The government’s border commission and opposition political parties found rare common ground on Thursday in their criticism of errant information regarding Cambodia’s territorial size which was posted on an unofficial Web site dedicated to the 22nd Southeast Asian Games.
According to statistical information posted on www.seagames
22.net, Cambodia’s territorial size was listed at 176,520 square km, some several thousand kilometers short of the 181,035 square km as recognized in the Constitution.
News of the mistake was met with angry calls for an official apology from Vietnam, which is hosting the SEA Games in the capital, Hanoi. Cambodia’s long- running border disputes with Vietnam and Thailand are a highly charged issue for many Cambodians.
“The Vietnamese side cannot just say, ‘sorry. ’ They have to do a correction and replace the real Cambodian territory size,” Var Kim Hong, chairman of the Border Affairs Commission, the country’s lead agency in negotiations over Cambodia’s disputed borders, said Thursday.
Nguyen Thanh Duc, press attache at the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh, said Thursday he would investigate.
He said the Web site is not Vietnam’s official Internet site for the SEA games. The official site is www.seagames22.com.vn.
“This is a big mistake. The Web site producers have to correct the Cambodian figures immediately,” Nguyen Thanh Duc said.
An Internet search revealed the site containing the incorrect information is registered to a Hanoi-based company, Hanoi 1000 Years Co.
Funcinpec parliamentarian Princess Norodom Vacheara on Thursday called for an immediate correction. Pornn Vannak, spokesman for the ultra-nationalist Khmer Front Party, said Thursday the Vietnamese government should issue a written apology.
