Remarks in Cambodia

Remarks

Kurt M. Campbell
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

May 25, 2012

First of all, let me just say that on behalf of the United States government, we are so thrilled to be here in Cambodia for the Senior Officials Meeting. I’ve had a chance yesterday to meet with the Prime Minister and now I have had a very good discussion with the Foreign Minister. I think as you all know Secretary Clinton has invited him to the United States. He will be there early next month and we have had an opportunity to review all the important things that the United States is doing in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia.

I’d just like to underscore that in addition to all the important bilateral work that we are undertaking and our multilateral engagement in terms of the Lower Mekong Initiative and the like, we are also bringing Secretary Clinton in July the largest ever business group to Cambodia as part of our multi-faceted engagement to suggest our deep desire to have a strong and deeper ties between our business communities in the United States and ASEAN. We are thrilled at the support that we have received from the Cambodian government. Daisy Liu [of ConocoPhillips] and Steve Glick [of Chevron] have made very generous contributions in terms of hard drives and also flash drives to enable the ASEAN Secretariat to be fully prepared and capable to deal with the enormous number of people that will be coming to Cambodia to celebrate not only the ASEAN Regional Forum, but [also] the East Asia Summit. This is a critical year – it’s the tenth anniversary since the statement of conduct with regard to the South China Sea. We’re at a critical period. We’re counting on the leadership of Cambodia to ensure the future of peace and prosperity.

I have been joined here today with my wonderful colleague from ASEAN, Ambassador Carden in Jakarta, to make a very strong commitment on the part of the United States to an enduring commitment to the Asia-Pacific region and to ASEAN as a whole, and I want to personally thank Daisy and Steve for their commitment to this process and to thank you, Foreign Minister, for all that you have done to build stronger relations between the United States and Cambodia. So thank you all.

Where Cambodia Stands on International Arena?

Sunday, January 27, 2008
By Khmer Quorum
http://khmerquorum.blogspot.com/

International Relations strongly depends on power of individual nation that participate in the world arena. Without sufficient power, a nation cannot survive in the world of constant struggle. Power can help to persuade aggressors to stay away from each other. Power includes military, economic, political, and psychological factors that each country can use to balance each other. In this sense, countries generally pursue their own national interest; there is no any country can afford to behave as if a Bodhisattva (Buddhist Saint) in this real world.

Many countries use diplomacy to search and develop a common interest so that they can work together to achieve their common goal productively. However, sometime the common interest doesn't last long enough to keep them together, a marriage of convenience is over. During the Cold War, China and the US became the biggest supporters of the Cambodian Coalition Government Forces which fought to liberate the country from Vietnamese occupation backed by the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, China and the US ceased supporting the Cambodian fighters because they had no longer feared the Soviet's threat in Southeast Asia. Then, China and the US's common interest to help the Cambodian resistant forces also no longer existed.

Now the US starts to see China as a great threat to its interest in Southeast Asia, and it looks forward to its former enemy, Vietnam as its potential future ally to contain the Chinese growing power in the region. Both Presidents Clinton and Bush had visited Vietnam in order to cement their relationship with their new friend. Recently, Vietnam openly spoke against China's aggression over the Spradly Island where Vietnam regards as its own sovereign island for centuries. However, Vietnam tries to avoid any action that leads to opened conflict with China because Vietnam still remembers its nightmare on a border war with China in 1979 while the Soviet was reluctant to intervene on its side.

Meanwhile, China now sees Cambodia as a springboard to convey its power and influence into the region. In 2005, during an official visit to Cambodia, Chinese Premier Wei Jia Bao had pledged $600 million economic aid to Cambodia without any condition. China becomes the second largest investor in the country only behind South Korea. Both governments frequently have exchanged their high level official visits. There is no doubt that China wants Cambodia to stay in its economic and political influence by using generous aid to buy the heart and mind of the Hun Sen's regime. Now, Cambodia has fallen into the sphere of an old Cold War again. Vietnam and China have strongly supported Hun Sen's undemocratic government while the West is struggling to restore democracy into Cambodia.

Without Vietnam and China's interferences, the seed of democracy that planted by the UN and International Community in 1993 would grow speedily and fruitfully in the country. In term of International Relations, Cambodia lacks of military capability, economic strength, and even psychological determination that could be used as a leverage to balance itself with its neighbors and other world powers. Cambodia is rated by the World Bank as among the poorest and weakest nation in the world, and it has continuously struggled to survive itself from its more powerful neighbors, especially Vietnam.