In an astounding turn of events, Cambodia has withdrawn from the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA). The 25-year-old sub-regional framework had been in place to strengthen socioeconomic, migration and defence ties between the three neighbours through interprovincial cooperation. The CLV-DTA, encompassing 13 provinces (four in Cambodia, four in Laos and five in Vietnam), was motivated by a shared desire to enable economic exchanges across the three countries’ borders.

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While acknowledging that the CLV-DTA “has been immensely beneficial” for countries involved, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially informed Vietnam in a letter that “the cooperation mandate has reached its objectives”.

In August, Vietnamese spokesperson Pham Thu Hang underlined the strategic importance of the economic pact, highlighting that it helped “promote economic, trade and people-to-people exchanges between the three countries”. Pham also pledged to work closely with Cambodia and Laos to ensure the smooth organisation of the CLV-DTA Summit, which was scheduled to be held in Cambodia later this year.

in full: https://www.thinkchina.sg/politics/hun-manet-leads-cambodia-out-vietnams-shadow

By Vithoureakborndidh Chou

In early September 2024, Cambodia confirmed that China will gift it two Type 056C corvettes, due for delivery by 2025. This news sparked varied reactions, with some viewing it as a sign of China’s expanding regional influence amid heightened Sino-US rivalry. Such a view overlooks Cambodia’s agency and security needs.

From Cambodia’s viewpoint, this marks a watershed moment in the country’s naval development, one that has long called for serious investment in addressing offshore patrol and shoreline protection. The two corvettes’ arrival would be an improvement over Cambodia’s existing fast attack crafts and patrol boats, which were mostly built by China or the former Soviet Union from the 1940s-1990s. In the mid-2000s, China donated at least 14 patrol boats and small warships to help Cambodia address piracy, smuggling and other transnational crimes.

In full: https://fulcrum.sg/charting-its-discourse-cambodias-naval-vessel-acquisitions-from-china/

This article was first published in Fulcrum, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s blogsite.

After 28 days in an over-crowded prison cell, nearly 50 major global media stories, untold closed-door meetings and backroom deals, and one coerced apology video, renowned Cambodian journalist Mech Dara was released from Takhmao prison this morning on bail.

While some of the details will remain opaque, one thing is absolutely certain: the release would never have happened were it not for an overwhelming grassroots advocacy campaign that emerged almost overnight on Dara’s behalf. The spontaneous global movement demonstrably influenced both U.S. and Cambodian government actions and delivered an outcome decidedly against the odds.

As a friend of Dara, the outpouring has been moving and its ultimate impact an obvious relief. As an observer of Cambodia’s rights and state crime space, it is virtually unprecedented.

In full: https://thediplomat.com/2024/10/the-release-of-mech-dara-speaking-truth-to-power/

There’s a scene in the film “The Big Short,” in which Steve Carrell’s character is interviewing an arrogant mortgage broker who’s describing how easy it is to sell fraudulent housing loans to banks. “I don’t get it. Why are they confessing?” the shocked Carrell character asks his colleagues. “That’s not confessing; they’re bragging,” comes the reply.

There was something of a bragging confession in the Khmer Times’ latest critique of this columnist, penned by the academic Thong Mengdavid, who opted for the curiously egotistical headline, “Balancing Integrity and Responsibility, A Critical Examination of David Hutt’s Journalism on Cambodia.” Balance must have been abandoned in an earlier draft, and one might question the integrity of someone who chooses to publish an article in the Khmer Times, a state-bought newspaper that presumably had to check the dictionary definitions of integrity, responsibility, and journalism before running the article.

In full: https://thediplomat.com/2024/10/whats-happened-to-cambodias-thinking-class/