A Change of Guard

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Tuesday 29 April 2014

Investors wary as anti-Vietnamese feeling grows in Cambodia

BY PRAK CHAN THUL

PHNOM PENH, April 29 Tue Apr 29, 2014

(Reuters) - It took just one word to fire up the mob that beat Tran Van Chien to death after a minor road accident in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.
The 30-year-old carpenter was standing among onlookers on Feb. 16 when someone shouted "yuon," a term widely seen as derogatory to the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Vietnamese who call Cambodia home. Seconds later, the crowd turned on Tran Van Chien.
"There were so many people I couldn't help," recalled his sister, Tran Yaing Chang, shuffling through photos of his funeral. "He was killed instantly."
Cambodians have long borne a grudge against the Vietnamese.
For centuries Cambodia was caught between more powerful Thai and Vietnamese kingdoms and for generations, many Cambodians have believed Vietnam wants to take over their land.
At various times, Cambodian politicians have found it useful to play up that fear.
In late 1978, Vietnamese forces invaded to overthrow the Khmer Rouge who vilified Vietnam and launched cross-border raids. Vietnam occupied Cambodia for the next 11 years.
Recently, the resurgent opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) has stoked anti-Vietnamese sentiment, seeking to capitalise on long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen's association with Vietnam.
Hun Sen first came to power in a government installed by the invading Vietnamese and his enemies have long played that up in a bid to undermine his legitimacy.
The opposition tried to exploit the distrust of Vietnam in an election last year some observers called racist, with party leader Sam Rainsy routinely using the term "yuon", an old word for Vietnamese that many find offensive, to refer to Vietnamese.

Kem Sokha, deputy leader of the CNRP, accused Vietnam of sending immigrants to occupy Cambodian land and promised to cancel contracts with Vietnamese companies if the CNRP won.
The CNRP has used anti-Vietnamese rhetoric since the vote last July, which Hun Sen's party won amid allegations of cheating. In a March meeting with supporters, Sam Rainsy said the government planned to colonise Cambodia with "neighbours from the east" - meaning Vietnamese.
Companies from Vietnam are growing increasingly concerned.
"I'm afraid if this kind of sentiment becomes stronger, we might struggle doing business here," said a Phnom Penh-based representative of a Vietnamese company producing fertilizer in Cambodia.
"Some people, including government officials, have said Vietnamese businesses are taking advantage of Cambodians and don't bring any benefits to their country," said the executive, who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Vietnamese businesses have been targeted during anti-government rallies since the disputed election.
Vietnam's investments in Cambodia are worth $2.5 billion, with bilateral trade at $3.5 billion, according to the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh. A Cambodian government survey of foreign direct investment from 1994-2011 put Vietnam sixth on a list topped by China.
"A LOT OF VIOLENCE"
A prominent human rights activist said the opposition's rhetoric was irresponsible and dangerous.
Ou Virak, the former director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, who has received death threats for speaking out against racism, said once stoked, anti-Vietnamese anger could be difficult to contain, and could raise tension with other ethnic groups in Cambodia such as ethnic Chinese or Cham Muslims.
"All it needs is a spark," he said.
China is the country's biggest investor and aid donor, and its firms have snapped up land concessions for mining, agriculture and tourism.
Ou Virak said blaming Vietnamese for evictions or the destruction of forests was a "perfect excuse" for those who did not want to upset the big-spending Chinese.
Sam Rainsy declined to comment on the issue of anti-Vietnamese sentiment.
In an April 12 statement, the CNRP said accusations the party was anti-Vietnamese were "groundless," and it insisted the word "yuon" was not derogatory or racist.
About 700,000 ethnic Vietnamese live in Cambodia, said Ang Chanrith, director of Minority Rights Organization, basing his estimate on interviews with Vietnamese community leaders and Cambodian authorities. Cambodia has a population of about 15 million.
Bearing the brunt of anti-Vietnamese feeling are ordinary people like Tran Van Chien who lived in a ramshackle stilt house in a 400-strong community of ethnic Vietnamese - most of them very poor - on the bank of the Tonle Bassac River. Cambodians call it "Yuon Village".
His sister, Tran Yaing Chang, 32, said her brother and seven other siblings had left Vietnam 10 years ago to seek a better life in Cambodia.
She owns a small shop and, until her brother's death, felt Cambodia had treated her well. Her brother was married to a Cambodian woman, who was about to deliver their first child.
"I've seen a lot of violence against the Vietnamese since the election," she said. "I dare not complain about anything, even though they treat us like this, because we are living in their country."
Many ethnic Vietnamese families have lived in Cambodia for generations, said community leader Sok Hor, 70, who moved to Cambodia in 1981.

He said many people now say verbal abuse is so common that he tells people to "stay at home and sleep" rather than go out at night. (Additional reporting by Nguyen Phuong Linh in Hanoi; Editing by Andrew R.C. Marshall, Simon Webb, Robert Birsel)

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Cambodian are the real evils if your are comparing to the more gentle and less aggressive human race called "vietnamese"
Vietnamese should not be a threat to Cambodian at all and Cambodian should not be too concern about Vietnamese taking their land or Island. The gentle race of Vietnamese only took a country called "champa" and then took 21 provinces of khampuchea krom, and more recently took koh tral and towns and villages along Cambodia Vietnam border. That is still not enough reasons for the Cambodian people to be over concerned about Vietnamese illegal immigrants in cambodia. The Cambodian people are too racist toward Vietnamese that why the gentle Vietnames had to make cooking blocks out of Cambodian heads alive! Vietnamese have to control Cambodian government in order to keep Cambodian people in order and behave now humanely! People needs to understand the "youn" should be banned from writing in any article because it is too racist to the foreign ears and eyes!

Anonymous said...

To Poster @29 April 2014 12:16 pm:

Your comment is bullshitting. You don't know the heck going on and even the history. You need to be careful by trying not hurting Cambodian or Khmer people's feeling and don't make your comment to frustrate the Khmer/Cambodian readers online.

You don't know anything and don't jump the conclusion.

Are you Vietnamese reader on here, trying to defend your illegal Vietnamese residents and hiding the history that your Yuon national leaders and people who took Champa and killed all Cham people, took Southern Cambodia (Khmer Krom or Kampuchea Krom - today South Vietnam). Have you seen Cambodian/Khmer people who have given up so much to you and Yuon leaders and people who took their (Khmer) land because your Yuon (Vietnamese) leaders and people who have manipulated the Kings of Cambodia/Khmer (like Sihanouk, Chey Satha II, etc and other Khmer leaders [uneducated individuals] like Hun Sen and so on) to give up their Khmer territory to Yuon (Vietnam).

Khmer Yeurng

Anonymous said...

He is Khmer and being sarcastic that is all my friend. He is being critical of the article writer and I am 100% in agreement with him. These smart-youn need to stay in the shitnam of their if the Kkhmer are evils. If shitnamese are smart they need to build that shit-hole so that these youns would not have to seek a better lives else-where.

Anonymous said...

29 April 2014 4:15 pm,

We do apologize to 29 April 2014 12:16 pm by making a quick response. We re-read and understood. His comment is confusing in some way.

Thanks for making clear to us.

Khmer Yeurng

Anonymous said...

No problem mo, Khmer Yeurng. I believe the only youn that hang around here is that smart drgunzet or doggunshit. Cambodia exported dogs and rats to shitnam so that his smart youns can enjoy but for some reason he still unappreciated. I guest we Khmer are too dumb to know how to satisfied these smart-youns. Maybe if he bring all the good looking youn women to bow-down and bend back ward for the Khmer men may then they will be able to conquered Cambodia.

Anonymous said...

Khmerization what benefits you while supporting sy kha ? Have you don so much to ruin country development. Just to support craziness raincy and kr kha ? Usa bombard 3 millions ton. Right. .? kha support khmer rough right.? Can you clearly see yourself wast energy with our feo..Right. ?

Khmerization said...

9:14 pm, I do not support Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha, but I support democracy. Likewise, I do not hate Hun Sen, but I hate dictatorship and corruption which is represented and symbolised by Hun Sen.

On the topic of foreign investments, I support any investments that benefit Cambodia and the Cambodian people but I oppose any foreign investments that exploit Cambodia and the Cambodian people and destroy Cambodian natural resources.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I agree with Khmerican. Vietnamese and Chinese investments are not beneficial to Cambodia, but exploiting Cambodia. Most Vietnamese firms invested in rubber plantations. Before they grow the rubber trees they have to cut millions of Cambodian trees and sold for billions of dollars. On top of this, almost all workers in Vietnamese-owned rubber plantations are Vietnamese, so do you think Vietnamese investments bring benefits Cambodia and the Cambodian people or exploiting them? I think they come to exploit Cambodia, its natural resources and the Cambodian people by cutting our trees and selling them for billions of dollars.

Kmenhwatt said...

Sarcasm fellow!?
Indeed Khmer proverb stated like this ;-) Kdao si rak, tro jac si chrov.....! Does this mean any thing to you folks? Thats what all followers if Evil Ho Chi Minh have done to us Khmers race for 6 decades now still continuing on and on...!

Yeah, yiekcong "gentle-race alright" This race is like an alligator,you rise them,feed them,taking them,in return they (gators=yiekcong) wants to eat you,lol,lol,you better watch out for their vicious behavior,these gators=yuon didn't know what is gratitude like Khmer race.Dont forget ;-) Proyatt Kom pop te Ong !...All Khmers must remember how gentle these barbarian- yuon were!

Kmenhwatt said...

Ah mice=ka dor=mouse =Rat; You didn't sign your nick as Mike! It's time to go to school ah lop leave polit-sick alone,focus on learning how to spell right!

Anonymous said...

lol @ Khmers. Oh man, you folks are just dumb and angry.

-Drgunzet-

Anonymous said...

For the last couple years, Cambodia's garment industry has been growing at the rate of 30% while Vietnam's garment industry is only growing at the rate of 20%. It is obvious that the smaller Cambodian industry at 5 billion US dollar is easier to grow and still have a lot of room for further expansion. In contrast, Vietnam's garment industry is 18 billion US dollars a year, almost 4 times of Cambodia.

Notably, Vietnam has been focusing on other industries such as high tech, steel, cement, tourism, and so on... Cambodia has only the garment industry to focus on.

Due to last year instability and earlier this year's violence, Cambodia's garment has been hit hard. For the first quarter, it only grew at 16% while Vietnam's garment industry suddenly got a surge and grew at 30%. In fact Vietnam could have grown more but most factories have been maxed out. Orders start going to Nepal and Myanmar in droves.

I were surprised to see any grow at all for Cambodian garment industry. But I would not be surprised these growth came from the factories built in the queue. Therefor, they must operate even at loss. This is called operation loss. (You operate at a loss, but the loss is much lower than you don't operate. I don't think the Khmers will understand business, finance, and economy.)

So, go on. Keep fighting. Cambodia will forever poor and Vietnam is pulling ahead. I think in 20 years, Vietnam will be so superior, and buy out all of Cambodia which have not been bought by other nations.

Go and google to get the statistic and facts to verify what I wrote. I am writing here with German honor. What ever I write here, should be framed and put in your study room.

-Drgunzet-

Anonymous said...

How long dose it take you to come out with that piece of shit you call fact ? Like I told you smart-youn so many time, go and build that shit-hole of your then come back and brag. May I should call you STUPID youn instead ? We are NOT angry or you just too stupid to see what is happening with Cambodian leadership.