29th October, 2009
With Khmer-Thai border dispute at Preah Vihear to the west dominating national and international media headlines for the last one year, which had overshadowed all other issues of national importance, there needs an urgent redress and a dramatic stunt to regenerate national debates about the more pressing Khmer-Vietnamese border issue to the east.
Mr. Sam Rainsy’s theatrical performance of uprooting six border demarcation poles on 25th in front of national and international media has certainly achieved that.
Many people questioned whether Mr. Rainsy was more interested in a theatrical publicity stunt or was he more interested in taking concrete measures to address the border issue. Mr. Rainsy’s theatre was without a doubt a publicity stunt, but one that carries a powerful political message that have far-reaching effects in raising national and international awareness about Cambodia’s border problems with its powerful neighbour to the east.
Since time immemorial, especially during the reign of King Chey Chetha II (r. 1618 - 1627) in the 17th century, Vietnam had secretly forcibly annexed vast territories of Cambodia, known today as Kampuchea Krom, after King Chey Chetha II married one of the Vietnamese princesses. Cambodian republicans, in particular supporters of the Khmer Republic regime of Marshall Lon Nol, have wittingly drummed up powerful anti-monarchy sentiments by accusing King Chey Chetha II of ceding large territories of Kampcuhea Krom to the Vietnamese emperor at the request of his Vietnamese wife. Twenty one provinces have been annexed and the Vietnamese drive for annexations were only cut short with the signing of the French Protectorate in 1863 between France and Cambodia.
Many Cambodians, who are very wary about Vietnam’s past hegemony and expansionism, believe that the Vietnamese leaders still harbour ambition of swallowing Cambodia. They still believe that the Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia in 1979 was not to save Cambodians from being massacred by the Khmer Rouge, but it was an invasion and hegemonism with the aim of turning Cambodia into a second Kampuchea Krom. Many treaties, with all of them favouring Vietnam, were signed between the puppet Cambodian regime and the invading Vietnamese government. These unequal treaties had reinforced their scepticism of Vietnam’s real motives for their intervention in Cambodia.
Critics of the present Cambodian government believe that treaties such as the 1979 Treaty, 1982 Treaty and 1985 Demarcation Treaty had favoured Vietnam and had ceded large parts of Cambodian frontiers to Vietnam. The ratification of the 1985 Supplemental Treaty in 2005 had caused a stir in Cambodia among Mr. Hun Sen’s critics. Many people and border activists who had expressed their oppositions to this particular treaty had been jailed or forced to flee the country. They have alleged that the 1985 Demarcation Treaty and the 1985 Supplemental Treaty, ratified in 2005, have ceded large chunk of Khmer territories to Vietnam. Many Cambodian villages (Phum Dong, Bavet in Svay Rieng, O’Yadao in Rattanakiri) and lately a rice-field near Ang Romdenh Pagoda in Samrong commune, Chantrea district of Svay Rieng province where Mr. Sam Rainsy had just waged a campaign of theatrical publicity stunt to uproot the border poles illegally installed by the Vietnamese authority, had been encroached. Many Cambodians believe that the border poles were illegally installed because they were installed in the middle of Cambodian farmers’ rice-fields. Most Cambodian borderlines with Vietnam, the same with Thailand, have been demarcated using natural features such as natural creeks and mountains as the borderlines. On the contrary, the present borderlines with Vietnam have often cut across Cambodian villages and rice-fields, causing Cambodian villagers to lose their homes and farmlands. As a result, Mr. Rainsy’s theatrical stunt in Samrong commune has generated publicity and reinvigorated the national debates about the fate of Cambodian borders with Vietnam once again.
I have drawn a long list of facts above because I want to highlight the importance of publicity, or a publicity stunt if one wants to term it that way, particularly international publicity, regarding border violations by Cambodia’s neighbours, especially Cambodia’s borders to the east which had been almost forgotten since the invasion of the Preah Vihear areas by Thai troops in the middle of last year which had dominated national and international headlines.
To this effect, Mr. Rainsy’s theatrical publicity stunt by uprooting the six border poles illegally installed by Vietnamese authority had certainly regenerated debates and had drawn national and international attention to the Khmer-Vietnamese border problems once again.
Mr. Rainsy’s action, if anything at all, is just a symbolic gesture but one that carries a political weight and a powerful message to national and international audience about the plight of the Cambodian border issue with Vietnam.
“Mr. Rainsy’s theatre was without a doubt a publicity stunt, but one that carries a powerful political message that have far-reaching effects in raising national and international awareness about Cambodia’s border problems with its powerful neighbour to the east.”
With Khmer-Thai border dispute at Preah Vihear to the west dominating national and international media headlines for the last one year, which had overshadowed all other issues of national importance, there needs an urgent redress and a dramatic stunt to regenerate national debates about the more pressing Khmer-Vietnamese border issue to the east.
Mr. Sam Rainsy’s theatrical performance of uprooting six border demarcation poles on 25th in front of national and international media has certainly achieved that.
Many people questioned whether Mr. Rainsy was more interested in a theatrical publicity stunt or was he more interested in taking concrete measures to address the border issue. Mr. Rainsy’s theatre was without a doubt a publicity stunt, but one that carries a powerful political message that have far-reaching effects in raising national and international awareness about Cambodia’s border problems with its powerful neighbour to the east.
Since time immemorial, especially during the reign of King Chey Chetha II (r. 1618 - 1627) in the 17th century, Vietnam had secretly forcibly annexed vast territories of Cambodia, known today as Kampuchea Krom, after King Chey Chetha II married one of the Vietnamese princesses. Cambodian republicans, in particular supporters of the Khmer Republic regime of Marshall Lon Nol, have wittingly drummed up powerful anti-monarchy sentiments by accusing King Chey Chetha II of ceding large territories of Kampcuhea Krom to the Vietnamese emperor at the request of his Vietnamese wife. Twenty one provinces have been annexed and the Vietnamese drive for annexations were only cut short with the signing of the French Protectorate in 1863 between France and Cambodia.
Many Cambodians, who are very wary about Vietnam’s past hegemony and expansionism, believe that the Vietnamese leaders still harbour ambition of swallowing Cambodia. They still believe that the Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia in 1979 was not to save Cambodians from being massacred by the Khmer Rouge, but it was an invasion and hegemonism with the aim of turning Cambodia into a second Kampuchea Krom. Many treaties, with all of them favouring Vietnam, were signed between the puppet Cambodian regime and the invading Vietnamese government. These unequal treaties had reinforced their scepticism of Vietnam’s real motives for their intervention in Cambodia.
Critics of the present Cambodian government believe that treaties such as the 1979 Treaty, 1982 Treaty and 1985 Demarcation Treaty had favoured Vietnam and had ceded large parts of Cambodian frontiers to Vietnam. The ratification of the 1985 Supplemental Treaty in 2005 had caused a stir in Cambodia among Mr. Hun Sen’s critics. Many people and border activists who had expressed their oppositions to this particular treaty had been jailed or forced to flee the country. They have alleged that the 1985 Demarcation Treaty and the 1985 Supplemental Treaty, ratified in 2005, have ceded large chunk of Khmer territories to Vietnam. Many Cambodian villages (Phum Dong, Bavet in Svay Rieng, O’Yadao in Rattanakiri) and lately a rice-field near Ang Romdenh Pagoda in Samrong commune, Chantrea district of Svay Rieng province where Mr. Sam Rainsy had just waged a campaign of theatrical publicity stunt to uproot the border poles illegally installed by the Vietnamese authority, had been encroached. Many Cambodians believe that the border poles were illegally installed because they were installed in the middle of Cambodian farmers’ rice-fields. Most Cambodian borderlines with Vietnam, the same with Thailand, have been demarcated using natural features such as natural creeks and mountains as the borderlines. On the contrary, the present borderlines with Vietnam have often cut across Cambodian villages and rice-fields, causing Cambodian villagers to lose their homes and farmlands. As a result, Mr. Rainsy’s theatrical stunt in Samrong commune has generated publicity and reinvigorated the national debates about the fate of Cambodian borders with Vietnam once again.
I have drawn a long list of facts above because I want to highlight the importance of publicity, or a publicity stunt if one wants to term it that way, particularly international publicity, regarding border violations by Cambodia’s neighbours, especially Cambodia’s borders to the east which had been almost forgotten since the invasion of the Preah Vihear areas by Thai troops in the middle of last year which had dominated national and international headlines.
To this effect, Mr. Rainsy’s theatrical publicity stunt by uprooting the six border poles illegally installed by Vietnamese authority had certainly regenerated debates and had drawn national and international attention to the Khmer-Vietnamese border problems once again.
Mr. Rainsy’s action, if anything at all, is just a symbolic gesture but one that carries a political weight and a powerful message to national and international audience about the plight of the Cambodian border issue with Vietnam.
14 comments:
Mr. Rainsy's action might be a publicity stunt but, like Khmerization, I believe that his action is a reminder to Khmer leaders and Khmer people that Khmer lands have been robbed everyday by the Viet.
Hun Sen and his cronies, because they got into powers by the Viet, will never protest. They are still indebted to Vietnam for helping them to come to powers and stay in powers for 30 years. To say in short, they are Khmer traitors!
It needs a courageous act like what Mr. Rainsy had done to publicize the Viet territorial violations to the Khmer people and the world at large. Good on you, Mr. Rainsy.
Now Vietnam has protested against Rainsy's action. It's good because it means more publicity about the Viet border encroachments.
Good job Khmerization.
AS khmer who truely loves our homeland, people, tradition, and culture. We need to emphysize this border issue with vietnam aggression largely and on forward until the whole world knows that vietnam is very evil and animal like-ness. All human being need to pursure happiness and needs like anyone else.
What vietnam is doing must be rebuke and condemed!
Hun Sen will not take such action as patriotic and will make the action taker as his personal enemy.
Hun Sen performs well for crony to stay put in power.Hun Sen is a performer not a solver of anything.
By now if he's smart, he shall empower his rival politicians and country with full rights to live free to full dignity of mankind.
Hun Sen will surely be another loser as soon as he died.But he shall not let Cambodia suffers his ignorance and collusion with enemy.
Either Yuons or Hun Sen must be stopped. We Khmers have lost too much since Hun Sen's been in power.
I agree that Khmers should not forget the land we lost to the Vietnamese.
Border issue with Thailand is also a big problem but not as dangerous as that with Vietnam.
I totally support Mr. Sam Raingsy move to pull out the illegal demarcation the Viet has planted.
This is a clear evidence that the Viet has continued to encroach into Cambodia.
All Khmers should unite and protect our land, otherwise the Khmer land will be diminished in the near future. All Khmers must see this as a great danger. Don't wait until it's too late.
My ass, you are all so damn pathetic.
Burn these stakes! Villagers should take all these stakes out that cut across their rice field and burn them!
They never cut across ricefield of Vietnamese but they always cut across rice field of Cambodian people to get more land and make us more miserable.
Brothers and sisters, if you love your livelihood and believe in your right to food and right against hunger
I appeal you all, to burn all the stakes put in by the CPP or by Hanoi on your ricefield.
If they shoot you, let the world know that you were shot defending your family's rights to live and eat!
We have right to eat like everyone else!
11;15pm.
I don't think it is a damn pathetic, those were just people' opinions.
My opinion is that Rainsy is doing this new stunt strategy, I suspect he has been instructed by the US? or by China? It got to be coming from one of them. These great powers pick its own star, like China picked Thaksin, then he was ousted by the US. Now Rainsy is a star, but I am not sure to whom he is with.
The fall of US dollars, I think this is a wide range of structuring the global political games between the great powers US and China. It is a strategic tools that preat powers like China and US use for geopolitical struggles.
I will post my article I wrote for my papers next. I want to share with you all. Tell me what you think. After all we all are learning to understand what is going on in our home and our global village that could affect us.
Don't mind any typo if you find I'm in a hurry.
Whether defending the Khmerland from the Thais or from the Viets, I support both causes.
I applause Mr. Hun Sen for defending Preah Vihear, and I also applause Mr. Sam Rainsy for defending Khmer territories against the Viets in this case. I applause both leaders for defending the foreign territorial encroachments at this time.
The persons are silent about this are the King and royal parties and I consider they are ignorant and useless to this whole matter. They are suffering a slow death, and I am not surprised a bit.
Keep it up Mr. Hun Sen and Mr. Sam Rainsy by defending our Khmerland on all fronts.
Khmer Angkor.
1:19am.
Just because you don't read or hear about the Kings's opinions does not mean they are not part of the games. They may be the minds(heads) and Hun Sen & Rainsy are the mouths. That is not the way of calling for Khmers to unite when you still paint other Khmers who believe their Kings are also patriost.
1:19am.
Just because you don't read or hear about the Kings's opinions does not mean they are not part of the games. They may be the minds(heads) and Hun Sen & Rainsy are the mouths. That is not the way of calling for Khmers to unite when you still paint other Khmers who believe their Kings are also patriots.
good point to raise awareness, mr. sam rainsy. i mean, if you don't do it, who will, definitely not the pro-hanoi gov't, really!
1:19 AM,
Your statement is 100% right.
What this Sour Cucumber Dynasty had done to Cambodia and her people?
All Cucumber descendants sold Cambodia to be put on the monkey throne. So after they eliminated Varman dynasty, the cucumber dynasty sold everything of Cambodia, never protect of anything of Cambodia, and never built anything in Cambodia like Varman did build Angkor Wat, Bayon, and thousands more stone temples for our khmer descendants.
The king of Cambodia is useless, it's a Viet rubber stamp to cede more khmer territories to Vietnam.
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