With less than a week to go until the new year, Vietnam and Cambodia have agreed on how to demarcate six of seven long-disputed border areas, officials say.
Vietnamese officials had vowed the border disputes would be resolved before the year ends at midnight Sunday.
The sole unresolved dispute involves a teardrop-shaped section of land between two rivers, measuring about 49 square km, in the O’Reang district of Mondolkiri province.
Cambodian officials have said the border should run along the Dak Hout river to the east of the disputed land, as decreed by French administrators in 1914. Vietnamese officials have said it should run along the Dak Dang river, which runs farther to the west.
Var Kim Hong, chairman of the border dispute commission, said he is optimistic a settlement will be reached “because Vietnam accepted six of the seven points and it is willing to continue talks” on the remaining issue.
At last Friday’s meeting of the Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Hun Sen praised the border commission’s work.
Vietnamese officials who did not want to be identified also said the effort is proceeding well.
However, an RCAF general who asked not to be named said that Cambodia should be wary of both Thailand and Vietnam when it comes to border issues.
“We should blame the war,” he said, during which various factions sought help from both neighbors and, in exchange, allowed Thais and Vietnamese to move freely in certain areas.
If Cambodians had not sought their help, he said, “they would not dare grab any land.”
Cambodia has had similar border problems with Thailand but has moved toward a resolution.
