Researcher calls for calm over VN border

Fri, 5 February 2016 ppp

Meas Sokchea

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School of Vice: From the start the fundamental conflict of interest underpinning this body of personalities and "experts" appointed by the government to oversea the land border demarcation process has already raised more questions as to impartiality and credibility than providing undisputed grounds for public confidence and trust in the work itself. How is anyone going to contribute anything constructive and meaningful to this contentious and burning national issue if they are not even at liberty to air opinions or offer relevant evidence without being handed a hefty prison sentence or even given a fair hearing? 

This is the can of worms that Hanoi does not want to see opened, and the reason why the CPP regime has been in power across these decades; the cause of the armed conflict with Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea, the violent overthrow of that regime, the dubious border treaties signed whist Cambodia was under armed occupation by Vietnam ...

Open the border mapping process to independent national and international scrutiny, and if necessary, adjudication before an international court. Then, and only then, will the public doubt and anxiety be quelled, but more importantly, the knowledge that Cambodia as party to the territorial dispute has nothing to lose.

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Anonymous said...

ដល់ករតែម្តង វាថាយួនមិនដែលគោរពនៅរាល់កិច្ចសន្យារ តែវាបែរជាថាកុំឲ្យបងប្អូនខ្មែរបារម្ភ លោកអើយមើលទៅ វាថាចាំពួកវាគូរផែនទីថ្មី បានន៍យថាម្តេចទៅ ? យួនយកដីក៍យកទៅ សុំកុំបារម្ភ ឲ្យតែ សុខ ទូចអាញ់ គូរផែនទីហើយគឺវាស្រេច មែនទេ? បណ្ឌីតអើយ ម្តេចមិនថា អាញមិនហ៊ានធ្វើអីនឹងយួនទេ តែអាញ់អាចគុរលើក្រដាសបាន អានេះដូច គេច្រៀង ថាក្របីស៊ីស្រូវ អាញ់មិនហ៊ានដេញ តែក្របីដើរចេញអាញ់ដេញឲ្យមើល។ ​អញ្ចឹងបានជាកូនក្មេងជេរ កុំអួតខ្លួនថាបណ្ឌីតអីវាល្អជាំង ខ្មាស់ក្មេងៗ ។


ដីខ្មែរ ស្រែយួន

Royal Academy of Cambodia researcher Sok Touch talks about the results of his border investigation yesterday during a press conference in Phnom Penh.Pha Lina

The Royal Academy’s head border researcher has appealed for calm in the wake of findings that some Vietnamese border posts were indeed planted inside Cambodian territory during the 1980s, telling people to blame “history”, more specifically, the French.

Six months after a furore over alleged territorial encroachment by Vietnam, propelled by some Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers, sparked what many saw as the beginning of a brutal state crackdown on the opposition, academic Sok Touch asked that cooler heads prevail as the countries continue their ongoing delineation of disputed border regions.

After reiterating findings, first revealed on Sunday, that three posts in Tbong Khmum were between 5 and 50 metres within Cambodia, Touch moved to stress that the situation wasn’t permanent, and that GPS technology, as well as the future publication of his research, would ensure boundaries were clear and respected in the future.

“I told people not to be worried, there is no loss of land. We will exchange the land back,” Touch said, estimating more than 10 hectares was likely affected.

By the same token, Touch noted that his research, which was commissioned by the government after last year’s controversy and remains ongoing, had discovered two border markers that were positioned in Vietnamese lands, including number 171 in Bavet town, which had been planted in the middle of a Vietnamese house.

Touch said that the government had, on his advice, inspected the two areas, which could be used in a land exchange, and also noted the presence of border markers within Cambodia evoked a somewhat more excessive reaction than those erected within Vietnam.

“If [border posts] were planted inside our Khmer land, a demonstration would take place,” Sok Touch said.

National sensitivity over the integrity of Cambodia’s borders grew over centuries as the neighbouring powers of Siam (today’s Thailand) and Vietnam ate into the dwindling Angkorian Empire.

Touch suggested French efforts to map the region in the 19th and 20th centuries, when it ruled as a colonial power, had created many of the disputed areas.

As for who made Cambodia lose territory, he said, “It is history. It is not Hun Sen. It is not Lon Nol. It is not Pol Pot,” he said.

In recent years, anxiety over the border, particularly the eastern boundary, has been wielded by the CNRP to rouse popular support, often by linking the government to Vietnam, whose military helped oust the Khmer Rouge regime and installed the current ruling party’s core members in power in the 1980s.

CNRP lawmaker Um Sam An, among the opposition’s most ardent border campaigners who led rallies to disputed sites last year, dismissed Touch’s findings as government-biased.

“Ask farmers on the border if they lose farmland or not,” he said.

Senior Border Affairs Minister Var Kimhong declined to comment yesterday, while government spokesman Phay Siphan backed Touch’s work.