Dear Her Excellencies, His Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As a Cambodian citizen, I really appreciate EU for its preferential Everything But Arms (EBA), which saw more Cambodia’s products in the EU’s market, increases in Cambodia’s national income, improvement of Cambodian workers’ living standard and contribution to the nation’s economic growth in the recent past. However, this help should not be interpreted as Cambodia is their protectorate and Cambodia should obey everything EU asks us to do.
Cambodia is a sovereign and independent state and is entitled to be ‘respected’ as stated in the UN Charter. Cambodia should enjoy equal rights and treat in their diplomatic relations - not a superior-inferior relationship as accepted by the opposition group, who overlooked national ideal and risked Cambodia’s sovereignty. Cambodia is a state with rule of laws and would not tolerate anyone who abuses the laws. Cambodia is ready to take any actions against foreigners’ plans to ruin the country by mean of ‘color revolution,’ with their ambition to take political-geography position in the region. Cambodia is seen as a ‘victim’ of its actions, by the nation’s law, against their foreign puppets and ‘color revolution’ aimed to harm the country’s peace and development - a victim just because of its defense of its national security and the well-being of its people.
After Cambodia’s Supreme Court found the former CNRP guilty of conspiracy - in a case of implementing ‘color revolution’ in an attempt to overthrow Cambodia’s legitimate government - and ruled for dissolution of the political organization behind the plan and imposed a 5-year ban from politics on its members of the party’s central and permanent boards, Cambodia was accused by the West as the ‘killer of its own democracy’ and a country whose people’s human rights and freedom were silenced. The unfair accusation and frame on Cambodia were made by a group of Cambodian outlaws and some biased foreign countries which supported the former CNRP’s ‘color revolution.’ Some foreigners pretended to be ‘deaf and dumb’ - not seeing the the former oppositions’ guilt - and not to see Cambodia’s necessities to implement the laws against the former opposition’s attempts to ruin Cambodia. They blamed Cambodia as the one who made its own democracy declined and the one who pressed on its own people’s rights and freedom and violated human rights.
The former oppositions who violated Cambodia’s laws and had ‘notorious’ intentions own its own country were rewarded and encouraged, and their voices were listened. They were encouraged to continue to ruin Cambodia’s national interests with their ‘3 nots’ rule: they begged foreigners not to invest, not to donate and not to purchase Cambodia’s products - a policy that hurt Cambodian people’s livelihood. Such policy was accepted by some EU’s officials, despite not being based on realistic approach.
Her Excellencies, His Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Now you have landed on Cambodia, a country where the former oppositions, some foreign-funded civil society and local NGOs have accused that its democracy was killed and there were curbs on freedom and violations of human rights. Was the real situation in Cambodia as serious as what was framed by the former oppositions? At the present, Cambodian people are enjoying the country’s economic growth and are all out in the democracy process. Only the outlawed oppositions are facing troubles because they have tried to violate the nation’s laws and to carry out their ‘color revolution’ plan.
Some EU officials who believed and took the opposition’s side have condemned and raised that Cambodia’s democracy was in ‘hot water’ and demanded that all lawsuits against the former oppositions, especially Kem Sokha - who had confessed that the US backed the oppositions to topple Cambodia’s government through the models employed in Yugoslavia and Serbia - be lifted and the arrested be released. Why was it necessary for Cambodia to curb any political organization which backed the ‘color revolution’? Austria’s Vice-Chancellor Strache’s scandal - in which a viral footage saw Strache promised to help Russian oligarchs in their business in Austria if they assisted his party to win their election - has ripped the EU, and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Markel has warned EU politicians not to ‘bow heads’ to any foreigners who wanted to destroy EU. The scandal saw the Vice-Chancellor lose vote of confidence from its parliament, and many of his officials were forced to resign to open for full-scale investigations. The case is not different from that of Kem Sokha, head of the former CNRP, who had detailed his treason attempt. Cambodia’s authorities reserve all rights to combat treason attempt and foreign interference into its own internal affairs.
The scandal is served as a reflection for the EU officials to consider why it is necessary for Cambodia to take measures against traitors, just like the case in Austria. Such action is not a curb on freedom or a violation of human rights or the kill of democracy. It is a measure to ensure peace and development, to keep the country safe from ‘color revolution’ and to safeguard millions of Cambodian people’s interests. If what Cambodia has done was an act of killing its own democracy, EU should dare to criticize and condemn Austria for ‘killing democracy,’ violating human rights and curbing on freedom in its country, since Cambodia’s case is the same situation faced by Austria. So why do they criticize and intimidate to impose political and economic sanctions and to remove preferential EBA against Cambodia’s products.
The EU, US’s closest ally, could do everything as manipulated by the US in a bid to revenge Cambodia for their puppets, the former oppositions, who have been curbed for their ‘color revolution’ plan to change the government’s leaders in a non-democracy way. For the sake of their popularity in the buildup for the election of the EU’s parliamentary members, some EU officials have stepped up their attack and criticism against Cambodia. What the EU has done to Cambodia is believed to have a clear political agenda. The EU raised that Cambodia’s democracy has slumped and needs a restoration, but, in fact, it was the demised CNRP’s officials who ‘killed’ Cambodia’s democracy, i.e. they discouraged voters not to turn out to vote. Their boss’s mission is to do every single way to help the former oppositions and their dead CNRP back to life.
Her Excellencies, His Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
What Cambodia has been doing is to respond to Cambodian people’s holy wish, in which they want to live in peace and development, not in the damage to stem from CNRP’s ‘color revolution.’ This is the second mission the EU’s fact finding group have arrived in Cambodia. A few days before the delegation’s scheduled arrival, the EU officials told the oppositions that they were still maintaining their stance that they demanded restoration of democracy, release of Kem Sokha, and improvements of human rights’ situation and freedom of expression. Both missions are likely to be the same because the evaluators’ group has a set pre-judgement against Cambodia, and their meetings with Cambodia’s officials is just a formal procedure, while their report might have been written, and even what their spokesperson would say have been drafted.
Even though how hard Cambodia’s government has tried to persuade them, they may pretend to be ‘deaf’ about the real situation in Cambodia - the achievements, the democracy process, and the observations of human rights and freedom of expression. They will read what they have written and say what the oppositions have told. It is like a person with good mentality, ears and eyes, but he or she pretends not to see or hear!
I hope that your delegation would not abide by the 4 ‘Misleadings’ and believe that you will stick with justice and fair, and respect the voices of the majority of Cambodian people, based on democracy and unbiased principles. What Cambodia wish for is fair and just history. Cambodia is observing a guiding moto, which is ‘to reform internally and to expand friendships with foreigners based on independent spirit,’ and to take no one as its enemy. It is likely that the EU who take side with the opposition’s leaders know clearly that they could not reverse their decision to remove preferential EBA from Cambodia, since everything is set, and what they are doing now is just a formal process. A group of approximately 80 civil societies and NGOs has also taken part in the story. Those civil societies and NGOs, which more or less had served the former oppositions’ politics, have asked the government to ‘lower’ their stance to negotiate with EU in a bid to keep the preferential EBA on Cambodia’s goods. It is also the case of overseas oppositions, who made similar appeal. It shows clearly that some civil societies and the oppositions are foreigners’ slaves. They made enquiry to the EU and made statements against Cambodia.
All was a scenario set up by the oppositions in an attempt to keep creating ‘events after events’ and to ‘give the sword to the EU delegation to execute Cambodia.’ Please be informed that Cambodia has committed that the nation would not exchange its sovereignty with their foreign aids and would not exchange its sovereignty with supports from the EU on the preferential EBA, so the decision is all yours. Cambodia has its own dignity and pride. If the EU has a political agenda behind their attempt to remove preferential EBA from Cambodia, they will pretend to be ‘deaf’ on no matter of how well Cambodia has done on human rights, freedom of expression and democracy!
By Chao Chak Smok
Phnom Penh, 6th June 2019
