Cambodia Sends 32 Soldiers To Join Military Exercise In Mongolia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, July 29 (Bernama) -- Cambodia on Friday morning dispatched a group of 32 soldiers to take part in the multi-national military exercise 2011 in Mongolia from July 29 to August 13.

Speaking at the Phnom Penh International Airport before departure, Choeun Chamnith, a battalion commander at the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, who leads the mission team, said that the participation would give chance to Cambodian troops to exchange knowledge and skills with other countries' soldiers.

"It will help upgrade our troops' capacity in military skills, rescue and humanitarian activities," Xinhua news agency quoted Chamnith as saying.

Unease at peace-keeping drills: Thai soldiers say Cambodian troops 'won't talk to them'

Cambodian soldiers practise disarming techniques during the Ayara Guardian 2011 peacekeeping drill in Pran Buri district, Prachuap Khiri Khan. CHAIWAT SADYAEM

24/06/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post

A week into a peace-keeping drill led by the United States, Thai soldiers say there was a "wall" between them and fellow Cambodian troops that is preventing them from developing a bond with one another.

The drill, called Ayara Guardian 2011, includes about 400 soldiers from 13 countries, including Thailand and Cambodia. The exercise started June 18 and runs until July 1 at the Infantry Centre of Thanarat Camp in Pran Buri district.

Thailand has 60 soldiers in the drills, and the Cambodian Peace-keeping Centre sent 48 troops. Other countries that have sent soldiers include the Philippines, Mongolia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Rwanda.

A Thai participant said Cambodian supervisors had ordered their subordinates not to talk to or befriend Thai soldiers during the drill.

"We only talk to each other when it's necessary. So, the atmosphere is not as friendly as before," said the Thai soldier who asked for anonymity. He said some Cambodian officers could speak Thai, but they avoid talking to Thai soldiers so they don't unintentionally leak information about the country's military.

Cambodia Sends Soldiers To UN-Led Exercise In Thailand

PHNOM PENH, June 17 (Bernama) -- Cambodia sent 47 soldiers to Thailand to take part in the Ayara Guardian 2011, a multi-national United Nations-led peace-keeping exercise, which runs from June 13 to July 1, reported the Vietnam news agency (VNA).

Seeing off the soldiers at the Phnom Penh International Airport on Thursday, Prak Sokhon, Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers said that the exercise would be a good chance for Cambodian troops to learn from senior military trainers from the United States, Indonesia and the United Nations.

Prak Sokhon, who is also the chairman of the National Coordination Committee of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation, added that the participation in such international exercises will help Cambodian soldiers to strengthen their military capacity, as well as keep up with advanced military skills from other countries.

1,000 Cambodian troops join in exercise with firing of live ammunition

14 June 2011
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Soch

General Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the ministry of Defense, declared yesterday that the RCAF had started military exercise using live ammunition for a 4-day period, starting from Monday. The exercise will be accompanied with live ammunition firing: 82 mm and 100 mm shells. Chhum Socheat indicated that the exercise took place in Kampong Speu province and it will last until 16 June. Tea Banh, the minister of Defense, will observe the exercise. Chhum Socheat told the Phnom Penh Post that: “We trained for one month already, starting from 13 May, and the exercise will be joined by more than 1,000 troops from a number of units.” Nevertheless, Chhum Socheat said that he does not know how many rounds of live shells will fired during the 4-day exercise.

Cambodia to join [military] exercise [in Thailand]

9/06/2011
Bangkok Post

Cambodia will take part in the Ayara Guardian 2011, a multi-national peace-keeping exercise to be held in Prachuap Khiri Khan province from June 13-July 1, Royal Thai Armed Forces Command spokesman Sithichai Makkunchorn said on Thursday.

Col Sithichai said soldiers from 13 countries - Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and the United States - will tke part in the exercise which will be held at the Infantry Centre in Prachuap Khiri Khan province.

Cambodia will send one platoon of soldiers to join the exercise which will include field training exercise (FTX) and humanitarian civic action (HCA).

U.S. starts war games near Thai-Cambodian clash

Monday, February 7, 2011
By Richard S. Ehrlich
The Washington Times

BANGKOK | Thousands of U.S. troops began military exercises with Bangkok's military on Monday, while a bloody, four-day artillery duel between Thailand and Cambodia flared on their border and a decades-long Muslim insurgency smoldered out of control in the south.

Cobra Gold, which is scheduled to conclude Feb. 18, is one of the world's biggest multinational, land-based maneuvers. It involves 11,220 people, including 7,200 U.S. service members.

U.S. and other foreign forces are using Thailand's Vietnam War-era Utapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield in Chanthaburi province and other facilities, about 280 miles southwest of the fighting along the Thai-Cambodian border.

The U.S. Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, is deployed in Korat, about 180 miles west of the clashes.

Cambodia starts military exercise

September 23, 2010
Xinhua

Cambodia began Thursday a military exercise in northwestern parts of the country, a senior military official said.

Chhum Socheat, spokesman of Ministry of National Defense, said the military exercise began Thursday morning at Phnom Veng, about 350 kilometers northwest of the capital Phnom Penh.

Deputy prime minister and minister of national defense Tea Banh is presiding over the drill.

It is the second military exercise in three months in Cambodia.

In July, Cambodia conducted a two-week multi-national military exercise with code name "Angkor Sentinel 2010" and involving about 1,000 forces from 26 countries and two international organizations.

Cambodian army has live firing exercise

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The Cambodian army is to shortly begin a live-fire exercise in Phnom Srouch district of Kampong Speu province.

Concerned about the possibility of inadvertent civilian casualties, the commander in chief of the Cambodian armed forces, Tea Banh, appealed to the provincial governor and local authorities in Phnom Srouch district to disseminate information among the people living near the area of the training exercise, Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper reported Friday.

Cambodian deputy commander in chief and the Supreme Command's training department commander also appealed to local authorities to inform the citizenry during a recent inspection of the exercise's location.

The Cambodian armed forces are becoming increasingly armed with more sophisticated weaponry. At another live-fire exercise last January, troops deployed BM-21 multiple rocket launchers along with T55 and T54 tanks.

For most Cambodians of more immediate concern are the more than 2 million land mines estimated to be still littering the countryside after nearly three decades of strife.

U.S. Risks Military Clash With China In Yellow Sea

Military experts have warned that if the joint drill really takes place off the western coast of South Korea, Chinese airplanes and warships will very likely go all the way out to closely watch the war game maneuvers.

July 16, 2010
Rick Rozoff
Stop NATO

Delayed until after the United States achieved a United Nations Security Council statement on July 9 condemning the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, Washington's plans for naval maneuvers in the Yellow Sea near Chinese territorial waters are forging ahead.

The joint exercises with South Korea, as news sources from the latter nation have recently disclosed, will be conducted on both sides of the Korean Peninsula, not only in the Yellow Sea as previously planned but also in the Sea of Japan. (Referred to in the Korean press as the West and East Seas, respectively. ) Confirmation that the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington will participate has further exacerbated concerns in Northeast Asia and raised alarms over American intentions not only vis-a-vis North Korea but China as well.

An exact date for the war games has not yet been announced, but is expected to be formalized no later than when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrive in the South Korean capital of Seoul on July 21.

For weeks now leading Chinese foreign ministry and military officials have condemned the U.S.-led naval exercises, branding them a threat to Chinese national sovereignty and to peace and stability in the region.

China's influential Global Times wrote on July 12 that "The eventuality that Beijing has to prepare for is close at hand. The delayed US-South Korean naval exercise in the Yellow Sea is now slated for mid-July. According to media reports, a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier has left its Japanese base and is headed for the drill area." [1]

Permanently based in Yokosuka, Japan, the USS George Washington is an almost 100,000-ton supercarrier: "The nuclear carrier, commissioned in 1992, is the sixth Nimitz-class vessel, carrying some 6,250 crew and about 80 aircraft, including FA-18 fighter jets and E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft." [2]

The F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic, multirole jet fighter (F/A is for Fighter/Attack) and one of its primary roles is destroying an adversary's air defenses. The E-2C Hawkeye has been described as the "eyes and ears" of American carrier strike groups, being equipped with long-range surveillance radar.

In addition to the nuclear aircraft carrier, "an Aegis-equipped destroyer, an amphibious assault ship, about four 4,500-ton KDX-II-class destroyers, the 1,800-ton Son Won-il-class submarine and F-15K fighter jets are expected to join the exercise." [3] U.S. Aegis class warships (destroyers and cruisers) are equipped for Standard Missile-3 anti-ballistic interceptor missiles, part of a U.S.-led Asia-Pacific (to date, along with the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia) and ultimately international interceptor missile system.

The F-15K ("Slam Eagle") is a state-of-the- art multirole (used for both aerial combat and ground attack) jet fighter supplied to South Korea by the U.S.

The presence of a U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier and scores of advanced American and South Korean warplanes off the coast of China in the Yellow Sea - and near Russia's shore in the Sea of Japan if the Washington is deployed there - qualitatively and precariously raises the level of brinkmanship in Northeast Asia.

The drumbeat of confrontation has been steadily increasing in volume and tempo since the sinking of a South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, on March 26 with the resultant death of 46 crew members.

An investigation into the incident was organized by the U.S. and included experts from the U.S., South Korea, Britain, Australia and Sweden, but not from China and Russia which both border the Korean Peninsula. On May 20 the five-nation team released a report blaming a North Korean torpedo for the sinking of the Cheonan. North Korea denied the accusation and neither Russia nor China, excluded from the investigation, have concurred with the U.S. accusation.

American provocations escalated dramatically at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Toronto on June 27 when U.S. President Barack Obama (in his own words) held a "blunt" conversation with China's President Hu Jintao, accusing him and his nation of "willful blindness" in relation to North Korea's "belligerent behavior." Upbraiding his Chinese counterpart, Obama stated, "I think there's a difference between restraint and willful blindness to consistent problems." (On the same occasion Obama praised South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak for his "extraordinary restraint.")

"My hope is that president Hu will recognise as well that this is an example of Pyongyang going over the line."

President Hu and the Chinese government as a whole would be fully justified in suspecting that mounting U.S. threats are aimed not only (and perhaps not so much) against North Korea as against China itself.

Beijing is not alone in entertaining suspicions that Washington is employing the sinking of the Cheonan as the pretext for achieving broader geopolitical objectives. On July 14 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in speaking of the Cheonan incident and its aftermath, pleaded: "I believe that the most important [concern] at the present time is to ease the situation, avoid agitation, escalation of emotions and start preparing conditions for the resumption of the six-party [North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, the U.S. and Japan] talks." [4]

Portraying the UN Security Council statement on the matter last week (which was not the harsh condemnation of North Korea Washington had pushed for) as being a balanced one, he also said, “It is important that nobody tries to distort the evaluations given.”

In addition, referring to North Korea's latest reaffirmation of its willingness to jointly investigate the Cheonan's sinking with South Korea, Lavrov said: “This statement is not new. From the very beginning the DPRK confirmed it wanted to participate in the investigation.

“I hear, the sides were to agree on some format of interaction.” [5]

When on June 27 President Obama stated "our main focus right now is in the U.N. Security Council making sure that there is a crystal-clear acknowledgement that North Korea engaged in belligerent behavior that is unacceptable to the international community" [6], his characterization of the latter entity excluded not only North Korea but China and Russia as well.

The severity and urgency of mounting U.S. threats is illustrated in a recent column by Shen Dingli, executive dean of the Institute of International Studies and director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. His comments end with a frightening parallel and a dire warning:

"The US and South Korea are implementing joint military exercises this month in the Yellow Sea, with the possibility of deploying the US aircraft carrier George Washington.

"The running of such exercises so close to China's waters has left China
strongly, and rightfully, dissatisfied.

"The US and South Korea may argue that the exercise is not in China's territorial waters, so China has no right to comment.

"However, even if the joint exercises are not in Chinese sovereign waters, they may take place in the waters of China's interests as the international waters [in the] Yellow Sea near China's exclusive economic zone are extremely important to China's interests.

"Given the sophisticated equipment it carries, the George Washington poses a real potential threat to Chinese territory.

"Even if the US-South Korea military exercises are outside China's territory, the striking power of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier also poses a serious threat to neighboring countries.

"The US and South Korea have said the military exercises are being held in order to deter North Korea because of the sinking of the South Korean Cheonan corvette and the death of 46 South Korean sailors.

"But the case for the possible North Korean sinking of the Cheonan has not been thoroughly established.

"South Korea refused to let North Korean officials present their case against the evidence for their supposed complicity in the sinking.

"When South Korea launched the so-called international survey, it refused the participation of China and other countries, which did not increase the
credibility of the so-called findings.

"These exercises are needlessly provocative, and will eventually backfire on the US and South Korea.

"During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the Soviet Union established
nuclear missile bases on the island, the US objected to the close proximity of the Soviet weaponry even though they traveled only through international waters to reach Cuba, and the US set up a blockade to stop them being deployed.

"When the US ponders the idea of deploying its nuclear aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea, very close to China, shouldn't China have the same feeling as the US did when the Soviet Union deployed missiles in Cuba?

"China may not have the military strength to forcibly prevent such exercises now, but it may do so in response to such provocative actions in the future." [7]

The only surviving head of state of the nations involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis, former Cuban president Fidel Castro, has issued several warnings lately that a U.S. and allied attack on North Korea (and Iran) could result in regional conflagration and even nuclear war.

A Chinese commentary last week provided more details of the threat that a U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier off its shore will pose to the nation and also contained a blunt warning, stating "the anxiety on the Chinese side will be huge if a US aircraft carrier enters the sea connecting the Korean Peninsula and China - it would mean that major cities like Dalian, Qingdao, Tianjin and even Beijing are within US attack range.

"At this stage, China may not react through a show of force to the US fleet cruising into the international waters of the Yellow Sea. But it does not mean that the Chinese people will tolerate it. Whatever harm the US military maneuver may inflict upon the mind of the Chinese, the United States will have to pay for it, sooner or later." [8]

Washington's recent deployment of two nuclear-powered guided missile submarines to China's neighborhood - the USS Michigan to South Korea and the USS Ohio to the Philippines [9] - only add to China's concerns.

As do the ongoing U.S.-led Angkor Sentinel exercises in Cambodia with over 1,000 troops from 26 nations, including American and NATO and Asian NATO partners like Britain, France, Germany and Italy (along with the U.S., the NATO Quint) and Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan and Mongolia. The last country, wedged between China and Russia, is being integrated into the American global military network, even supplying troops to serve under NATO in Afghanistan. [10]

"This is the first time in the history of the Cambodian military that we are hosting [exercises] with the participation of many countries... which encompasses such a multi-national military basis," a Cambodian general said of the training. [11]

"Addressing the ceremony, US Ambassador Carol Rodley said Washington remained committed to enhancing its military relationship with Cambodia. She added that Angkor Sentinel provided a 'unique opportunity' to deepen the two countries’ friendship." [12]

Cambodia is only once removed from China, the two nations connected by both Laos and Vietnam.

An Agence France-Presse dispatch reported "The United States and Laos pledged to step up cooperation after their highest-level talks since the Vietnam War, the latest country in a renewed US effort to engage Southeast Asia," after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Laotian Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith in Washington, D.C. on July 13.

Sisoulith, also his country's deputy prime minister, is the first major Laotian official to visit the U.S. since before 1975.

State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters "The United States is committed to building our relationship with Laos as part of our broader efforts to expand engagement with Southeast Asia," and Agence France-Presse added "President Barack Obama's administration has put a new focus on Southeast Asia, saying the region was overlooked as George W. Bush's former administration became preoccupied with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. " [13]

Next week Clinton will visit Afghanistan, Pakistan, Vietnam and South Korea. The first three countries border China and South Korea faces it across the Yellow Sea. The Pentagon and NATO have ensconced themselves in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, all five of which border western China. [14]

Clinton will visit Vietnam to attend meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Lower Mekong Initiative (consisting of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam).

The State Department's Vietnam hand, Joe Yun, said that it will be part of "Secretary Clinton’s fourth trip to East Asia in the past year.

"Her engagement in this region demonstrates the vital importance of the Asia-Pacific region, and especially Southeast Asia, to the future of the United States."

Fellow Southeast Asian nation Malaysia has just announced the deployment of its first military contingent to assist NATO's war in Afghanistan, "as ties with the United States deepen."

"In an April meeting between Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and US
President Barack Obama, the two leaders agreed to cooperate on key security
issues to create a stronger relationship. " [15]

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently toured the Mountain Home Air Base in the American state of Idaho where 400 of his country's pilots and other service members and their families are now stationed. "The Singapore military personnel will be at the US base for the next 20 years or so." [16] Singapore troops have been assigned to NATO in Afghanistan and are facing a long stay there also.

Malaysia and Singapore are currently participating for the first time in the mammoth U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) war games in the Pacific which will continue into August.

To indicate to what purpose the U.S. is "expanding engagement" with Vietnam in particular and Southeast Asia in general, the aforementioned Yun revealed that "we also look to Vietnam as ASEAN’s Chair to exercise leadership, including in sensitive areas such as North Korea’s attack on the South Korean naval vessel, the Cheonan. We would like to see Vietnam exercise its influence to press for a genuine dialogue so that the people of Burma can work with the existing government to move forward, and to press Burma on the need to fully implement UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874. Burma ought to be transparent with the international community in its dealings with North Korea." [17]

North Korea and Burma (Myanmar) are, like Vietnam, southern neighbors of China's and along with the seclusive kingdom of Bhutan are the only nations near China with which the U.S. is not cultivating closer military ties.

Also to China's south, its giant neighbor India has been pulled deeper into the Pentagon's orbit since the New Framework For The U.S.-India Defense Relationship was signed in June of 2005, including hosting U.S. warships, warplanes and troops for annual Malabar war games off its coasts. Last December U.S. Pacific Command chief Admiral Robert Willard stated that the Pentagon and India "are in talks to convert their bilateral Malabar series of naval exercises into a joint services war game involving their navies, air forces and marine commandos." [18) This year's Malabar 2010 included a U.S. guided missile cruiser and frigate and two destroyers as well as a fast attack submarine.

Last October over 1,000 U.S. and Indian troops participated in the Yudh Abhyas 2009 military exercises in India, which was the first time the Pentagon deployed a Stryker armored combat brigade outside the Iraqi and Afghan war theaters. "The size and scope of this combined exercise is unparalleled" [19], stated an American commander present for the war games.

President Obama is scheduled to visit India in November and his trip there will "result in some 5 billion dollars worth of American arms sales to India....Observers point out that the role of India’s biggest arms supplier is shifting from Russia to the United States." [20]

The arms transactions are reported to include Patriot interceptor missiles, thus complementing comparable missile shield arrangements the U.S. has with Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia in the Asia-Pacific area.

The projected deal also includes Washington supplying Delhi with 10 Boeing C-17 military transport planes: "Once India gets the C-17 transport aircraft, the mobility of its forces stationed along the border with China will be improved.... [The] arms sales will improve ties between Washington and New Delhi, and, intentionally or not, will have the effect of containing China's influence in the region." [21]

The U.S. has also lately led joint military exercises in Bangladesh and East Timor, and the annual U.S.-organized Khaan Quest military exercises in Mongolia are to start next month.

A recent article in the China Times by an unidentified researcher with the Chinese navy's military academy observed that "the US has seemingly become less restrained in its move to push forward an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with its allies in the region.

"In so doing, Washington has harbored the obvious strategic intention of containing China - whose economic and strategic influence has kept increasing in the international arena...." [22]

It is against that backdrop, in the context of Washington putting the finishing touches to the consolidation of an Asian analogue of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, that China is being challenged in the Yellow Sea.

The last-cited source detailed the Pentagon's encroachment near China's borders:

"The radius of the US military operation has expanded to more than 1,000 kilometers, which means a US military mission in the waters off the ROK [South Korea] can still constitute a huge deterrence to China and other countries along the nearby coastline and strike at strategic targets deep inside their territories.

"With unchallenged armed forces, the US has never relented in its efforts towards long-planned strategic adjustment in the Asia-Pacific region. Under this strategy, the US has gradually increased the presence and activity of its warships and airplanes in China's surrounding maritime area." [23]

Regarding the naval exercise with the U.S., South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae recently affirmed that “We can say that it will take place sometime this month. This month, there are a variety of schedules concerning bilateral security and diplomatic issues, and the decision on the exercise will be made in consideration of those schedules.” [24]

China, which conducted a live-fire naval exercise in the East China Sea from June 30-July 5 "in an apparent show of...force ahead of the [U.S.-South Korean] exercise...appears unnerved as the 97,000-ton [USS George Washington] carrier has an operational range of some 1,000 kilometers and can glean intelligence on military facilities and installments along China’s eastern coastal regions once it is deployed in the West [Yellow] Sea." [25]

The U.S. armed forces newspaper Stars and Stripes disclosed on July 14 that "In what the Pentagon says is a direct response to North Korea's sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan, the U.S. and South Korea likely will agree to a series of new naval and air exercises next week, when Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton make a joint visit to Seoul." [26]

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell was cited asserting that "The announcement is the result of direct instruction from President Barack Obama to find new ways to collaborate with...Korean counterparts following the attack....He would not offer specifics other than they would occur in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea."

In his own words, Morrell said "We are not yet ready to announce the precise details of those exercises but they will involve a wide range of assets and are expected to be initiated in the near future." [27]

Gates and Clinton are to meet for the first bilateral talks with their South Korean counterparts Minister of National Defense Kim Tae-young and Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan on July 21 and, according to the Pentagon spokesman, will "discuss and likely approve a proposed series of US/ROK combined military exercises." [28]

Regarding concerns voiced by China about the U.S. advancing its military so near its coast, Morrell said that "Those determinations are made by us, and us alone....Where we exercise, when we exercise, with whom and how, using what assets and so forth, are determinations that are made by the United States Navy, by the Department of Defense, by the United States government." [29]

There is no way that such confrontational, arrogant and vulgar language was not understood at its proper value in Beijing. Nor is the prospect, as noted by Lee Su-seok, analyst at South Korea's Institute for National Security Strategy, of "the involvement of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea as having a possible link to plans by the U.S. to defend Taiwan" [30] likely to go unnoticed.

What the response to the U.S.'s increasingly more brash and adventurist policy might be was indicated in a recent Chinese editorial, which stated in part:

"In their recent responses, several high-ranking Chinese navy officials have made it plain that China will not stay in 'hands-off' mode as the drill gets underway. For that will make the US believe that China's defense circle on the sea is small, and, therefore, US fleets will be able to freely cruise over the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea in the future.

"Military experts have warned that if the joint drill really takes place off the western coast of South Korea, Chinese airplanes and warships will very likely go all the way out to closely watch the war game maneuvers. Within such proximity on not-so-clearly- marked international waters, any move that is considered hostile to the other side can willy-nilly trigger a rash reaction, which might escalate into the unexpected or the unforeseen.

"One false move, one wrong interpretation, is all it would take for the best-planned exercises to go awry....The impact of a crisis on that scale would be tremendous, making any dispute over trade or the yuan's value between the two in recent years pale in comparison.. ..Tension is mounting over the US-South Korean joint exercise. Beijing and Washington still have time, and leeway, to desist from moving toward a possible conflict on the Yellow Sea." [31]

A similar warning was sounded in another major Chinese daily:

"If the US and ROK continue to act willfully by holding the controversial military drill, it would pose a challenge to China's safety and would inevitably provoke a huge backlash from Chinese citizens.

"Today's China is no longer the China of a century ago that had no choice but to bend to imperialist aggression. After decades of development, especially since the adoption of the reform and opening-up policies, China has become the world's third largest economy and possesses a modern military capable of any self-defense missions." [32]

When Robert Gates and Hillary Clinton arrive in Seoul on July 21 it will formally be to mark the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War, which within three months drew China into the fighting.

When the two American secretaries meet with South Korea's defense and foreign ministers and, as State Department spokesman Philip Crowley recently claimed, "likely approve a proposed series of U.S. and Korea combined military exercises, including new naval and air exercises in both the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea" [33], the world should prepare for the threat of a second Korean war, a second U.S.-China armed conflict.
------------
1) Global Times, July 12, 2010
2) Korea Herald, July 13, 2010
3) Ibid
4) Russian Information Agency Novosti, July 14, 2010
5) Itar-Tass, July 14, 2010
6) White House, June 27, 2010
http://www.whitehou se.gov/the- press-office/ remarks-presiden t-obama-g- 20-press- conference- toronto-canada
7) Global Times, July 14, 2010
8) Global Times, July 6, 2010
9) Pentagon Provokes New Crisis With China
Stop NATO, July 10, 2010
http://rickrozoff. wordpress. com/2010/ 07/10/2061
10) Mongolia: Pentagon Trojan Horse Wedged Between China And Russia
Stop NATO, March 31, 2010
http://rickrozoff. wordpress. com/2010/ 03/31/mongolia- pentagon- trojan-horse- wedged-between- china-and- russia
11) Xinhua News Agency, July 12, 2010
12) Phnom Penh Post, July 13, 2010
13) Agence France-Presse, July 14, 2010
14) Afghan War: Petraeus Expands U.S. Military Presence Throughout Eurasia
Stop NATO, July 4, 2010
http://rickrozoff. wordpress. com/2010/ 07/05/afghan- war-petraeus- expands-u- s-military- presence- throughout- eurasia
15) Radio Netherlands, July 15, 2010
16) Channel News Asia, July 12, 2010
17) VietNamNet, July 15, 2010
18) Press Trust of India, December 4, 2009
19) Embassy of the United States in India, October 19, 2009
20) Voice of Russia, July 11, 2010
21) Economic Times via Global Times, July 13, 2010
22) China Daily, July 12, 2010
23) Ibid
24) Korea Herald, July 13, 2010
25) Ibid
26) Stars and Stripes, July 14, 2010
27) Ibid
28) Agence France-Presse, July 14, 2010
29) Ibid
30) JoongAng Daily, July 12, 2010
31) Global Times, July 12, 2010
32) China Daily, July 12, 2010
33) Yonhap News Agency, July 15, 2010

Letters from Surin Pitsuwan to Hun Xen and Hor 5 Hong

Click on the letters to zoom in

My comments are taken out of context : [Surin Pitsuwan,] Asean Chief

Tuesday, March 09, 2010
The Nation

Asean's chief Surin Pitsuwan on Tuesday insisted that media reports quoting him over a military exercise in Cambodia were taken totally out of context.

His comments were with specific reference to the prevailing situation along the Cambodian-Thai border and not to any particular military exercise in Cambodia.

Cambodia had conducted a military exercise on March 4 during which Khmer troops tested equipment and fired some 200 rockets at an airfield 180 kilometres from the Thai border.

Malaysia's Bernama news agency recently quoted Surin as saying that "Cambodia might have signaled as though the region was unstable" by firing rockets last week during a border dispute with Thailand.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen lambasted on Monday that Surin was unsuitable for the job, accusing him of "crazy work" for reportedly questioning a recent rocket drill.

In his statement issued on Tuesday, Surin said, "The question directed at me was of a general nature, and my responses were with specific reference to the prevailing situation along the Cambodian-Thai border which I have expressed on many occasions before to all Asean Foreign Ministers and to the Asean leaders.

Surin added that his concerns on the border situation had been publicly expressed on numerous occasions and were a routine response to media enquires. He stressed that no other media, foreign or Thai, had reported on his statements made following the Bangkok conference.

Expressing his deep regret that the issue has caused much misunderstanding and discomfort and had "a very unfortunate and unwarranted effect", Surin said.

He insisted he had no intention nor was he referring to any particular military exercise in Cambodia which he had no knowledge of at that point in time.

Asean Fears Cambodia May Send Wrong Signal [-Did Cambodia fall into another PR trap by Thailand?]

Surin Pitsuwan (Photo: AFP)

BANGKOK, March 5 (Bernama) -- Asean fears that Cambodia may send a wrong signal to the world when that country conducted multiple rocket test yesterday in the wake of its cold relations with Thailand.

Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan said today that Cambodia might have signaled as though the region was unstable.

"We are very concerned with such development," he told Bernama after attending the International Conference on Changing Global Landscape and its Implications on Regional Architecture, at the Bangkok Convention Centre here.

Asked whether Asean considered the test as an act of provocation by Cambodia, he said: "I have no details. I have to look into the details first."

Cambodia fired about 200 rounds from the Soviet-made BM21 rocket launcher in the mountains of remote Kampong Chhnang province, about 80km north of Phnom Penh and hit target within a range of 20km to 40km.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was reported as saying that the exercise was to prepare for the defence of his country and not about showing any military capabilities even though Cambodia and Thailand were at loggerheads.

Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that Thailand had no problem with the exercise as it was a normal practice for a country to conduct military exercises.

Thailand and Cambodia have long outstanding border claims over an area surrounding an ancient Hindu temple, known as Preah Viher in Cambodia and as Phra Viharn in Thailand, which was named a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

The world court ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia but it did not touch on the disputed surrounding area.

Thai-Cambodian relations took a nose dive when Cambodia named fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as its economic advisor late last year and refused to extradite him to Thailand despite requests.

Thaksin was reported to be living in self-exile in Dubai to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption.

Cambodia flexes muscles with rocket test

Mar 05, 2010
Agencies

PONGROR - Cambodia successfully tested a multiple rocket launcher yesterday in a show of force that comes amid simmering tensions with its neighbour Thailand.

Some 200 rounds from the Soviet-made, BM-21 rocket launcher were fired in the mountains of remote Kampong Chhnang province, some 80km north of the capital Phnom Penh.

"This is a normal drill and preparation to defend the nation in case there is an invasion," Prime Minister Hun Sen said.

He has recently made a number of fiery speeches railing against Thai "invaders" and "thieves" in disputed territory around an 11th century temple on Cambodia's border with Thailand, where there have been deadly clashes in the past two years.

But Thailand's government downplayed the Cambodian drill and said there had been no troop reinforcements in the area.

"I don't think Cambodia wants to intimidate us, as we have sent them a clear signal that we don't want the dispute to go out of control," Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Suthep Thaugsuban, said.

Military Makes Mighty Show of Rockets [-Several hundreds of thousands dollar rockets just for a show?]

Cambodian soldiers test fire multiple rocket launchers (BM21) at the air field in Kampong Chhnang province

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Kampong Chhnang
04 March 2010

It was as though lightning leapt from the rocket barrels. Fifteen trucks firing multiple rockets each, nearly 200 all, in a military exercise in Kampong Chhnang province early Thursday morning that officials insisted was not a show of force.

Rows of trucks were parked at the province’s giant, dusty airstrip, launching 122-mm rockets over the rice fields and palm trees and across the plains. The shots came first in a trickle, as single rockets were fired for aim, and then in a roaring flood, as armed crews behind embankments fired for effect.

Formations of soldiers, military police and other forces applauded and distant booms drifted in from impact zones up to 40 kilometers away.

“They hit the target,” a jovial Defense Minister Tea Banh reported after the exercise, addressing a crowd of reporters from the shade of camouflage netting. The rockets all landed within a 1.6 square kilometer area, he said.

The military exercise was the first of its kind since the end of Cambodia’s wars more than a decade ago and came as Cambodian and Thai troops are engaged in a tense standoff along the border near Preah Vihear temple.

Tea Banh said the exercise had nothing to do with Thailand, a statement echoed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was not present at the airport Thursday.

“I have to confirm that this is not to show off military muscle,” Hun Sen told a ceremony in Phnom Penh. “This is a normal military exercise, and this is us preparing ourselves to defend the nation in case of invasion.”

Cambodia has used the BM-21 multi-barreled rocket launchers, also known as Stalin’s Organs, since it began purchasing them from Russia in the 1980s.

Hun Sen said Thursday that military experts would evaluate the rockets’ ability to “hit and destroy” their targets.

PM says firing of rockets isn’t show of force

Thursday, 04 March 2010
Cheang sokha and David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

THE Royal Cambodian Armed Forces plans to test-fire 200 BM-21 rockets today in Kampong Chhnang province, a move Prime Minister Hun Sen has described as a normal part of military exercises, but which some observers say could be a show of force directed at Thailand.

Minister of Defence Tea Banh will oversee today’s exercise, ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat said Wednesday, adding that officials were looking to determine whether the Russian rockets are still operational.

“We’ve kept them too long. But these weapons were used many times during the Khmer Rouge period,” Chhum Socheat said.

Hun Sen announced the tests during a speech late last month, during which he sought to pre-empt speculation that the move had anything to do with the ongoing border row with Thailand.

“We are not flexing our muscles – this is work to strengthen the abilities of the military in national defence,” Hun Sen said on February 24.

However, Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said Wednesday he suspected that muscle-flexing was exactly what the government had in mind.

“I think it’s very irresponsible because of the attention we have at the border,” he said, referring to the dispute over land surrounding Preah Vihear temple that intensified after Cambodia’s application to register the ruins as a World Heritage site was approved in July 2008.

“It is probably more the case that this is more about the border conflict.”

He added that he believed the exercises were more likely designed to stir up domestic support for the government rather than to intimidate Thailand.

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn declined to comment beyond saying that he hoped Cambodian military officials would keep their Thai counterparts sufficiently informed.

“We have no comment, but we hope that the local military officials have been in contact with each other. That is the normal procedure,” Panitan said.

Cambodian rocket test firing is Cambodian internal affair: Thai PM

BANGKOK, March 4 (TNA, Agencies) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Thursday said the test of a multiple-military rocket launcher in Cambodia an internal concern of the government in Phnom Penh and that Thailand has no problem with the test.

The Cambodian defence minister said some 200 projectiles from the Russian-made BM-21 rocket launcher were fired in the mountains of remote Kampong Chhnang province, some 50 miles (80 km) north of the capital Phnom Penh.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was quoted by international media as saying that the exercise was "not about showing any military muscle", even though he is at loggerheads with the Thai government, but said it was to prepare for the defence of his country.

Mr Abhisit said the planned exercise was notified in advance and he has discussed the matter with Thailand's top military brass.

"I don't believe the test is intended to threaten the Thai military as I understand that it is a normal military exercise," Mr Abhisit said, stating that the Cambodian military drill was unrelated to the current political situation in Thailand.

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia have worsened since the Cambodian prime minister appointed Thailand's ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser last year and refused to extradite him to Thailand to serve his two-year jail term for violating the law on conflict of interest.

The anti-government "Red Shirts" led by the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) announced a planned mass rally in Bangkok on March 14 to protest what they accused of a double standard in Thailand's judiciary.

Thailand's Supreme Court ruled last Friday that Mr Thaksin had illegally concealed his ownership of stock in Shin Corp, the family's telecommunications empire, and abused his authority during his two terms in office, from 2001-2006, to benefit Shin Corp businesses.

The Court also ordered the seizure of Bt46.373 billion (US$1.4 billion) out of Bt76.6 billion ($2.29 billion) in frozen assets of the Shinawatra family.

Abhisit downplays Cambodian rocket test

Thursday, March 04, 2010
The Nation

Prime Minster Abhisit Vejjajiva Thursday downplayed Cambodian rocket test saying Thailand has no problem with the exercise as it is a domestic affairs although diplomatic relations between the two countries remain sour.

"I have already talked with our military commanders before the Cambodian rocket test and they know the situation very well," Abhisit told reporters.

"Military exercise is a normal practice. We also have our own drill recently."

Some 200 rounds from the Soviet-made, BM21 rocket launcher were fired in the mountains of remote Kampong Chhnang province, some 80 kilometres north of the capital Phnom Penh.

Cambodian military tests rockets

Cambodian soldiers test fire multiple rocket launchers (BM21) at the air field in Kampong Chhnang province
Cambodian soldiers prepare to test-fire a multiple rocket launcher
Cambodian troops fired some 200 rockets in their first public drill since the country's civil war ended

Thursday, March 04, 2010
By Suy Se (AFP)

KAMPONG CHHNANG, Cambodia — Cambodia's military mounted a rare public test of rockets on Thursday amid a lingering troop standoff over disputed territory with neighbouring Thailand.

In their first public drill since the country's civil war ended more than a decade ago, troops fired some 200 rockets from truck-mounted launchers at an airfield 180 kilometres (about 110 miles) from the Thai border.

Cambodian defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat told AFP the display was "not about flexing our muscles" against Thailand.

"The drill is not a threat or a show of force against neigbouring countries or foreign countries," Chhum Socheat said before the rockets were fired in front of assembled media and top brass.

Muffled thumps could be heard as salvos of rockets landed far from the launch site.

"It is about the strengthening of the abilities of our forces in order to fulfil the duties of national defence against invaders," Chhum Socheat added.

Prime Minister Hun Sen declared in a speech last week the rockets would be fired to gauge the quality of the Russian and Chinese-made Cold War-era weapons which have long lain unused in warehouses.

Cambodia and Thailand have been locked in nationalist tensions and a troop standoff at their disputed border since July 2008, when Cambodia's 11th century Preah Vihear temple was granted UNESCO World Heritage status.

Four soldiers were killed in clashes in the temple area in 2008 and three more in a gunbattle last April. Smaller flare-ups continue to be reported between troops in the area.

The Thai-Cambodia border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia, which ended in 1998.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, although its main entrance lies in Thailand. The exact boundary through the surrounding grounds remains in dispute.

Relations plunged further in November after Hun Sen appointed ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as his economic adviser and then refused to extradite him to Thailand, which he fled to avoid a jail term for corruption.

Thailand's government downplayed the Cambodian rocket drill and said there had been no troop reinforcements on the disputed border.

"I don't think Cambodia wants to intimidate us, as we have sent them a clear signal that we don't want the dispute to go out of control and affect people in both countries," deputy Thai prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban said.

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the drill was "nothing to do with us, they are not firing into our territory."

Cambodia claims successful testing of rocket launchers

March 04, 2010
Xinhua

Cambodia claimed on Thursday that the first-ever testing of BM-21 rocket launchers was successful.

Speaking at a testing event in Kompong Chhnang province, about 100 kilometers north of Phnom Penh, Tea Banh, deputy prime minister and minister of national defense said the testing was " successful" and this success has proved Cambodia's full competence in defending the "country's territorial integrity and sovereignty."

He said all the 215 shells tested had hit the target and goal from 20 km to 40 km as planned.

The testing was conducted while border dispute with Thailand remains unsolved.

But Tea Banh said the testing of the rocket was not aimed at preparing a war with any country, but to get ready for any circumstance that Cambodia is met with foreign invasion.

Also, on Thursday, Hun Sen said Cambodia has had BM-21 since the 1980s and military exercise is normally practiced worldwide.

The test was first announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Feb. 24, who said that his country will conduct a military exercise by firing about 200 rounds of BM-21 to make sure his military operators are able to operate well and to also test the quality of these BM-21 rocket launchers after they have been kept for long in warehouse.

Fearing criticism from outsiders, Hun Sen said the test by firing these rocket launchers are not intended to show off military muscle, but to only check the capacity of the country's military affairs as a sovereign state.

He added that Cambodia is committed to positioning itself as peaceful neighbors and intend not to stage war with any country.

According to Hun Sen, prices of one BM-21 range at 1,200, 2,800 and 3,800 U.S. dollars.

Thailand backs Korean role [in Thailand's Cobra Gold miliraty exercises]

12/01/2010
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post

The armed forces have defended the involvement of South Korea in the Cobra Gold military exercises for the first time this year.

Gen Ratchakrit Kanchanawat, the joint chief of staff of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, said the exercises were designed for peace-keeping purposes and had nothing to do with the "balance of global power".

South Korea, which will send 411 soldiers with their own weapons, has been given permission to play an active part in the annual Cobra Gold exercises with the backing of co-hosts Thailand and the US, Gen Ratchakrit said yesterday.

South Korea had been an observer at the exercises for many years and shared similar military doctrines with Thailand and the US, so their participation was welcomed, he said.

"Don't be concerned about the balance of global or regional powers because of the inclusion of South Korea," he said. "Our aim is to hold a military exercise, keep peace and promote humanitarian aid."

Korea is the sixth country to take part in Cobra Gold, launched in 1982, joining Thailand, the US, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore. Under a Thai-US agreement, up to 10 countries could become involved in the exercises.

An army source said the US took an active role in backing Korea's participation after reports of joint military cooperation between North Korea and Burma.

It could be the first step for South Korea to have a more active role in Southeast Asia, the source said.

More than 11,600 soldiers, mostly from the US with 6,217 troops, will gather in provinces such as Rayong, Phetchaburi and Lop Buri from Feb 1 to 11.

Meanwhile, the US is also planning joint exercises with Cambodia, but Thai military officials are unconcerned even though Thailand has been at odds with its neighbour on overlapping boundaries.

"We understand the US. It is a drill for peace-keeping," Gen Ratchakrit said.