១០ តុលា ២០២០ / 10 October 2020 - Cambodia and China (*)
បទសម្ភាសន៍លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ជាមួយវិទ្យុអាស៊ីសេរី ថ្ងៃ ០៨ តុលា ២០២០ ស្តីពីទំនាក់ទំនងរវាងប្រទេសកម្ពុជា និងប្រទេសចិនកុម្មុយនីស្ត។ ខាងក្រោមនេះ គឺជាខ្លឹមសារ នៃបទសម្ភាសន៍ បកប្រែពីភាសាខ្មែរ ទៅភាសាអង់គ្លេស។
- Question: What are the dangers for Cambodia in deepening its relations with China?
Sam Rainsy: No-one can hide the truth in the modern era. Hun Sen claims that he hasn’t authorized China to build military bases in Cambodia. He claims that China is only building tourist facilities. But satellites and drones mean that everything is visible. No-one can hide the truth. Beyond dispute, Hun Sen is letting Communist China create military installations at Ream near Sihanoukville to begin with, and then – on a larger scale – in the district of Dara Sakor in Koh Kong province. The whole world is condemning Hun Sen. No-one believes his denials. Cambodia is becoming a bastion serving Chinese aggression against neighbouring countries. This is a grave danger for regional and global peace. Countries like Japan, South Korea, the island of Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Burma and India are deeply preoccupied by Communist China’s expansionism.
Hun Sen has fallen into China’s trap. He is up to his eyes in debt to China, and the debts have nourished his regime’s corruption. He is now trapped. He can’t pay China back and is obliged to cede land to Beijing. Hun Sen is leading Cambodia down a path of grave danger. The countries which are threatened by China are not going to fold their arms and wait. They will react against Hun Sen.
- Question: If you were in power would you do the opposite of Hun Sen, by opposing China and allying with the United States?
Sam Rainsy: The first thing is to respect the Constitution of our country which obliges Cambodia to follow a policy of strict neutrality. No foreign country can be authorised to establish military bases on our soil and so threaten other countries in the region. It’s a very dangerous path to follow. Likewise, in terms of international law, Cambodia must respect the Paris Accords which require neutrality. Hun Sen is violating Cambodia’s Constitution as well as the Paris Accords.
- Question: You don’t want close relations with China. But isn’t it in Cambodia’s interests to have close relations with all countries of the world?
- Sam Rainsy: Look at the lessons of history. Becoming a satellite of China can cost Cambodia dear, as under Pol Pot: 3 million dead. China is not worried about the lives of Cambodians, but just wants to use Cambodia as a base to help realise its global ambitions. Hun Sen has made an unforgivable error in letting China do as it pleases in Cambodia. I am convinced that there will be an international reaction against Hun Sen because many countries feel threatened. Hun Sen’ s authoritarian and corrupt regime is a source of suffering to the Cambodian people. His military alliance with China poses a grave danger to peace and security in our region.
In the future we will be friends with all the countries of the region and the whole world: China, Vietnam, Thailand, the United States, etc. But in line with our required stance of neutrality, we won’t take sides in case of disputes between these countries.
Above all, we won’t let any of these friendly countries install military bases on our own territory and so threaten others. We will enter into cooperation accords with countries the world over when these accords are beneficial for Cambodia. Currently, the agreements with China are damaging, rather than beneficial, for our country.
- Question: How can Cambodia turn its relationship with China to its advantage?
Sam Rainsy: Before talking about advantages, we have to avoid the disadvantages caused by an unhealthy relationship with China. As in the time of Pol Pot, Cambodia is suffering greatly from being a Chinese satellite. Now, once again, Chinese domination is costing us dear. We are losing land, forests, mineral riches. Look at Sihanoukville, the Chinese are colonising our country. Our people are suffering greatly because of our current relations with China. It’s only Hun Sen’s family which is making a big profit through their corruption. They’ve borrowed enormous sums from Beijing and our children will have to repay Hun Sen’s Chinese debts. But in the name of the Cambodian people, I declare that we do not recognise these debts contracted by Hun Sen. His regime is illegal because he manipulated the elections to steal power from the people. He got 100% of seats in the national assembly! Ridiculous! The whole world scorns such a regime. It’s not a government based on the will of the people. The Cambodian people does not recognise the contracts signed by such a regime. This is a warning to China: we won’t repay Hun Sen’s debts.
(End)
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