Vietnam Slams China-Backed Canal, Student Leader Jailed, Protected Forests Falling Fast
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, April 19. Welcome back.
HELD DOWN: A popular student activist was arrested on incitement charges and a Cambodian-Australian critic of the CPP was beaten up by masked attackers — as the stifling of public dissent continued.
SENT HOME: Hundreds of Chinese citizens are being deported after raids on Sihanoukville scam mills led to the detention of nearly 700 suspects. A fringe member of the CPP is under suspicion.
WILD LIFE: Hairy-nosed otters, large-spotted civet cats and long-tailed macaques were among the 700 animals identified in a pioneering survey of Koh Kong’s mangrove forests. There could be many more.
THE LEDE
Red Dawn
Satellite images show that two Chinese warships have been docked at Ream Naval Base on a near permanent basis since December.
A Cambodian navy commander explained the stay as part of long-term training exercises. The Kingdom’s naval forces operate nothing larger than patrol boats — some from the Soviet era — and the government has for years wanted to upgrade the fleet with gunships from China. The extended operation suggests Cambodia may soon get what it wants.
Or the explanation could be a convenient cover story. Either way, it appears the Chinese navy, despite the government’s repeated denials, is here to stay.
Port Sides
Cambodia vowed to forge ahead with the China-backed Funan Techo Canal, despite intensifying fears in Vietnam.
Concerns are so high that Hanoi is reportedly pressing Beijing to back out of the deal, a $1.7 billion megaproject connecting the Mekong River to Kep. Vietnam holds considerable sway, and the appeal threatens to deepen a serious dispute with Phnom Penh.
China is unlikely to yield to Hanoi's demands — but the resistance could slow talks and stymie Cambodia's ambitious timeline for the project, which Phnom Penh says will start this year.
Buzz Saw
Illegal loggers are decimating the Kingdom’s protected forests, with 2023 one of the worst years on record.
Cambodia lost more than 120,000 hectares of tree cover last year. More than 66,000 hectares — an area the size of Los Angeles — vanished from reserves supposedly under government protection.
The Ministry of Environment, in a move seen as an attempt to reduce scrutiny, has banned further release of forest survey maps. Conservationists, meanwhile, fear a new era of destruction is underway after the government last year expanded the nation’s protected areas by more than 1 million hectares.
TALKING POINTS
Good Start
Khmer New Year was a rollicking success. More than 13 million merrymakers criss-crossed the Kingdom over the three-day holiday, drenching the streets in water and talcum powder. Phnom Penh welcomed nearly 800,000 visitors, all of them, apparently, tooled up at Wat Phnom and ready to blast anything that moved.
Young Target
Dozens of civil society groups demanded the release of a popular student leader jailed on incitement charges. The arrest of Koet Saray, president of Khmer Student Intelligent League Association, marks a direct attack on freedom of expression, said supporters, who urged officials to release dozens of villagers arrested in connection with a long-simmering Preah Vihear land dispute.
Danger Zone
Masked assailants beat a Cambodian-Australian opposition supporter who was visiting Battambang for Khmer New Year. Sun Bunchhay, a vocal Sam Rainsy backer, protested Hun Manet’s visit to Melbourne in March and regularly slams the CPP on social media. Police say they are investigating.
Bull’s Eye
Cambodia began deporting hundreds of Chinese nationals arrested during raids on two Sihanoukville scam compounds. In a rare joint effort, Cambodian and Chinese police detained nearly 700 suspects from scam mills reportedly owned by Ke Kim Yan, the former military commander long associated with the Sar Kheng wing of the CPP. Observers say his outsider status made him an easy target.
Scourge Loss
The Ministry of Environment appears to be winning the fight against single-use plastic bags. Cambodian companies imported 75% fewer synthetic sacks in the first quarter of 2024 compared to last year, or about 12,000kg of plastic, down from more than 131,000kg in 2023.
Spirit Award
The Kingdom’s vast network of pagodas will take center stage in a new campaign to boost the tourism sector, which is still recovering from a brutal pandemic downturn. Just under 350,000 tourists visited Angkor Wat during the first three months of 2024, or less than half the number counted over the same period in 2019.
Creature Comforts
Seven hundred unique animals were found living in Koh Kong’s protected mangrove forests, and researchers believe thousands more are waiting to be discovered. The sightings, made during a first-of-its-kind survey, included extremely rare fishing cats and otters, large-spotted civets, long-tailed macaques and numerous bat species.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Om Yentieng’s ‘Wife’ Implicated in Timber Deal
April 16, 2004
A woman who said she was the wife of a top government official contracted the purchase of 4.3 cubic meters of luxury timber from villagers within Oral Wildlife Sanctuary and used a forestry official to procure and transport the wood, villagers and forestry officials said.
Battambang Prisoners Ring in the New Year
April 14, 2004
More than 500 inmates at Battambang provincial prison spent Saturday dancing to the pulse of rented loudspeakers, playing traditional Khmer New Year games and praying, like others throughout Cambodia, for a peaceful and happy new year.
Young Entrepreneurs Cash In on Mobile Phone Explosion
April 14, 2004
Uy Mach sat in front of Baktouk High School Thursday, in the center of a cluster of uniformed students. Cellular phones brandished, they shouted out their orders for songs, games and videos and eagerly handed over their dollars as he downloaded files one by one onto their phones from his personal computer.
WEEKEND READING
Remembering Cambodia’s genocide in a corner of Africa
Rwanda’s genocide memorial features a Cambodian ‘remembrance’ corner, a space for healing sorely lacking in Phnom Penh.
Image: Ream Naval Base, Tea Seiha via Facebook.
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