11 Aug, 2010

STATEMENT of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia Concerning the Comments made by H.E. Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand and Reactions of Samdech Aka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia :On 7 August 2010 Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister of Thailand, made a public statement in a meeting with the People’s Alliance for Democracy that ‘… concerning the territorial encroachment, we would resort to dissolving the Memorandum of Understanding if the problem cannot be settled. We would use both democratic and military means…’.  Responding to this provocative statement, on 8 August 2010 Samdech Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of Cambodia sent two separate emergent letters to H.E. Ali Abdussalum Treki, the Chairman of UN General Assembly and H.E. Vitaly Churkin, the Chairman of the UN Security Council. Such swift reaction is because the Royal Government of Cambodia is of the view that the current Thai Prime Minister is seriously violating Sub-Article 2.3 and 2.4 of the United Nations’ Charter. In the meantime, Cambodia stands firmly on four legal grounds concerning border spat with Thailand and the standoff around the recently inscribed World Heritage Site of Preah Vihear namely: 1) the 1904 Convention and Border Treaty of 1907, 2) the Ruling of the International Court of Justice in the Hague on 15 June 1962, 3) the inscription of the Preah Vihear into the UNESCO World Heritage List on 07 July 2008 and 4) the World Heritage Center of UNESCO has accepted for consideration of the Preah Vihear Development Plan on 03 August 2010 in Brasilia of Brazil. In relation to this escalating tension, the International Relations Institute of Cambodia wishes to make the following...(Click on Statement of IRIC above for full story)