Border Expert Says Old Vietnam Treaties Should Be Nulified

Sean Pengse

Meanwhile, Cambodia and Vietnam have yet to reach full agreements on border demarcation.

15.09.2012

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

WASHINGTON DC - Despite assurances from Prime Minister Hun Sen that no Cambodian land has been ceded to Vietnam, a France-based border expert said the government has failed to nullify treaties with its eastern neighbor that would do just that.

Sean Pengse, former Cambodian minister of industry and president of the Paris-based Cambodia Border Committee, told “Hello VOA” that at least four border treaties were made during Vietnam’s occupation of Cambodia, from 1979 to 1989, causing the loss of territory.

A supplementary agreement was made in 2005, sparking protests from many Cambodians.

With the national election approaching next year, and border questions often at the forefront of heated political debate, Hun Sen recently gave a five-hour speech to the National Assembly, broadcast live on state television, defending his government’s border policies.

As the King of Cambodia (2nd Kingdom), I will not sign the treaties on the territorial and maritime borders of the “new the Khmer Kingdom” and her neighbors: Sihanouk

Unofficial translation from French by the Cambodia’s Border Committee [www.cfccambodge.org]

NORODOM SIHANOUK: My Second Text for December 12, 2003.

I / - Concerning a recent letter addressed to me by Samdech Krom Preah N. Ranariddh asking me to tell this and that to Samdech Hun Sen and his government, some newspapers have misinterpreted my so-called “rejection” of the written requests of the President of Funcinpec relating to our national borders.

I have, in this respect, the duty to make the following clarifications (“Mise au Point”):

II / - Like any respectable Khmer patriot, I accept and will accept for Cambodia only the official and internationally recognized (including the U.S.A. in 1969) outline of the territorial and maritime borders of Cambodia dated 1963 (after the fair Verdict by the International Court of the Hague concerning the Khmer hill and the temple of Preah Vihear, in 1962) and 1969 (before the Putsch of the Lon Nol-Sarik Matak Group on March 18, 1970).

III / - I do not recognize and will not recognize the treaties between the Khmer regime pro-SRV [pro-Socialist Republic of Vietnam] (1979-1990) and other bilateral “Indochinese” states treaties, nor the Thai-Vietnamese treaties impairing the territorial integrity, and the outline of the territorial and maritime borders of Cambodia (KAMPUCHEA) dated from 1963 to 1969.

IV / - As the King of Cambodia (2nd Kingdom), I will not sign the treaties on the territorial and maritime borders of the “new the Khmer Kingdom” and her neighbors (Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Thailand, Laos) because these treaties will not be the guarantor of the preservation of the outline of the territorial and maritime borders of Cambodia dated from 1963 to 1969.

V / - This being said, the Funcinpec (just like the CPP and the PSR), elected by the Sovereign Nation to exert on her behalf the full State Power and, consequently, all the state and national responsibilities, must address directly to the RGC [Royal Government of Cambodia] and its Head rather than resorting to the service of the King.

Signed Norodom Sihanouk

Copy certified to be faithful to the handwritten letter by His Majesty the King by:

The Cambodia’s Border Committee in France and Worldwide.

Paris, December 15, 2003.

Som Niyeay Phorng - Editorial by Angkor Borey News

Click on the article in Khmer to zoom in

Vietnam-Cambodia Border Landmark Planting Scheme Moves Ahead

PHNOM PENH, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- The chairmen of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee for Land Border Demarcation and Landmark Planting, met in Phnom Penh between on Wednesday and Thursday, Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported.

The Vietnamese delegation to the meeting was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son, co-chairman of the Vietnam-Cambodia joint border committee; and the Cambodian delegation was headed by Senior Minister Var Kim Hong, co-chairman of the Vietnam-Cambodia border committee.

The two sides reviewed the implementation of border demarcation and landmark planting in 2008, and heaped praise on the efforts of the two countries' relevant ministries, agencies and localities in the work.

In an atmosphere of unity, friendship and mutual understanding, the two sides had a frank exchange of views and agreed upon measures to resolve any problems in order to fulfill the 2008 border demarcation and landmark planting plan.

They pledged to strictly implement the 1985 Agreement on Border Demarcation and the 2005 Supplementary Agreement, determining to complete border demarcation and landmark planting along the Vietnam-Cambodia border in 2012 as agreed between the two governments, contributing to creating a border of peace, friendship, cooperation and development for the benefit of both sides as well as for peace, stability and development in the region.

The two chairmen of the joint committee signed the common minutes on agreements the two sides reached at the meetings and approved the results of a series of meetings of the committee's technical sub-committee and experts' groups held earlier between Oct 15-22.

On Oct 23, Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers of the Royal Government of Cambodia, received Deputy FM Son and other members of the Vietnamese delegation.

Vietnam, Cambodia push for mapping of land borderline

01/06/2008
VNA (Hanoi)

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam and its neighbour, Cambodia , have vowed to complete the mapping of their shared land borderline within this year as set forth by the joint committee for land border demarcation.

The pledge was made at the sixth meeting of the two countries’ joint technical sub-committee for land border demarcation that took place in Phnom Penh from May 26 to 31.

Nguyen Hong Thao, Vice Chairman of Vietnam’s National Border Committee and standing member of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee for Border Demarcation headed the Vietnamese delegation to the meeting.

The Cambodian officials were led by Huon Savang, Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the national taskforce on border issues of the Ministers’ Council Office.

Vietnamese and Cambodian officials agreed on some important principles for the mapping of the shared borderline to serve the demarcation and planting of border marks at their border gates.

The officials agreed that the planting of border marks will be soon carried out at the Le Thanh-O Giadao border gates in Vietnam ’s Gia Lai province and Cambodia ’s Rattanakiri, and at the Tinh Bien-Phmon Don border gates shared by An Giang province and Ta Keo province.

They were unanimous that the joint teams for border demarcation and marker planting will continue doing their work at the borderline shared by Kien Giang and Kampot, An Giang and Kandal, Long An and Svay Rieng, and Tay Ninh and Kompong Cham and Svey Rieng provinces.

At the end of the meeting, Vietnamese and Cambodian officials signed a working minutes on the achieved outcomes.

While in Cambodia for the meeting, the Vietnamese officials were received by Senior Minister Var Kim Hong, president of Cambodia ’s national border committee and co-chair of the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Committee for Border Demarcation.

Hun Sen rejects border criticisms

27 February 2008
By Keo Nimol Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Prime minister Hun Sen rejected various criticisms saying that under his rule, neighboring countries are moving their borders inside Cambodian territories on a daily basis.

In a speech given at a religious festival in Koh Thom district, Kandal province, on 27 February, Hun Sen said: “They say that, each day, Vietnam moves (the border) by 1-meter, or 10-meter, or 100-meter, that Thailand moves (the border) by 1-meter, or 10-meter, or 100-meter. I think that based on their propaganda, maybe, by now, all the Cambodian borders have already vanished. I say that these propagandas are sometimes made to degrade our people, to degrade our own race. About the topic of land sales to foreigners, I think that it is pitiful, and it is a topic that degrades our own race.”

Kem Sokha, the HRP president who recently criticized the draft law that would allow foreigners to have the rights to own lands, said in response to Hun Sen comments that: “There are (border) changes based on reports from our people, and these did not come from a single person, there were many places where the borders have changed, indeed these changes are taking place in some areas, such as in Takeo province, people have told us this also, and also in Kampong Cham province, people talk about it, I also received the same information from people living in Ratanakiri province as well.”

Son Chhay, a member of the National Assembly permanent committee and a member of the SRP, said about this issue: “Talking about the moving of borders (into Cambodian territories), in some areas, they are moved in by 5 km, 10 km, 8 km, this is what the (border) experts confirmed based on maps internationally recognized. In the past we saw already that in 1994 we declared “white zones” (no-man’s land) along our borders with neighboring countries, and these white zones led us to lose a portion of our lands along the borders. It is necessary that there must be technical reviews made so that all the Cambodian people are satisfied with (these borders).”

In the past, the Paris-based Cambodia Border’s Committee (CBC) led by Mr. Sean Pengse used to distribute communiqués accusing the violations of Cambodian territories by neighboring countries, and the CBC demanded that the Cambodian authority cancel all the border treaties concluded between 1980 and 1993 also.