Sihamoni's visit to Vietnam for "closer cooperation" ... at the expense of Khmer Krom rights?

Cambodian King to visit Vietnam for closer cooperation

PHNOM PENH, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni is scheduled to pay a three-day visit to Vietnam next week and meet with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, local press reported Friday.

The visit is due to start on Tuesday, Trinh Ba Cam, spokesman of the Vietnamese embassy in Cambodia, was quoted as saying by the Cambodia Daily newspaper.

The visit is to "strengthen cooperation between the two countries," he said.

Chea Sokhom, deputy secretary-general at the Permanent Organizing Commission for National and International Ceremonies, said he received a letter from the Royal Cabinet dated June 17 confirming the dates for the visit.

Your Majesty will you visit Khmer Krom people during your visit to Vietnam? Will you bring back Monk Tim Sakhorn?

King Sihamoni to Visit Vietnam Next Week

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
19 June 2008

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer

King Norodom Sihamoni will make his second official visit to Vietnam next week, where he will meet the Vietnamese president and other officials to "strengthen the friendship between the two countries," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said.

The Cambodian delegation could push for increased investment between the neighbors, the spokesman, Sin Bunthoeun, said, adding that most of Vietnam's current investments in Cambodia are agricultural.

Vietnam's investments in Cambodia are mostly rubber cultivation, said Hang Chuon Narong, secretary-general of the Ministry of Finance.

"Investment of Vietnam in Cambodia is small, but Vietnam is one of the big trade partners with Camboodia," he said.

Two-way trade between the two countries reaches about $600 million per year, he said. Cambodia exports rubber, corn, beans and cigarettes to Vietnam, while importing construction materials, packaged food and other goods.

Independent economist Sok Sina noted predicted the already good trade between the two was likely to increase further, thanks to their proximity to each other and a prolonged period of good relations.

Shortly after he took the throne in 2004, Sihamoni traveled to Vietnam, Vietnamese embassy spokesman Trinh Ba Cam said.

Sihamoni to visit Vietnam and honor Uncle Ho

Cambodian king to pay state visit to Vietnam, honour Ho Chi Minh

Jun 19, 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni is scheduled to visit Vietnam next week during which he is to lay a wreath at the mausoleum of former Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, palace officials said Thursday.

The king is also to pay visits on a number of top-ranking Vietnamese officials, including President Nguyen Minh Triet, who visited Cambodia in February, according to an itinerary obtained from the palace.

The three-day state visit is aimed at strengthening ties between the two neighbours, a palace official said.

Ho Chi Minh, who died in 1969, is an heroic figure in Vietnam for his role in leading the country to independence from France - a battle Cambodia also fought, aided by Sihamoni's father, former king Norodom Sihanouk.

Sihamoni is scheduled to arrive in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, June 26 and return to Cambodia June 28, the official said.

Vietnam does not allow Cambodian Parliament Delegation to meet with Monk Tim Sakhorn [-The communists can never be trusted for their promises]

20 November 2007
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

The Cambodian Parliament delegation did not meet with former Monk Tim Sakhorn during its one week visit to South Vietnam. The main goal of the visit was to seek for the immediate release of Monk Tim Sakhorn.

At his arrival in the afternoon of Monday, Son Chhay, the leader of the Cambodian Parliament delegation, expressed his extreme disappointment. However, a representative of the central committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) promised that he will push for the release of Monk Tim Sakhorn and 5 other Khmer Krom monks in the near future.

Son Chhay said: “When we arrived there, they (the Vietnamese) change everything, claiming that the jail cannot be entered and they need time to organize for the meeting etc… Therefore, we see that they change their mind right away, they turn an agreement into a refusal, I am very disappointed with this. However, Son Song Son promised me that he will find a way to lessen the sentence (handed down to Monk Tim Sakhorn) because the Vietnamese tribunal has two occasions, each year, to issue pardon or lessen the sentence.”

During its visit, the 8-member delegation of the National Assembly committee for foreign affairs met with the Vietnamese Assembly president. During the meeting on the cooperation between the two countries, the Cambodian delegation demanded for a resolution on the Yali Dam issue which affects the livelihood of Cambodian people in the northeast of Cambodia.

The Cambodian delegation claimed that even though it wanted to visit a number Cambodian pagodas located in Preah Trapeang and Khleang provinces, the visits were diverted to other pagodas organized by the Vietnamese authority. Nevertheless, the Cambodian delegation noted the extreme hardship suffered by Khmer Krom people living there, and at the end, Son Song Son, a member of VCP central committee and vice-chairman of the southwest zone, discussed about the release of Monk Tim Sakhorn and the guarantee of the rights of Khmer Krom people.

Regarding the demands for the release of Khmer Krom monks during the Cambodian Parliament delegation visit, Venerable Thach Bin added: “We cannot remain idle. We only have to depend on the International community to demand and pressure Vietnam to urgently pardon Venerable Tim Sakhorn and the other 5 (Khmer Krom) monks in the near future. Next month, there will be a meeting in Geneva to raise the issue of Human Rights violations in Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam).”

This is the very first official delegation undertaken by the Cambodian Parliament delegation to the former land of Kampuchea Krom in the past 30-year. This visit will pave the way for relatives of Monk Tim Sakhorn to visit him in the near future.

Son Chhay's delegation greeted by Nguyen Ph Trong; No words yet on Monk Tim Sakhorn's release demand

15/11/2007
NA chairman greets Cambodian legislators

VietNamNet Bridge – National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong received a delegation from the Cambodian NA’s Committee for Foreign Affairs in Hanoi on November 14.

NA Chairman Trong welcomed the visit by the Cambodian delegation, led by the Foreign Affairs Chairman Son Chhay, that coincided with the 40th anniversary of Vietnam-Cambodia diplomatic ties, the 40th founding anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 30th anniversary of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

Chairman Trong said Vietnam and Cambodia share a time-honoured friendship and have enjoyed fruitful cooperation in many fields in recent years.

The top Vietnamese lawmaker spoke highly of the role of the two countries’ NA external relations committees in fostering ties between the two legislative bodies.

He said he hoped cooperation agreements between the two committees and the two legislatures will be implemented soon, thereby promoting further friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Son Chhay expressed thanks to the State and people of Vietnam for their valuable assistance over the past years. He said the two countries should increase mutual support for development to catch up with other nations in the region and the world.

The same day, the Cambodian official held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Van Son.

The two sides agreed to increase their committees’ coordinating role in beefing up cooperative ties between NA bodies as well as speed up the implementation of accords signed between the two legislatures.

The legislators discussed preparations for a Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos seminar, scheduled to take place in Cambodia, to seek ways to boost friendly and cooperative ties among the three nations, and promote development in areas along their common borders.

They also agreed to closely coordinate at multilateral forums, particularly within the AIPA and ASEAN cooperation frameworks, and exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Source: VNA

Group of Cambodian MPs visiting Vietnam

Monday, November 12, 2007
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Committee No. 5 of the National Assembly (NA) which is in charge of foreign affairs, will start its visit to Vietnam on Tuesday in order to negotiate further for the release of former Monk Tim Sakhorn.

MP Son Chhay, Chairman of Committee No. 5, said that his group will persevere to meet with Monk Tim Sakhorn, and it will ask for the release of the former abbot in the name of the respect of the sovereignty between the two countries.

Son Chhay said: “… I want to take this opportunity during the visit to discuss and explain to each other, so that there is a new beginning in the recognition of important issues in the friendship that includes mutual respect starting from human rights respect. We will move quickly to Khleang province in order to visit Venerable Tim Sakhorn, whatever it will take, we need his release.”

This visit was agreed upon when the Vietnamese parliament delegation came to visit Cambodia at the beginning of September of this year.

The 8 MPs and 3 aids will spend 6 days in Hanoi and several other provinces located in Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam).

The NA delegation plans to meet with top Vietnamese leaders to talk about the sovereignty of Cambodia, the rights issue of indigenous people, the construction of hydro-electrical dams in the Northern part of Vietnam which affects Cambodia. The delegation will visit Cambodia people living in Preah Trapaing and Kleang provinces, and it will also visit Monk Tim Sakhorn, the former abbot of Phnom Den pagoda who is currently jailed in Motr Chrouk province (An Giang in Vietnamese).

Elder Tim Thiem, the father of Monk Tim Sakhorn, who never had the chance to meet his son since his defrocking, is happy and hopeful about the NA delegation visit. Elder Tim Thiem said: “They should clearly review the state of health of my son, this would provide some feedback information for me also. Since my son was arrested, nobody talked much about this issue … I am asking (the NA delegation) to resolve this issue and provide justice (for my son), I only want his return back home, whatever happens to him, let him die here in Cambodia.”

The NA delegation visit is taking place after the former abbot of Phnom Den pagoda, Monk Tim Sakhorn, was sentenced by the Vietnamese authority to one year in jail, he was accused of undermining the solidarity between Cambodia and Vietnam.

All hopes will be pinned in one week time, after the NA delegation completes its visit to Vietnam.

North Korean Prime Minister Visits Vietnam

North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong Il, right, with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, left, during an official reception in Hanoi, 27 Oct 2007

By Matt Steinglass
VOA Hanoi
29 October 2007

North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong Il ended his visit to Vietnam, where he traveled from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. Kim is responsible for running North Korea's economy, and is believed to want to apply lessons from Vietnam's economic reforms to North Korea's failing command economy. In Hanoi, Matt Steinglass has more.

Carp splashed for a meal Monday, as Prime Minister Kim Yong Il of North Korea tossed fish food into the pond in front of the small wooden house where Ho Chi Minh lived when he was President of Vietnam.

In the ceremonial visit Kim referred to the shared Communist roots of North Korea and Vietnam.

Kim said he hoped the two countries could take their historical friendship to a new level.

But the fish desperately fighting for Kim's handouts were an uncomfortable echo of the real reason for his visit: the failure of the North Korean command economy, which has made its people dependent on food aid from abroad.

Paul French is an expert on North Korea, and the director of the market research firm Access Asia. He says one reason for Kim's trip is the North Korean leadership's recognition that it needs to imitate the kinds of economic reforms that have made Vietnam's economy successful.

"There is this reform, technocratic element in North Korea that actually realizes they've got to do some reforms," he said. "At the moment, I think the reformers are probably feeling quite strong, and this is partly why Kim is undertaking these trips."

An earlier round of market-oriented reforms in North Korea failed in 2003. Financial sanctions imposed by the United States in 2006 over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program deepened the country's isolation.

The U.S. lifted those sanctions in February after Pyongyang agreed to scrap its nuclear weapons program, reviving hopes of economic reform.

Kim's trip, which will take him from Vietnam to Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos, is aimed partly at learning lessons from export-oriented Asian economies.

French says Kim is also trying to curry favor with Southeast Asian countries in order to gain help from international lending institutions.

"They have to resolve this issue of dealing with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and people like that," he said. "They're not going to get any serious private investment from investment banks, or from funds, or from anything, until what's called the catalyst lenders, like the World Bank, go in there and do it."

On Sunday, Kim visited a privatized coalmine near Haiphong, part of Vietnam's effort to bring foreign investment into its energy industry. Kim was also scheduled to travel to Ho Chi Minh City to visit an export-processing zone.

Kim's trip has provided Vietnam with a chance to exercise its growing international influence, says Duong Chinh Thuc, Vietnam's former ambassador to North Korea.

Thuc says Vietnam has long wanted to play a role as mediator between North Korea and the rest of the world.