Cambodian Great Wall

[Alternatives Watch]

Alternatives Watch – 10xii09


CAMBODIAN GREAT WALL


Vietnam has, in the past 30 years, implemented two brilliant
strategies that present a mixed blessing to Cambodia. The first one is
the military intervention to depose the Khmer Rouge regime and
occupation of Cambodia; the second is the recent thrust of investments
into the Cambodian economy. Cambodia has survived, and perhaps
prospered, but it is at the mercy of Vietnam.

The 7 January – in 1979 when Vietnam succeeded in installing a new
government of Cambodia – has become a wall that divides Cambodian
people. Some regard it as the day of liberation, others the day of
subjugation. The Cambodians often clash in the streets on the day to
manifest their conflicting beliefs. Hence, there have always been two
incompatible interpretations of whatever interactions between the two
nations. The ultimate cost of this stubborn divide is a weakened
Cambodia that remains in Vietnam’s dominions.

Cambodia has been burnt many times for depending on foreigners. In the
60’s, it sanctioned US bombings of Cambodia with an expectation that
Vietnamese communists in the country would be curbed; but the
communists thrived while the bombings killed Cambodian villagers at
the border. In the 70’s, Cambodia relied on the US and South
Vietnamese support against the Vietnamese communists. The support was
later withdrawn as their best interest had shifted; the Khmer Republic
died and Cambodians were left in agony. For helping the Vietnamese
communists to win the war and relying on their goodwill, Cambodia
received in return the murderous Khmer Rouge regime; over one million
Cambodians died.

With a simple lesson that foreigners always act in their own
interests, Cambodia needs to remove itself from the mercy of Vietnam,
by securing a leadership that can flatten the wall.

Unfortunately, none of the current leaders are able, or willing to.
Prime minister Hun Sen, who constantly reminds Cambodians to remain
grateful to Vietnam for saving their lives, would be incapable of
taking any actions that may upset Vietnamese interests. Given the
extent of his personal gratitude, which perfectly conforms with a
Vietnamese proverb: “Receive a plum, return a peach”, one wonders what
the strongman has already done, and will do, for Vietnam at the
expense of Cambodia.

On the other side of the wall, opposition SRP is also unlikely to
knock down the Cambodian divide. It has exploited it by often engaging
in politically charged but somewhat hollow gestures. The latest act is
that president Sam Rainsy impetuously removed six temporary poles
planted to mark border demarcation between Cambodia and Vietnam, which
has subsequently sent him into exile again. He claims the removal is
“just a symbolic gesture”, without realising how futile it is in terms
of addressing the wall that weakens the country.

It seems the current leaders have done their best in their own ways to
effect the divide for their own interest. Hence, Cambodia has no
alternatives but to look to its younger generation for a fresh
leadership that appreciates the need to level the wall before Cambodia
remains forever weakened and exploited.


Ung Bun Ang


Quotable Quote:

“Dividing enemy forces to weaken them is clever, but dividing one's
own team is a grave sin against the business.”

Henri Fayol (1841–1925), French businessman.
General and Industrial Management.