ASEAN Energy Ministers gather in Cambodia for talks on energy cooperation

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The 30th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting was held here on Wednesday, aiming at discussing and seeking further cooperation in energy sector.

The meeting was under the theme "ASEAN Green Connectivity."

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen highlighted the significance of the theme "ASEAN Green Connectivity," which focuses primarily on the energy production and consumption that minimizes impacts on surrounding atmosphere.

"The meeting will further enhance solidarity and commitment among ASEAN member states to work together to achieve the region's joint goal," he said. "It is also contributing to expedite the full integration of ASEAN in 2015."

Japan tells Hor 5 Hong to go "くそを食べる"

Discordant note: Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (left) chats with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong before the East Asia Summit foreign ministers' meeting in Phnom Penh on July 12. REUTERS / KYODO

Japan not happy with Cambodia minister's words

Wednesday, Sep. 5, 2012
Kyodo

Japan has told Cambodia, which holds the rotating ASEAN chairmanship this year, that it is dissatisfied with the chairman's statements after two meetings of the bloc's foreign ministers in July, according to diplomatic sources.

Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba, in a letter to his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong, dated July 24, voiced regret that the issue of the abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea was not included in the statement, which was issued after the foreign ministers' meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Phnom Penh on July 12, the sources said.

Genba also took issue with Hor Namhong over the chairman's statement issued following the foreign ministers' meeting of East Asia Summit member countries, held in the Cambodian capital on the same day, saying that territorial disputes in the South China Sea with China and its neighbors were not properly conveyed.

Cambodia's ASEAN help leads to Chinese aid [-Payout time for Comrade Hun Xen...]

Wednesday, September 5, 2012
By Prak Chan, Reuters

PHNOM PENH -- China has pledged more than US$500 million in soft loans and grants to Cambodia and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao thanked it for helping Beijing maintain good relations with the regional grouping ASEAN, a Cambodian junior minister said.

A summit of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July failed to issue a joint communique for the first time in the group's 45-year history after disagreement over the wording of a section on territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Cambodia, which chairs ASEAN meetings this year, was accused by some countries in the group of stonewalling in support of its ally, China.

The South China Sea has become Asia's biggest potential military flashpoint. China's claim over the huge area has in particular set it against ASEAN members Vietnam and the Philippines.

Asean and China: navigating turbulent waters ahead

The USS Milius, a guided missile destroyer, docks in Manila on August 18 amid rising tensions in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China.

Singapore August 25, 2012
Yang Razali Kassim
RSIS

In this year, the 45th anniversary of Asean, Indonesia's foreign minister Marty Natalegawa expressed optimism that a regional code of conduct to govern behaviour in the South China Sea would be ready by year's end.

In so doing, he signalled Asean's shift to a new and more active phase to resolve the territorial disputes in the South China Sea by pushing for an early adoption of the long-stalled Code of Conduct (COC). Dr Natalegawa's confidence followed his success in securing an Asean consensus on a six-point statement of principles on the South China Sea in late July, after it failed to issue a joint communique at the group's annual meeting in Phnom Penh.

The statement has papered over the rift within Asean between members who are disputants in the South China Sea, and the Asean chair, who refused to seek a compromise position, resulting in the non-issuance of a joint communique for the first time in Asean's 45 year history. Cambodia will need to focus on repairing the fissures in Asean so that it can host a credible summit in November.

By shifting gear towards an early COC, Asean is also repairing the rift over the territorial disputes between some of its members and China, the region's emergent power. This has prompted a more cooperative posture on Beijing's part. China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi, on a visit to Jakarta on August 10, pledged to build mutual trust towards the eventual adoption of the COC.

Chair not to blame for communique failure [-More undiplomatic denial from Sin Serey, the Cambodian ambassador in S'pore]

August 30, 2012
The Nation
Opinion

I wish to make some clarifications to the article published in The Nation on August 25 under the title "Asean and China: Navigating Turbulent Waters Ahead" by Yang Razali Kassim.

When reading this article, one may wonder how ignorant and unscholarly this so-called "senior fellow" at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) is. For sure he may have been doing either sloppy work or he has a particular political goal. But it is sad for someone with the position of "senior fellow" to have written such an article without having the real knowledge and information on Asean, both collectively and individually.

First, it is ignorant to say the "Asean chair, who refused to seek a compromise position, resulting in the non-issuance of a joint communiqué". On the contrary, it was the Asean chair that had attempted from July 9 to 13 to seek a political compromise on the language related to the South China Sea in the joint communiqué. Cambodia, as chair of Asean, wanted to have a compromise formula for the South China Sea. Cambodia had circulated a paper and written explanations. But what should we do when two members of Asean put national and bilateral interests above Asean's interest? The two Asean member-states decided to stick to their positions, and one of them even stated it was "non-negotiable". Who should have been held responsible for the non-issuance of the joint communiqué? Cambodia's position was to observe Asean practice when there is no consensus on a particular issue.

ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting in Siem Reap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqq85ngve-s

ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting kicks off

28/08/2012

VietNamNet Bridge – The 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM 44) kicked off in Siem Reap city, Cambodia on August 27.

ASEAN economic ministers focused their discussions on measures and plans to promote the intra bloc economic integration, build an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

The Vietnamese delegation to AEM 44 and related meetings is headed by Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen emphasised the importance of AEM 44 for the bloc, especially in the context of ASEAN’s efforts to implement the goal of forming the ASEAN Community by 2015.

Rich-poor gap hinders Asean integration

Tuesday August 28, 2012
AFP

PHNOM PENH: South-East Asian nations must redouble efforts to bridge development gaps which threaten the region’s efforts to create an EU-style single market, Cambodia’s prime minister said.

Building an Asean economic community by 2015 is the “top priority”, Hun Sen said as he opened the annual meeting of Asean economic ministers in the Cambodian tourist hub of Siem Reap.

Emulating the European Union’s example, Asean wants to establish a single market and manufacturing base of about 600 million people – a goal that has been spurred by intensifying competition from China and India.

ASEAN struggles to cope with rival claims in the South China Sea

Protesters carrying China’s flag take part in a demonstration against Japan’s claims in the East China Sea. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

By Andrew Higgins, Monday, August 27, 2012
The Washington Post

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA — Thrown off balance by a cacophony of claims in the South China Sea, Southeast Asia is struggling to cope with the “big and heavy” presence of China and the United States in the region and needs to face up to growing security and political challenges, the secretary general of a regional group said in an interview.

Surin Pitsuwan was speaking Monday after the start of a meeting of economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap. It was the first major gathering of regional officials since an acrimonious conclave last month that highlighted deep divisions created by China’s increasingly assertive territorial claims in the South China Sea and rhetorical blasts about the waterway from Beijing and Washington.

At the earlier meeting, in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, foreign ministers could not agree on the wording of a final communique for the first time since the regional association’s founding in 1967.

Pitsuwan, Thailand’s former foreign minister and head of ASEAN’s secretariat since 2008, said in an interview that he was surprised by the breakdown in Phnom Penh, where the group’s customary low-key pursuit of compromise gave way to testy deadlock amid complaints of microphones being abruptly disconnected and allegations of backstage meddling by China.

44th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting to kick off in Cambodia

SIEM REAP (Xinhua) August 26, 2012 - The 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting and related meetings are ready to kick off here Monday, Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said Sunday.

"Everything is in place and the 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting and related meetings will be opened by Prime Minister Hun Sen tomorrow," he told reporters after playing golf with some of ASEAN Economic Ministers at Angkor Golf Resort.

"The meeting will discuss topics related to trade liberalization and economic cooperation among the 10 ASEAN member states, and the cooperation between ASEAN and its dialogue countries," he said.

UN secretary-general to visit Cambodia in November [-More arrest of evicted protesters will await Ban Ki-moon?]

Xinhua | 2012-8-23

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Cambodia in November to attend the 21st ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit, a senior UN official said here Thursday.

Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said that the UN-ESCAP will not only continue to help ASEAN in intra-ASEAN Connectivity, but also help connect the bloc with the whole Asia-Pacific.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he would also invite Ban to attend the Global-ASEAN Dialogue Forum, which will be focused on global issues such as the troubled financial system, food safety, energy security, and climate change.

Cambodia names new envoy after Asean gaffe [-The Philippines made sure Hos Sereythonh left Manila in disgrace]

By Sara Fabunan | August 19, 2012
Manila Standard Today

The Cambodian government has appointed Foreign Affairs undersecretary Tout Panha as the new ambassador to the Philippines, replacing Hos Serathon, who struck a raw nerve with his remark that the Philippines and Vietnam were playing “dirty politics” on the South China Sea issue.

In a letter to a major daily, Sereython accused Manila and Hanoi of stalling last month’s Asean foreign ministers meeting in Phnom Penh by pushing for an “inflexible and non-negotiable” position on territorial disputes with China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

After the story came out, Sereython was summoned by the Foreign Affairs to explain his remark, but the Cambodian envoy did not appear, pleading illness.

On July 30, after receiving a note verbale from the DFA, Sereython and his family left for Cambodia. He was sent off at the airport by Cambodian ministry officials and was escorted by airport police instead of the usual protocol officers.

New Ambassador Appointed To Philippines After Row

Cambodia has nominated a new ambassador to the Philippines, following a diplomatic row over the failed Asean security meeting in July and Cambodia’s positions on the South China Sea.

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer

18 August 2012

PHNOM PENH - Cambodia has nominated a new ambassador to the Philippines, following a diplomatic row over the failed Asean security meeting in July and Cambodia’s positions on the South China Sea.

The former ambassador, Hos Sreythoun, was recalled to Cambodia Aug. 6, despite calls from the Philippines government to answer for statements he made in the media criticizing the Philippines for helping derail the Asean meeting.

Cambodia hosted the security meeting last month, in its role as rotating president of Asean, but the region’s ministers failed to agree on a code of conduct for the South China Sea or even to deliver a joint communique on their meeting, a first in 45 years.

Envoy leaves quietly

August 18, 2012
By Eric B. Apolonio
Manila Standard Today

Controversial Cambodian Ambassador to the Philippines Hos Sereythonh left Manila quietly with his family on board a Philippine Airlines flight to Ho Chi Minh City at 1:10 p.m. on Friday.

He said he hoped to be back in the Philippines with his family for a vacation.

“I love the Philippines and hope to be back for a vacation with my family”, he said.

He refused to answer questions over his non- appearance in the Department of Foreign Affairs after he was summoned regarding his letter published in a Manila newspaper last month accusing the Philippines and Vietnam of playing “dirty politics” in their territorial row with China during the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phom Penh.

Pottymouth diplomat left the Philippine

Cambodian Ambassador Hos Sereythonh waves to photographers at the NAIA before flying out of Manila yesterday. The envoy was recalled by Phnom Penh following published comments he made on the West Philippine Sea dispute. RUDY SANTOS

Cambodian envoy leaves Phl

August 18, 2012
By Pia Lee-Brago
The Philippine Star

The Rasmei Kampuchea Daily, Cambodia’s largest daily newspaper, said local political analysts believe that the ambassador’s early return could be a move by Cambodia to ease tensions between the two Southeast Asian countries.

MANILA, Philippines - Cambodian Ambassador Hos Sereythonh left Manila yesterday, cutting short his tour of duty ahead of schedule after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protested about his comments on the West Philippine Sea dispute.

Hos, his wife, daughter and granddaughter boarded a Philippine Airlines flight to Vietnam at 1 p.m. and were seen off by Cambodian embassy Second Secretary Tan Chandaravuth.

Hos never showed up at the DFA to respond to its summons.

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said Hos was summoned to appear at the DFA on July 30 but the envoy begged off, citing health reasons. The next day, Tan arrived at the DFA and received the DFA’s note verbale containing the protest over allegations Hos made in his letter to STAR editor-in-chief Ana Marie Pamintuan.

Cambodia names new envoy to Philippines [... to replace the un-diplomatic diplomat Hos Sereythonh]

Friday, 17 August 2012
Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

Cambodia has a new ambassador to the Philippines.

A week after former envoy Hos Sereythonh was recalled amid a firestorm over comments made in a Philippine newspaper, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has tapped veteran diplomat Tuot Panha for the post, ministry spokesman Koy Kuong confirmed yesterday.

On July 9, following a contentious ASEAN Foreign Ministers summit in Phnom Penh in which backroom bickering over the South China Sea prevented the signing of a joint communiqué – a first in 45 years of such meetings – Sereythonh accused a Filipino diplomat of playing “dirty politics” in an op-ed piece that ran in The Philippine Star.

The former ambassador also took the governments of the Philippines and Vietnam – a fellow claimant to areas of the sea claimed by China – to task, saying they had wanted to “sabatoge and hijack” the joint communiqué by insisting references to the dispute be part of the language.

Beijing considers stronger foreign ties

August 15, 2012
By Kathrin Hille in Beijing
Financial Times

When the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last month failed to agree a joint position on the South China Sea, the disputed waters contested by several of its members and China, many observers lamented the organisation’s weakness.

But in Beijing, the outcome was quietly celebrated as a success for its new foreign policy strategy as China seeks to use key allies to push through its own interests in the region.

Cambodia, which this year chairs the 10-nation Asean group, blocked an attempt by the Philippines and Vietnam to include a reference in the summit communiqué to a recent stand-off with China in the South China Sea.

“We co-ordinated very well with Cambodia in that case and . . . prevented an incident which would have been detrimental to China,” says Chen Xiangyang, a foreign policy expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Cambodia ambassador recall sparks speculations of crisis

Tuesday, August 14, 2012
By Amando Doronila, MANILA
Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network

The abrupt recall last month of Cambodian Ambassador Hos Sereythonh from Manila a year short of his three-year posting left shockwaves in the capitals of 10 Southeast Asian nations and sparked speculation on whether the Philippines and Cambodia had plunged into a serious diplomatic crisis, perhaps even on the brink of war.

According to diplomatic practices, envoys are relieved after an outrageous breach of protocol involving civilized states, which then require urgent steps to avert armed conflict.

That was not the case when Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario made a surprise announcement to the press last week that the Cambodian foreign ministry had sent him a letter announcing that Sereythonh had been recalled and would not be able to complete his term that was supposed to end on July 27, 2013. The letter did not give any explanation for the relief.

The end of ASEAN centrality?

Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say.

Aug 8, 2012

By Amitav Acharya

SPEAKING FREELY

Asia Times Onlune

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) suffered a major loss of face, at least in the perceptions of some international media and academic experts, owing to its failure to issue its customary joint communique at its last ministerial meeting (ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, or the AMM) in Cambodia held during July 9-13.

The reason, as has been widely reported, was the refusal of Cambodia as the ASEAN chair to incorporate the positions of Philippines and Vietnam regarding their dispute with China over the South China Sea. As a result, the idea of ASEAN centrality, which assumes that ASEAN, rather than the great powers like China, Japan, the US or India, should be the building bloc and hub of developing a wider Asian or Asia-Pacific regional architecture, is facing a severe test. But there may be some silver linings and useful lessons which, if acted upon, can put ASEAN in a better position to move forward.

Much has been made of the infighting and putdowns inside the AMM deliberations, based on leaked accounts, that led to the impasse in Phnom Penh. Many observers have noted that this was the first time ASEAN had failed to issue a joint communique in its 45 years history.

But ASEAN's rise to regional and international prominence has never been smooth. The ASEAN process ground to a virtual halt in 1968-1969 over the Philippines' claim to Sabah. Moreover, the expansion of its membership and functions has its costs and consequences.

Asia Pacific nations are sailing into troubled waters

This is the first of a two-part series about China's actions in the South China Sea

Aug 5, 2012

Written by Richard Scamehorn

Lancaster Eagle Gazette (Lancaster, Ohio, USA)

During the week of July 9 to 13, the 10-nation Association of South Eastern Asian Nations -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- conducted its annual conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Vietnam and Laos have their northern borders with China.

Two visitors also attended -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham and an unnamed representative of China.

Some for and some against

At the conference, the Philippines stood out as the most vocal against China's claims and actions in the South China Sea, whereas host Cambodia was the most outspoken against the Philippines and those against China. Cambodia and Laos are bankrolled by China.

Earlier in the week, ASEAN members drafted a set of guidelines for maritime rights and navigation in the South China Sea, even for procedures when governments disagree. This proposal was presented to China at the meeting, with no response.