Foreign
Minister Prak Sokhon defended Cambodia’s position on the South China Sea issue
during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry yesterday, denying
accusations that the Kingdom’s opposition to any joint Asean statement in
support of the Philippines was tied to large loans and grants from China.
A number
of Asean members disputing China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea
wanted the regional bloc to release a statement condemning China’s actions and
backing a recent verdict by the Court of Arbitration at The Hague in favor of
the Philippines.
But at a
recent meeting in Laos, multiple foreign ministries told news outlets that
Cambodia fought against any potential statements, claiming the Philippines and
China should work on the issue themselves.
On
Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said it was the Philippines’
own Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Perfecto Yasay, who asserted at the Asean
meeting that the South China Sea dispute should be kept between his country and
Beijing.
“So the
foreign minister of the Philippines itself decided to remove and take out the
issue of the verdict by the Court of Arbitration from the 49th Asean Foreign
Minister’s Statement,” Mr. Sounry said.
At the
press conference on Friday, Mr. Sokhon praised his efforts to “reduce tension”
on the issue, saying the Court’s decision did nothing but increase animosity
between both sides.
"Cambodia
had a good purpose at heart to avoid serious tension, but [we] have been blamed
for blocking the statement,” he said, adding that Cambodia did not benefit from
supporting either side.
He tried
to reframe the withering criticism Cambodia has faced for what many say is an
open acceptance of Chinese aid in exchange for support within Asean.
"We
made sure the relationship between Asean and China avoided breaking because of
the dispute between the two countries. We have rescued this relationship,” he
said.
He added
that if Asean had added the South China Sea issue into the statement, it would
have provoked a dispute between both sides and “broken” the Asean alliance.
He said
the issue at this Asean conference was over one particular sentence containing
the phrase “With Full Respect to the Legal Diplomatic process,” – referring to
the legally binding decision by the Hague court. Mr. Sokhon said China wanted
the line taken out because it referred specifically to the verdict.
He
claimed Cambodia worked as a broker between China and the Philippines,
facilitating conversation between both sides. The discussions lead to an
agreement that allowed the Philippines to keep the phrase in the statement, but
explicitly say that it only referred to Asean principles and not the South
China Sea.
Just two
weeks ago, China approved a $600 million grant to Cambodia for “electoral
processes, health, education, clean water and wells,” according to Prime
Minister Hun Sen.
National
Assembly President Heng Samrin has been in Beijing since Monday and asked Zhang
Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress
of China, to help build a 12-story administration building at the National
Assembly in Phnom Penh.
“In that
meeting, Samdech Heng Samrin asked the National People’s Congress to build an
administration building for the National Assembly of Cambodia which has 12
floors,” a press release from the National Assembly said last Tuesday.
Mr.
Samrin confirmed in a Facebook post on Friday that an agriculture conglomerate
based in Quangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region would invest in banana plantations in
Cambodia.
“Today, I
visited Quangxi Jinsui Agriculture Investment Co., ltd, an agriculture company
using modern technology to plant thousands of hectares of bananas,” he said.
“The company was interested and pledged to invest in banana plantations in
Cambodia sometime soon.”
Mr.
Samrin met with Peng Qinhua, Communist Party Chief of Quangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region, and both sides said they would work together on “tourism, agriculture
and fisheries.”
Mr.
Qinhua said Chinese investors from Quangxi are planning to invest in rice mills
in Cambodia, eventually shipping the rice internationally. Other companies said
they were looking to start businesses in technology and agriculture.
Ven
Rathavong
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