legal experts and the Thai-Cambodian Joint Border Committee be convened in early October, to discuss the issues related to border survey and demarcation of the relevant frontier sectors.
On July 15, Thai troops went into the border area to fetch three trespassers who had intended to claim Thai sovereignty over the Preah Vihear Temple. The incident triggered a military standoff, as troop strength on each side grew to more than 1,000 soldiers.
In 1962, the International Court of Justice (World Court) decided that the 11-century temple belongs to Cambodia.
The Cambodian government will build a series of walls at "complicated border areas," while still calling for talks to mark and properly demarcate the frontier, Khieu Kanharith, Information Minister and government spokesman, told reporters at a press conference.
Both sides should start to discuss to plant border markers from undisputed border areas to the complicated border areas and some complicated border areas will be built with border markers or concrete walls, Khieu Kanharith said.
Cambodia will allow private companies to invest at least $2 million dollars at the Preah Vihear Temple to set up cable cars for tourists, he said, adding that the government is also trying to build a road to the temple.
The Preah Vihear border gate to Thailand will be open when the situation there is stable, he said, adding that foreign tourists could visit the temple from the Cambodian side.
At the moment, authorities have closed the temple grounds to visitors. For decades, the only way to get to Preah Vihear was through Thailand, because the temple is situated atop a sharp cliff on the Cambodian side.
Cambodia and Thailand share a border of over 800km with only 73 demarcation markers, the Cambodian official said on Sunday.
At a meeting on Aug 18-19, Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers agreed to arrange a second-phase troop redeployment at the disputed border area near the temple.
They agreed to a meeting of the Cambodian Temporary Coordinating Task Force and the Thai Regional Border Committee on Aug 29 in Cambodia to discuss the troop redeployment.
The two foreign ministers also agreed to recommend to their governments that the next meeting of legal experts and the Thai-Cambodian Joint Border Committee be convened in early October, to discuss the issues related to border survey and demarcation of the relevant frontier sectors.
On July 15, Thai troops went into the border area to fetch three trespassers who had intended to claim Thai sovereignty over the Preah Vihear Temple. The incident triggered a military standoff, as troop strength on each side grew to more than 1,000 soldiers.
In 1962, the International Court of Justice (World Court) decided that the 11-century temple belongs to Cambodia.
20 comments:
Now the Olympics are over I guess China is ready to play the game with the siem.
What? Why? Do you think China cares about Cambodia or what's going on between Khmer and Thai?
China doesn't give a rat's ass about Cambodia. China will kiss Thai's ass for doing business with China.
Thanks to Khieu Kanharith's foul mouth, we might have wars inside and outside of Cambodia.
I commend the idea to build the Berlin-style wall by Khieu Kanharith, Information Minister! I favor both the Berlin-style of Germany and the DMZ style of North Korea!
Hey! If a fucken thief can break into my house to steal my valuable for the first time and I certainly want to put more security on my house the next time!
It is important that Cambodian government must act on the construction of the Berlin-style wall as soon as possible!
11:47 PM
Actually they will burn Thai's ass out.
When? How?
You'll see.
By the way where is Boosang and the PAD, tell them to come out.
11:47PM Chinese GVT's will insert an acidic hot papper into Thai ass dood!; you're wrongly understand Chinese GVT's mood. It means, certainly the dark era is creeping into Siamese thieves land. Your prosper King is sucking Khmer Loeu's blood to long. They are growing up people they know their land occupied by Siamese, and their children need reunited with all Khmer as a powerful Nation once again. That Means the border is not on the Dorngreng Mountain it far beyond your imagination. Kao Jaj Mi??? I BAR!!!
11:47 PM
I don't think China is kissing anybody ass. You should get out of your hole and watch the world economy.
Haha.. China kiss Thailand's ass?
Kidding yeahh...
Good mate 2:30AM, you tell this sucker to watch the world economy.
Thaksin doing the business in the region where's the money he got from? Hahah... keep dreaming, China kiss no one ass.
Bhumibol is 80 years old and his family may have to move out from Thailand when Thaksin returns.
So sick and tired, seriously, to know of the damn Siam in the issue of Khmer temples. When will the Siam come to its human sense that all human want to live peacefully?
With or without conscience in its brain cells the Siam ought to believe that by no means, as a new Khmer generation, our active conscience will "continue" to allow a criminal to attack and rob us of our remaining property, a remnant of our Khmer Empire, and we would remain calm and do nothing.
We will expose your criminal ugly face before the world court and in international watchful eyes. All that belonged to the Khmer and that had been lost into the criminals hands due to our weaknesses will be recovered as time progresses.
For the sake of peace of mind we must alleviate our strength and be ready at all time in this turbulent world of animals in human form.
The Thai people want only to suck ass, they used to live under prostitution.
Under the world war II , they saw that Japan was the strong country, they decided to suck the japaneses ass to take khmer lands (Battambang, Siem Reap ..).
Under the cold war, they decided to suck the US ass to take Khmer lands again.
Now they want to suck a big ass again.
The Spokeman just talk like Parriot as his boss order.........
He does not use his brian and conscience at all...............
9:18 AM
That's the definition of spokesman, if not the boss will come and speak by himself.
I guess you got the message: a wall we be built at the border.
Da.
I am strong man But with Only my own Poor people..
When Foreign agressors ... I am so soft/peaceful.... I wish to have beenm awarded Peace Nobel Prize.. reagrdless My territory lost............
Siam Army destroyed the GPS Machine of one of the High Rank Delegates including Minister of Fine Art.... to Taman Temple...
This act is very Barabrous and Critical as looking down on Khmer Government..........
I am still patient, Soft...
When we compare the Siam Khmer Border Dispute/Agression... to land Grabbing by high Rank Government Officials with Poor people and Compare to the Local traffic Accident(between a High Rank Clan and normal MotoCyler I met yesterday..... the strongest use Gun to fire and the Poor Motocycler be quiet.. and drove away however he respected to trafic Law...
This situation isd very similar to Border Dispute with Thai while Cam Party keep quiet.......
"...Go to UN does not mean war it means also peaceful solution.."
"Finally we can conclude Cqmbodia is Victim of Land Grabbing and Thai is the powerful man who always win in Grabbing Land/or Traffic Accident.."
Excellency General Oknha Advisor Achar Knoy(Phd. Bandit from Pahok Chamroeurn aVichea Univ. P.Penh= Peace Nobel Prize winner 4000)
Current Cambodia will have soon the "GREATEST WALLS "which is better than China Great Wall.
Cheyyo Prah Vihan GREATEST WALL of 21st Century
Cheyyo
Cheyyo
That's good that you feel very bold, because your Bhumibol and Boonsang is not sharing your enthusiasm.
Why don't you give them a call.
9:52 AM
It's good that you know that China is behind Preah Vihear wall, don't you?
9:49 AM
Don't give yourself to much glory.
Wall or no wall doesn't make any difference because ah khmers are so coward.Ah khmer put up the barb wire at the temple, ah thai invaded and ah khmers did not do a shit to them.Too bad ah THAI did not take preah vihear back.if they did ah khmers may be crying to death.Ah Khmers are all mouthy but no action.
China - Thailand Relation.
Thailand's foreign policy, it is the ability to take advantage of the rivalries of larger powers. Skillfully avoiding occupation during various colonial enterprises, Thai foreign policy has cleverly sensed the prevailing winds and adapted accordingly. Thailand's close relationship with China – arguably one of the closest in Southeast Asia – sits alongside an alliance relationship with the United States.
Thailand's relationship with China has not always been so vital – only in 1975 did the two countries restore diplomatic links. China's support for the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) and its insurgency from the post-war period until the 1970s was a major stumbling block. But as America decreased its commitment in South Vietnam under President Nixon's policy of forcing the Saigon government to assume more and more responsibility, Thailand reconsidered its options. Mindful that the non-communist states in Southeast Asia were in real trouble, and the strong possibility that there were limits to what Washington would do to save them, Thailand forged a relationship with China. Part of this courtship involved Thailand's toleration of Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, which Bangkok recognized. In December 1978, when Vietnam invaded Cambodia, China and Thailand formed a tight relationship that revolved around support for the armed opposition to Vietnamese rule. China and Thailand cooperated extensively in funneling provisions and materiel to the Khmer Rouge, while China ended all support for the CPT.
China and Thailand essentially formed a de facto alliance that ultimately extended to the armed forces of the two countries. China and Thailand signed a "Strategic Partnership" arrangement, which has included a regular exchange of military personnel and exercises. Since the early 1980s, Thailand has purchased armaments and military-related equipment under this partnership at "friendship prices" – much of which has effectively amounted to military gift aid. China and Thailand have announced a whole raft of measures and initiatives to mark the thirtieth anniversary of formalized relations in the year 2005. Until the expansion of ASEAN saw Burma join the ranks, Thailand could boast the closest ties to China of any ASEAN state – something that occasionally raised eyebrows in capitals like Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and even Singapore.
In part, the relationship has stayed healthy due to some underlying factors. First of all, unlike Vietnam and the states of maritime Southeast Asia, Thailand has no overlapping territorial claims with China. The others are either joint claimants to the waters and islets of the South China Sea, or, in the case of Indonesia, out-right disputants over sea boundaries. Second, Thailand's Chinese community has been well integrated into Thai society to the extent that the ethnic Chinese are not discriminated against in any way. On the contrary, Thais of ethnic Chinese ancestry are exceedingly well represented in the political, military and economic elite of the country. Though they remain Thai nationalists, many have even re-discovering their Chinese cultural and linguistic "roots" in recent years. Meanwhile, Beijing has made a point of identifying commonalities between Sinic and Thai culture. Third, Thailand is conscious of the reality of China's emerging power in the Asia Pacific region, and is keen to adjust to the inevitability of Beijing's economic and strategic reach into the region. Thai leaders are mindful of a long relationship with China that stretches back into the days when Thai monarchs paid tribute to Imperial China. The future will, for Thailand, look much like the past.
Here Thailand's core strategic concept of "bending with the prevailing winds" comes into play. Thailand very carefully manages its foreign policy to retain close relations with both China and the United States, while also satisfying perceived demands from the Thai public. While holding on to the "Strategic Partnership" with China, Thailand never put the axe to its formal alliance structure with the United States, even if it was moribund during much of the 1970s.
The U.S.-Thai relationship, which outlived the failure of the South-East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) alliance just prior to the end of the Vietnam War, remains in quite robust shape. President Bush conferred on Thailand the designation of Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) during a visit in October 2003. Despite what the name might suggest, MNNA Status does not entail the same defense guarantees to which NATO members have agreed. But the designation does indicate to Thailand its importance to the United States, particularly in light of Washington's interest in counter-terrorism, and recognition of Thai peacekeeping contributions to both Afghanistan and Iraq. MNNA gives Thailand access to preferences in advanced weaponry. Thailand is also host to the annual Cobra Gold exercises, involving significant land, sea and air components of the United States armed forces.
However, Thailand has not allowed its relationship with America to dominate its policies. Unlike the Philippines and Singapore, Bangkok refused to back America's unilateral invasion of Iraq. Skillfully hedging its bets, Thai diplomats remained mindful of their need to keep the United States somewhat at a distance, especially given public opposition to the war. While the insertion of troops after the invasion demonstrated to Washington that it was not entirely unsupportive, this allowed Thailand to maintain its balancing act.
The motivation of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – himself a Sino-Thai – to maintain a degree of independence in his dealings with the United States cannot be explained solely by the China factor. Thaksin is aware of the need to preserve communal relations, particularly in the Muslim South. After a brief imposition of martial law in Thailand's three southern-most provinces in January 2004, the Muslim south has spiraled into worsening violence for a combination of reasons including separatist sentiment, intra-elite violence, and criminal activity. Exacerbating existing complaints of identity loss, human rights abuses, and economic deprivation, Thai Muslims are conscious of events in the wider Muslim world. The Thaksin government is fully aware that the war in Iraq has the capacity to electrify his Muslim constituents if he is deemed to have whole heartedly sided with the United States.
This threat, emerging as Thailand's major stability question, will serve to further bring China and Thailand on to the same page. Both face the separatist question in troubled Muslim majority periphery areas – Patani in Thailand and Xinjiang in China. Clearly, the post-September 11 environment, that has seen China and the U.S. suspend a degree of harsh rhetoric in favor of confronting the perceived common enemy of terrorism, will foster more convergence between China and Thailand as well. In the past, Thailand, out of concern to maintain its special relationship with China, has offered China very clear assurances on issues of China's state cohesion. Thailand has gone further than many other states in supporting China's saber-rattling towards Taiwan. Thailand even blocked entry to the Dalai Lama at one point, and expelled members of the Falun Gong sect, which is banned in China.
There have been instances of bilateral tension since the restoration of modern Sino-Thai diplomatic links. Thai officials still feel that China has failed to aid them in stemming the flow of drugs and people out of Burma. Thailand has also been critical of China failing to restrain the Chinese-equipped Burmese army from the occasional border incursion. A burgeoning two-way trade, which grew from US$8.6 billion in 2002 to US$12 billion in 2003, is heavily weighted in China's favor and threatens to push a good deal of Thai business to the wall. China's economy will be an opportunity to some Thai investors and exporters, but a giant steamroller to others.
On balance, however, Thailand seeks to engage China and draw it into a lattice of networks and relationships. What began as a convergence of interests over Cambodia, and checking Vietnam, has altered course to account for wider strategic shifts in the Asia Pacific region. The result – a close Sino-Thai relationship – remains the same even if the circumstances evolve. Thailand, unsure of either China's ultimate reach as an emerging superpower or China's ultimate intentions toward the region, has set itself on a course where it hopes to accommodate China's rise.
Before going to hell, Hun Sen and Khieu Kanharith must assure the land size of Cambodia is 181,035 sq.km.
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