“តើវៀតណាមជាឪពុកខ្ញុំ ឬជាមហាក្សត្រខ្ញុំឬ? … វៀតណាមមិនមែនជាចៅហ្វាយរបស់ខ្ញុំ ដែលខ្ញុំត្រូវស្មោះត្រង់នោះទេ។”
លោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីហ៊ុន សែន ថ្ងៃទី ៣១ កក្កដា ២០១៦ ហ៊ុន សែន ហ្វេសប៊ុក
“Is Vietnam my father or my King?... Vietnam is not my
master to whom I must be loyal.”
Prime Minister Hun
Sen, 31 July 2016, Hun Sen Facebook
“In his meeting with Son Minh
Thang, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee [for the Southwest Region],
General [Dieng] Sarun [Deputy Commander of the Army, Deputy Commander of the
Prime Minister's Bodyguard Unit] briefed the host on the political situation in
Cambodia….”
Cambodia,
Vietnam seek more cooperation, 16 June 2016, Vietnam Net
“[Vietnam’s Deputy Defense Minister] Mr. Don added that
Vietnam supported all of Cambodia’s major activities, especially the upcoming
2017 and 2018 elections, and would always be there to help.”
Khmer
Times reporter San Bunsim, 7 October 2016, Khmer Times
“Article
3 … His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni and other leaders of Cambodia expressed their
deep gratitude for the strong support and assistance that generations of
leaders and people of Vietnam accorded to the people of Cambodia in the past
and at present, and affirmed that they always
remember the assistance of the Vietnamese voluntary soldiers in cooperation
with Cambodian people to liberate Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge genocide regime
in 1979.”
Joint statement on the 1516 June State visit
of President Tran Dai Quang to Cambodia, 16 June 2016, Vietnam Net Bridge
The answer to Hun Sen's questions
is: No, Vietnam is neither his father nor his King. It might be, but it is not.
Nevertheless, a more interesting question is, is he right to claim Vietnam is
not his master?
Maybe; but he certainly
treats Vietnam like one, and it behaves like one too.
First, there is a role for
Vietnam in Cambodian internal politics. For instance, Dieng Sarun briefs his
Vietnamese host about Cambodian political situations. Tran Don declares Vietnam
supports and is ready to assist all Cambodian major activities including the
forth coming local elections. Does Vietnam report to Hun Sen their internal
affairs? Does Vietnam need Hun Sen to declare his support and assistance for its
major activities? Unlikely.
Second, the Vietnamese role
is more by design. Within the last four years, there have been at least five inter-State
visits by Vietnam and nine by Cambodia – all led by top military and civilian officials
including Hun Sen. Just in the last four months there are eight visits. Why
must they be so consuming?
There are two recurring
themes in those visits. First, it is to "deepen the defence cooperation”
between the two nations. The deepened cooperation may well lend much
credibility to reports of Vietnamese troop movements into Cambodia during border
clashes with Thailand, and more recently, of a deployment of about 5,000 Vietnamese
special forces into Cambodia to be ready to strike if the 2013 elections turbulence
is getting out of Hun Sen’s hand.
The second is to express
Cambodia’s gratitude to Vietnam. If Cambodia’s indispensable contributions
towards the Vietnamese victory in the Vietnam war were counted for anything Hun
Sen’s gratitude for the Vietnamese 1979 interventions could not be so much.
Though, it keeps growing with the continuous deepening of the military
cooperation.
Anyhow, Hun Sen’s firm
stance against Vietnam’s interests in the South China Sea (SCS) disputes
convinces many that Hun Sen has turned himself away from Vietnam – towards
China. Has he?
It is inconceivable that,
with the deepened military cooperation, Vietnam would let Hun Sen off the hook scot-free
for damaging its SCS interests. He must be ready to pay anything to pacify
Vietnam; Cambodia still has abundant natural resources including border land
that Vietnam is drooling over.
While Hun Sen needs the
Vietnamese deepened military cooperation, he also needs Chinese cash to grow, not
necessarily the economy, business empires of his family and personal interest
groups through corruption siphons. The cash that comes without any good governance
conditions in exchange for Chinese control over Cambodia’s natural resources is
more than enough to command Hun Sen’s loyalty.
Indeed, this is another Hun
Sen’s win-win brilliance. The masters are thrilled with their tributes, his family
and tycoons with their wealth, and local intellectuals with a continuous GDP
growth. He does not have to choose between Vietnam and China; he can have both.
After all, he is just one of Cambodian leaders who have perfected the art of
serving multiple masters concurrently since the sixteenth century.
Ung Bun Ang
10x16
By The Way, A Postcard From Hanoi
Nguyen Tan Dung takes the
honour of reviewing both his troops and his official guests Cambodia’s Strong
Couple in Hanoi on 27 December 2013
With such a downtrodden
Khmer courtesy greeting by the Cambodia’s Strong Couple looking for eye
contact, the stern-face Vietnamese prime minister looks elsewhere, if not
ignoring his official guests. How can he treat his official guests as if they
represent a mere vassal state?
He seems to have received
some sort of audacity boost during the Hanoi visit as a week later Hun Sen orders
his armed forces to shoot into crowds of protesters on Veng Sreng Boulevard.
Five are killed and more than twenty are injured in the name of law and order.
Hanoi would be proud for the job well done.
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