Cambodia Protests Vietnam’s Construction of Military Post in Border Area

[geovalin]

Every day there was development on the "Cambodia - Vietnam border" issue and we updated the thread below.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/832555-ministry-tells-vietnam-to-back-off-in-border-dispute/

Well, today, we begin a new one as the Cambodian gvt issued a second diplomatic protest.

Cambodia Protests Vietnam’s Construction of Military Post in Border Area

Cambodia issued a second diplomatic protest to Vietnam on Wednesday requesting that the communist government stop building a military post on its territory until the two countries have completed their demarcation of their borders in the area.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation issued the notice to the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, asking officials to stop the large-scale construction of the post close to Preksbov village, Sampeou Poun commune, Koh Thom district of Kandal province in the country’s southeast.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by RFA, referred to an earlier request sent June 8 in which the foreign ministry asked Vietnam to stop digging land to lay the foundation for the military post.

Foreign affairs ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said the government wants Vietnam to cease all activities until the border is demarcated.

“Our stand is clear,” he told RFA’s Khmer Service.” We have constantly made complaints because we have regarded the Vietnamese action as a violation of Cambodian territory. We are protesting against Vietnam to immediately stop construction.”

The letter referenced a Joint Border Commission meeting between the two nations in Hanoi on April 24 during which Cambodian officials requested that Vietnam stop construction in the area.

Cambodian authorities in Kandal province also asked their Vietnamese counterparts in An Giang province to cease activities in the area on April 21 and June 9, the letter said.

“But the Vietnamese authorities of An Giang Province still continue the construction of the military post on a larger scale,” the letter read.

CNRP welcomes government’s move

Lawmaker Oum Sam of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) told RFA that he welcomed the government’s move, but added that the country should consider submitting the complaints to the International Court of Justice if Vietnam did not respect the border treaty between the two nations.

“I support the government in that it sent a diplomatic note to protest the border issue,” he said. “So far, Vietnam has continued to violate Cambodian territory regardless of the protest note. Cambodian villagers who are living along the border continue to lose land to Vietnam.”

During a meeting of the CNRP board of directors on Wednesday, the party decided to request that the government consider allowing CNRP members to serve on the border committee that oversees border demarcation, he said.

“We want the government to halt all demarcation processes until after the 2018 national election because right now we are losing land to Vietnam,” Oum Sam said.

Sam Rainsy, CNRP president, would meet soon with Prime Minister Hun Sen to discuss border issues with Vietnam, he said.

“The border issue is not about the CNRP or the [ruling] CPP [Cambodian People’s Party],” he said. “We want Khmer unity between the CPP and CNRP. We don’t want fights among the Khmer that benefits foreigners.”

Cambodia and Vietnam signed a joint communiqué in January 1995, which stipulates that neither side can make any changes to border markers or allow people to carry out cross-border cultivation or settlement, pending the resolution of outstanding border issues.

Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

source including a map to be checked: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/protest-of-vietnamese-construction-of-military-post-in-border-area-06172015131158.html

[geovalin]

Ranariddh weighs in on border, NGO law

Fri, 19 June 2015

Vong Sokheng

Royalist party leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh has finally waded into the disputes over the demarcation of the Cambodia-Vietnam border and a controversial draft law on NGOs and associations.

Funcinpec party president Ranariddh said during yesterday’s celebrations of Queen Mother Norodom Monineath’s 79th birthday that the government was obligated to protect the country’s “national sovereignty”.

“It is an obligation of the government to send diplomatic notes to Vietnam about the ponds that have been dug. I am not praising the Cambodia National Rescue Party, but I am thankful for the government and the Cambodian people” that Vietnam has been called out on the issue, he said.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national

[geovalin]

Opposition blocked at border

Mon, 22 June 2015

Meas Sokchea

Opposition lawmakers are set to send a joint letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen next week urging the premier to lodge a complaint to the International Court of Justice over Vietnam ignoring Cambodian diplomatic notes protesting its alleged border encroachment.

Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Um Sam An confirmed yesterday that party members would send a letter to Hun Sen over the border issues, which have recently flared up again amid a series of clashes between Cambodian citizens and Vietnamese armed forces.

“Nearly 10 [CNRP] lawmakers will send a letter to Hun Sen on Thursday or Friday, asking him to file a complaint to the International Court of Justice, because we have already submitted diplomatic requests to the Yuon, but they’ve been ignored,” he said, using a term for Vietnamese people considered offensive by some.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/opposition-blocked-border

[geovalin]

Kem Ley jumps into border fray

Tue, 23 June 2015

Meas Sokchea

Political aspirant and founder of the “social network” Khmer for Khmer Kem Ley said yesterday that he will send a letter to King Norodom Sihamoni after “confirming” the presence of a canal dug by Vietnamese authorities inside Cambodian territory.

Ley claimed on Friday via his Facebook page that the canal, which stretches from Svay Rieng province’s Svay Chrum district to the town of Neak Loeung in Prey Veng province, has been around since the 1980s.

“We will write a letter to [the] King . . . because the King’s role is to guarantee territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he said yesterday.

(...)

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kem-ley-jumps-border-fray

[geovalin]

VN gov’t to respond to border allegations

Thu, 25 June 2015

Meas Sokchea

The Vietnamese government has ordered border authorities on its end to make a report responding to allegations that Vietnamese forces have encroached onto Cambodian territory by digging ponds and constructing a military post inside Ratanakkiri and Kandal provinces, respectively.

According to a press release issued yesterday following Tuesday’s bilateral meeting between Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong and Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Le Hoai Trung, the two officials discussed the diplomatic notes sent by Cambodia to Vietnam over the issue.

Trung reportedly denied that Vietnam constructed a new military post in Kandal’s Koh Thom district, saying that authorities had only repaired an older one, but provided no comment on the ponds in Ratanikkiri’s O’Yadav district.

“The deputy Vietnamese foreign affairs minister told His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister [Hor Namhong] that … [Vietnamese leaders] were awaiting the report,” the release reads.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/vn-govt-respond-border-allegations