Var Kim Hong lied to former monarch: Krom Preah [crying over spilled milk he helped spill?]

Ranariddh (Photo: Tin Zakariya, RFA)

14 Dec 2010
By Tin Zakariya
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

In the eastern border problems between Cambodian and Vietnam, border activists have accused Vietnam of encroaching inside Cambodian territories.

Norodom Ranariddh, president of the NRP, indicated his clear stance in defending Cambodia’s territorial integrity and avoiding any loss, especially along the eastern borders with Vietnam. He said that he regrets very much that the government border commission gave false maps to former king Norodom Sihanouk, then the leader of the Supreme National Border Committee, in 2005.

The declaration was made by Ranariddh, the former prime minister and former president of the National Assembly, who left politics about 2 years ago. On 14 December at his residence in Phnom Penh, Ranariddh accused sVar Kim Hong, the chairman of the government border commission, of lying to the former king about the use of the official maps of Cambodia which were agreed upon: “However, Vietnam should recognize Cambodia’s current borders as clearly shown on the 1:100,000 scale maps by the [French] Service Géographique de l’Indochine [Indochina Geographic Services, or SGI]. Why didn’t we negotiate with Vietnam by using these as bases, because then, Vietnam and the Vietcong already recognized them, but it was such a disaster when the king wrote in his own hand [based on what] Var Kim Hong duped him by telling him that they were maps from the Sangkum Reastr Niyum [SRN] era, whereas in reality, they are not from the SRN era.”

Ranariddh’s accusation came at a time when SRP MPs traveled to visit the planting of border posts between Cambodia and Vietnam in Memot district, Kampong Cham province. Local villagers claimed that border post no. 109 was planted inside their orchards.

Var Kim Hong reacted by saying that Ranariddh did not tell the truth because the maps he handed over to the former king was based on the maps deposited at the UN in 1964 at a scale of 1:100,000 and prepared by the SGI. The SGI maps include 26 sheets and the Supplemental border treaty signed with Vietnam in 2005 is based on these maps also: “Furthermore, as the president of the Funcinpec party which was allied with the CPP, we reported to him all the way to the Funcinpec party headquarters. He agreed to everything, he understood all that we used as our basis, but what he just said earlier, he didn’t say it right, he said that we took 1:100,000 UTM scale maps, but in reality they were 1:50,000 UTM maps prepared by the US.”

At the beginning of December, the joint border commission between Cambodia and Vietnam announced a public bidding in order to select a company that will print border maps between the two countries. A total of 5 companies competed for the bid.

Nevertheless, Mr. Sean Pengse, President of the Paris-based Cambodia’s Border Committee, explained that maps prepared during the French colonial era were the most perfect and they can be used to easily find the old border posts with the help of a GPS device. He indicated that the Cambodian government does not put to use these old maps because of the 1985 treaties with Vietnam, therefore new maps were adopted with strong influence by Vietnam.