By Byun Duk-kun
PHNOM PENH, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak expressed hope to significantly improve his country's relations with Cambodia Thursday, saying cooperation between the two will provide new opportunities for growth for both of them.
"Cooperation between the two countries is being actively made in various fields and considering the complementary nature of their economies and the enactment of a free trade agreement between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as Cambodia's rapid economic growth, the cooperation will continue to show remarkable growth," Lee said in an interview with Cambodia's largest daily Rasmei Campuchea, published Thursday.
The transcript of the interview, held in Seoul before Lee's departure on his ongoing three-nation Southeast Asian tour, was released by his presidential office Cheong Wa Dae as Lee was en route to the Cambodian capital from Vietnam.
Both Vietnam and Cambodia are members of the 10-nation ASEAN, which will meet in Thailand on Saturday.
Lee said the countries' relations improved at an unprecedented pace since they normalized diplomatic ties in 1997, during which direct investment by South Korean firms in Cambodia jumped 75 times to nearly US$2.5 billion.
"As we face a great opportunity to further improve our countries' relationship this year through exchange of visits with Prime Minister Hun Sen, I hope the countries will hold discussions on various measures for their joint development during my visit this time," he said.
Lee and Hun Sen had held a bilateral summit in June when the Cambodian prime minister visited South Korea for a special Korea-ASEAN summit, at which South Korea agreed to provide $60 million to Cambodia in loans from its Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF).
Lee and the Cambodian prime minister were set to hold a bilateral summit here later in the day, at which the sides will sign a revision to their basic agreement on the EDCF that will lead to Seoul's provision of $200 million from 2009-2012, he said.
The South Korean leader also called for efforts to build a regional community in East Asia as his trip largely aims to improve Korea's relations with ASEAN countries under its "New Asia Initiative."
"The efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and integration in the East Asian region must first focus on areas where cooperation is readily possible. And during that process, we must seek to build an open and inclusive community, rather than a closed and exclusive group of countries," he said.
Lee also sought to win Cambodia's support for his country's efforts to denuclearize North Korea, explaining in detail his recent proposal for a "grand bargain" denuclearization of the communist North.
"This (proposal) seeks to fundamentally resolve the North Korean nuclear issue by completely removing the key elements of the North's nuclear programs from the very start," he said.
The president said his country will also work to promote Cambodia and other ASEAN nations' interests in the international community.
South Korea is set to host a G-20 summit in November 2010 while it is also set to take the chair of the economic conference for the year.
S. Korean president says Cambodia a 'valuable' partner for growth
Thursday, October 22, 2009S. Korean president heads to Cambodia for summit
By Byun Duk-kun
HANOI, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak headed to Cambodia on Thursday, where he will hold summit talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen during his two-day trip.
Lee is on a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia that started with a stop in Vietnam and will end in Thailand, where he will attend a regional forum hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The South Korean president was set to pay a visit to Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni shortly after his arrival in Phnom Penh, according to Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
Lee and the Cambodian prime minister will discuss ways to deepen cooperation between their countries, especially in the agricultural sector and in the development of Cambodia's natural minerals, Cheong Wa Dae said earlier.
"President Lee and Prime Minister Hun Sen are expected to specifically discuss Cambodia's national development plan to find areas of cooperation," Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told reporters.
The countries will sign an extradition treaty on the sidelines of the summit, and a revision to a basic agreement on the provision of Seoul's Economic Development Cooperation Fund.
Lee will depart Cambodia on Friday for Thailand's royal beach resort of Hua Hin, where he will attend the ASEAN Plus Three summit that also involves the leaders of Japan and China.
Cambodia accused of stifling protests
Land dispute demonstration in Siem Reap (Photo: RFA)October 21 2009
By Tim Johnston in Bangkok
Financial Times (UK)
“There is no country among Asean nations that has a positive human rights trend at the moment ... There is lip service to free speech but the reality on the ground is very different” - Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights WatchA law passed on Wednesday by Cambodia’s legislature limiting the size of demonstrations is the latest example of rising intolerance in south-east Asia, say advocates of free speech.
Cambodia’s parliament, which is dominated by the Cambodian People’s party of Hun Sen, prime minister, passed the law limiting public demonstrations to 200 people to ensure “public order and national security”.
Public demonstrations are popular in Cambodia. The opposition, outnumbered comprehensively in parliament, uses them but they are also a last resort for farmers and slum-dwellers who say they are victims in land disputes with developers and powerful allies of the government.
Mu Sochua, an opposition MP, said: “It is limiting freedom of assembly and that will severely limit freedom of expression.”
The MP recently lost a libel case against Mr Hun Sen in a contentious court decision.
Human rights advocates have long accused Mr Hun Sen and his administration of using the courts to stifle opposition, a charge that the government denies, saying it is using universally available legal remedies to protect its reputation.
The parliament in Phnom Penh altered the penal code last week to make it easier to bring libel actions.
UN human rights observers were not allowed to attend the debate because of procedural problems in the admission of visitors, according to the ruling party, and a live television feed broke down because of technical hitches.
Brad Adams, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the Cambodian laws were only the latest in a worrying regional trend, something he said is paradoxical given that the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations is to launch its intergovernmental commission on human rights this week.
“There is no country among Asean nations that has a positive human rights trend at the moment,” he said. “There is lip service to free speech but the reality on the ground is very different.”
Reporters Without Borders has downgraded neighbouring Thailand in its survey on freedom of the press to 130th in the world, from 124th, as the result of renewed use of laws against insulting the royal family, which can carry a 15-year prison sentence.
Vietnam came under fire this month after nine democracy activists were given prison sentences of between two and six years for challenging the regime.
Hun Sen insists on troop cut
22/10/2009
Bangkok Post
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is renewing calls for troops to withdraw from the disputed area near Preah Vihear temple and insists the matter should be settled through negotiation.
Hun Sen yesterday told opposition Puea Thai Party chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh in Phnom Penh Cambodia wanted the Joint Boundary Commission to come to an agreement on the area claimed by both Cambodia and Thailand.
"Thailand and Cambodia are friends and will always be friends," Gen Chavalit quoted Hun Sen as saying.
The JBC could begin negotiations once the troops withdrew, including possible talks on how to jointly develop the overlapping area, Gen Chavalit said.
The former prime minister held talks with Hun Sen during a one-day visit ahead of the Asean summit which starts tomorrow.
Hun Sen's position contradicted that of his foreign minister. Hor Namhong last week said he would seek help from Asean to settle the land dispute.
Asean Affairs Department director-general Vitavas Srivihok yesterday said the leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia would not join the summit opening ceremony tomorrow but they would join the meeting later in the day.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was caught up with the formation of his new cabinet and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had to present his budget policy to the parliament, he said.
The summit in Cha-am and Hua Hin will be held amid tight security as a result of concerns about anti-government protests.
The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship has said it would decide today whether its members would rally at the summit.
UN urges 'credible' new Asian human rights body
Om Yentieng: The face of human rights in Cambodia ... according to the CPPThursday, October 22, 2009
AFP
The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) will be the first regional human rights body in Asia-Pacific and will be launched as leaders meet Friday in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin for their annual summit.
The AICHR "will have to work hard to establish itself as a credible regional mechanism and help close the gap between human rights rhetoric and the reality on the ground," said Homayoun Alizadeh, the regional representative for the UN's human rights commission.
"There is much hope and expectation surrounding this occasion, as it represents an important commitment by states in the region to move beyond mere words," he said in a statement.
ASEAN's reputation has suffered over repeated alleged human rights abuses by member states, particularly military-ruled Myanmar.
Earlier this year Thailand also came under the spotlight for reported mistreatment by the armed forces of ethnic Rohingya immigrants who washed up on its shores after escaping Myanmar.
Activists are pushing ASEAN to take a stronger stance on alleged human rights abuses in Myanmar, and will be holding an ASEAN Peoples' Forum to coincide with the weekend summit.
But on Tuesday a diplomatic source said that Myanmar had scuttled a plan by fellow ASEAN members to issue a public appeal seeking amnesty for detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi during the summit.
The 64-year-old Suu Kyi has spent around 14 of the past 20 years in detention and was sentenced to an extra 18 months' house arrest in August over an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside home uninvited.
Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy to a landslide victory in elections in 1990, but the junta has refused to recognise the result.
Myanmar's military rulers are planning elections next year as part of promised democratic reforms, but critics have demanded that Suu Kyi and her party should be allowed to participate.
As well as Myanmar, ASEAN also groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Controversial Demonstration Law Passes
Sam Rainsy leading a garment worker demonstrationBy Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 October 2009
“They don’t want large-scale demonstrations in Cambodia because the government fears people power ... The Cambodian government today thinks about destroying critics and [strengthening its] power” - Opposition leader Sam RainsyThe National Assembly on Wednesday passed a controversial law on demonstrations that limits the number of people allowed to gather and gives wide authority for the government to ban a protest altogether.
The law passed with a vote of 76 to 25, with voting split between the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, in favor, and the Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties against.
The opposition parties voiced strong criticism of the section of the law that limits demonstrations to 200 people.
“They don’t want large-scale demonstrations in Cambodia because the government fears people power,” opposition leader Sam Rainsy told reporters outside the National Assembly after the session. “The Cambodian government today thinks about destroying critics and [strengthening its] power.”
The new law will oppress freedom of speech and serves policies of the current administration, he said.
Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party, said the government can now use the pretexts of national security and public order to bar demonstrations.
Nuth Sa An, secretary of state for the Ministry of Interior, told the Assembly the law was crucial to prevent unrest and act in the interest of the people.
Cambodia offers home to Thaksin
Ousted PM is welcome anytime, says Hun Sen
22/10/2009
Bangkok Post
Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been offered a home in Cambodia by Prime Minister Hun Sen, Puea Thai Party chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh says.
Gen Chavalit yesterday paid a one-day visit to Phnom Penh and said Hun Sen was willing and prepared to host Thaksin if he wished to visit Cambodia.
He said arrangements had been made to welcome the ousted prime minister who has fled a two-year jail term for malfeasance in the Ratchadaphisek land purchase.
Gen Chavalit said Hun Sen was full of praise for Thaksin and expressed sympathy for the "political injustice" he suffered in Thailand.
"He [Hun Sen] feels Thaksin is not fairly treated, politically," Gen Chavalit said. "Despite having contributed to the country, he has no place to stay. Hun Sen is in pain even though he is not a Thai.
"So he feels the need to make it publicly known he and Thaksin have always been friends."
Gen Chavalit quoted Hun Sen as saying "Thaksin is welcomed in Cambodia".
AFP also reported that state-run TVK said the Cambodian prime minister made the invitation during a private meeting with Gen Chavalit. If "former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra wishes to travel to Cambodia anytime ... ", the television channel reported.
Thaksin spends most of his time in Dubai since fleeing the country.
Gen Chavalit's one-day visit to Phnom Penh was at the invitation of the Cambodian prime minister. He was greeted by Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh.
The Cambodian prime minister also sought to bolster relations between his ruling Cambodian People's Party and Puea Thai, an official in the Chavalit delegate said.
Gen Tea Banh was assigned as a coordinator for the Cambodian People's Party while Gen Wichit Yathip was named a coordinator for the Thai side, the official said.
Hun Sen's invitation came days after Gen Chavalit joined the opposition party - a reincarnation of the two dissolved People Power and Thai Rak Thai parties.
Gen Chavalit's joining of Puea Thai was followed by a parade of some 50 former classmates of Thaksin from Class 10 of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School to the party.
Hun Sen's remarks are likely to frustrate the Thai government which has tried to establish Thaksin's whereabouts to facilitate its attempt to extradite him and make him serve his two-year jail term.
The remarks are also considered untimely ahead of the Asean summit which starts tomorrow.
Gen Chavalit played down speculation that Hun Sen's comments could cause a further deterioration in relations between the two countries. Border tensions have simmered in past months over the Preah Vihear temple issue. Both countries lay claim to the overlapping areas of 4.6 square kilometres near the temple ruins.
"The country's disputes will have to be dealt with. The relationship between Hun Sen and Thaksin is another matter," Gen Chavalit said.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said before Gen Chavalit's departure to Phnom Penh the meeting between the Puea Thai chairman and Hun Sen was "normal".
"Such a meeting is normal," he said. "I have once visited the Cambodian government [as part of] an opposition party," the prime minister said.
Mr Abhisit said he did not think the government's authority would be overshadowed by the opposition because it was clearly known who was the government and who was on the opposition bench.
Gen Chavalit said the government should not be concerned about his trip. It was a private visit, not a state affair, he said.
Producers Recall ‘Golden Age’ of Film
Sak Si Sbong and Kong Sam Oeun in Sihanouk's "La Joie de Vivre" (The joy of life)By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original Report from Washington
21 October 2009
“We need to do much better, otherwise our movies cannot compete with foreign films,” said Ly Bun Yim, a producer from the “Golden Age” of Cambodian filmmaking, which lasted from around 1961 to 1975.
Gone are the days when films like “Pos Keng Kang,” or “The Snake King’s Wife,” would appear in Bangkok cinemas, he said, as a guest on “Hello VOA” Monday.
Other films, like “Puthisen Neang Kong Rey,” or “The Twelve Sisters,” were successful abroad and “opened the way for Khmer films to be seen in foreign cinemas,” he said.
The Khmer Rouge takeover ended that, as they abolished cinema along with many other aspects of Cambodian culture and society.
Ly Bun Yim’s brother, You Sreang, who also produced movies in the halcyon days, said his works—10 films in the 1960s—had mostly vanished. “Negatives and prints of many films were destroyed or are missing,” he said, also as a guest on “Hello VOA.”
Ly Bun Yim made 21 films, shot on 35 mm, he said.
“Now I have in my hands only three movies,” he said, calling the loss a historic catastrophe that cannot be undone.
Now 67, Ly Bun Yim is still looking for financiers and other support to produce films.
“I became a movie writer and producer when I was 19 years old,” he said. “I have never copied international movie styles. I try to do my own style. I was never taught how to write, but before writing I think carefully about making stories that are meaningful to the audience.”
He works to make either modern or historical films, though historical endeavors end up costing more, he said.
When the Khmer Rouge were ousted, in 1979, Cambodian filmmaking had a chance to make a comeback. Eager to watch films they’d been banned from seeing, Cambodians were anxious to see a new wave of movies.
Eventually, though, they discovered the quality had suffered, and they quit going to the cinema. The industry never recovered, and eventually foreign films entered the country, from a trickle to a flood, he said.
Ly Bun Yim said Cambodian films still suffer artistically, from poor production values, bad acting and weak storylines. There is no national film school and little opportunity for actors, writers and directors to learn the trade or develop their careers. Likewise, there is a dearth of sound editors, lighting and sound technicians, set designers and make-up and costume artists.
Still, Ly Bun Yim is determined to continue in the industry. He has opened a joint venture under his old company’s name, “Flash Diamond Movie Production,” and has built a studio and auditorium in Takhmao, a Kandal province district outside Phnom Penh.
He’s excited to teach budding actors effective dramatic techniques, he said, as now audiences tend to look down on Cambodian acting. He’ll teach filmmakers to strengthen their ideas and turn them into films, he said, adding that if he could find a donation of half a million dollars, he could bring Cambodian cinema back to a standard competitive with foreign films.
Local Solar Bicycle Finds Limited Market
By Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 October 2009
“The research is finished, and it is the first time that [the bicycle] has been sold in public,” Kong Parith said.
Costing $450, about the price of a second-hand motorcycle, the bicycle is not cheap. Neither is it handsome. But it can help save energy, and in the long run save money for its rider, traveling up to 10 kilometers, at a maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour.
Kong Pharith said his bicycle can be used only for short distances. Still, he hopes it will reduce pollution, and he has so far built 10 of them, having come up with the idea in 2004 and experimenting on prototypes until he had a viable vehicle. He sells them directly from his workshop.
“We spent a lot of time on research, in order to consume less electricity and make it lighter and easier to ride than bicycles imported from China,” he said.
Electric bicycles from China are becoming more popular with Cambodians who seek to save money on short-distance rides. They need electric plug-ins, however, and are only viable in urban environments where power is available.
Kong Pharith said his bicycle is easier on people, as it can draw power from the sun or the electric grid. Charged by plug-in, the bicycle can travel up to 20 kilometers.
However, vendors worry the bicycle won’t be able to compete on the market.
“Its price is an obstacle, because people prefer to use cheaper bicycles if they don’t earn much money,” said Tang Meng Ly, the first solar bicycle seller in Phnom Penh.
“If we talk about its advantages, it is good,” said Ngin Navirak, a small grant project coordinator for UNDP. “But the price is too high, if we compare it with other battery bicycles we can buy for $100. So this bicycle can’t compete in the market.”
The solar bicycle is also hard to ride, especially for women, as it is “high and heavy,” she said.
Kong Pharith said he recognized these weaknesses and was working to improve the bike’s look to help it compete. He hopes to produce five to 10 per month, but if the market gets bigger, he’ll be able to keep up, he said.
The government doesn’t have any specific programs to support the project, though officials encourage the use of solar bicycles, as well as bio-fuel, to help protect the environment, said Sath Samy, secretary of state for the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Meanwhile, Kong Pharith is setting his sights higher. He is now at work on a building a solar car.
Kingdom creeps up in press ranking
Prem Tinsulanonda (L) and Chavalit Yongchaiyudh (R)By Suthichai Yoon
The Nation
When the usually reticent "Pa Prem" initiates a conversation on a particular subject on a certain personality, the whole country stops to listen.
"Jiew" - General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh - had just joined Thaksin Shinawatra's Pheu Thai Party as its "chairman". Prem was disappointed - nay, upset was more like it.
The Privy Council president had previously deliberately delivered a message of warning: "Think very carefully before you decide to join Pheu Thai. You might be labelled a traitor if you do."
Under normal circumstances, Chavalit would have heeded such a direct admonition. So, when he declared his decision "to move from a neutral stand to take sides", Jiew knew his mentor would feel betrayed. But, despite his age, Chavalit's political ambition got the better of him.
Prem's normal refusal to make public comments in a political storm was often open to interpretation. But when he decided to break his famous silence, it was almost like a thunderbolt. You could almost hear a heartbroken general cry out for vindication.
Chavalit knew he couldn't counter with a tit-for-tat response. After all, he might have to change tack again if politics takes a new turn.
"Pa Prem used strong words against me because of his real concern for me. I know he loves me. I want to tell Pa Prem: Please don't be mad at me."
Of course, not many political observers here will take Chavalit's conciliatory, flowery response too seriously. He isn't known for meaning what he says, especially when he says nice things about people on the other side of the political fence. As the song "You Always Hurt the One You Love" says:
You always hurt the one you love,But never for a moment assume that Prem's "Jiew" is so naive as not to realise how serious Prem was with his rare, public statement about political loyalty, personal concern and betrayal.
The one you shouldn't hurt at all,
You always take the sweetest rose,
And crush it till the petals fall.
Deep down, Chavalit will probably try to console himself by telling his lieutenants something to this effect: "Pa Prem wasn't really hitting out at me. He loves me too much to hurt me. Perhaps his real target is somebody else."
He doesn't have to name names, of course. There is little doubt that that "somebody else" is only waging a proxy war. It's both a political war at the national level, as well as a war of nerves between old friends.
Didn't Chavalit realise that his decision to join Pheu Thai could constitute the "last straw" in their long-cherished relationship?
Of course, he did. The red shirts and Pheu Thai have made Prem the focus of all anti-government activities. Chavalit also knows that Thaksin Shinawatra has made Prem his personal crusade, on the grounds that he believes Prem was behind the September 2006 coup that ousted him.
Prem has denied Thaksin's accusations all along. And he thought he could at least trust Chavalit to be on his side - or at least remain "neutral" if he didn't want to get involved in a political face-off.
Jiew has in a way forced the issue into the open. For the first time in Thai political history, in this national charade, none of the major characters, usually left untouched at least publicly for the sake of tradition and stability, have been spared.
The only words left unsaid so far between the two protagonists are: "I won't be at your funeral." But then, sometimes, some feelings are better left unsaid until the right time.