India-China closer relations

Russia-China Relations Cool. Implications for the Asia Pacific

M K Bhadrakumar

Whatever can be said about who’s up and who’s down at any particular point in time in Asian great power politics, one immutable fact is that three major powers – Russia, China and Japan – are geographic neighbors. Living in proximity in a region with a long history of warfare and protracted struggles over resources, the three countries have powerful incentives to negotiate energy, trade and arms limitation agreements and establish conditions conducive to a peaceful and prosperous co-existence.But what of the United States, the Asia-Pacific’s fourth and strongest power both as the dominant military force in the region and as a major economic player? The US is now laying claim not only to recognition of its strength in the region, it is also insisting on its geographic place at the table in Asia-Pacific affairs. Speaking before a pan-Asian gathering of senior security officials in Singapore on May 31, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates informed his audience that the US is a “resident power” in Asia. “By that term I mean there is sovereign American territory in the western Pacific, from the Aleutian Islands all the way down to Guam,” he explained.As he tells it, “America’s status in Asia rests on long-standing interests and deeply held notions about the basic character of the United States. Projecting outward from our Pacific coastline, the U.S. has had a cultural, economic, educational, geographic, historical, and political presence in Asia since the 19th century,” alluding presumably to the colonial conquest of the Philippines as the foundation for its subsequent advance.Gates also gives his listeners some neighborly advice: as the US view of security in the region is one that leaves “little room for a separate ‘East Asian’ order,” the only real option is acceptance of a framework of common cooperation guided by Washington.In Guam, the US has made clear the lengths it is ready to go to realize its Asia security dreams. According to the May 30 International Herald Tribune, the US military intends to bulldoze any “remaining jungle” in Guam to make way for vast new basing facilities that will house some forces presently based in Okinawa. At the same time, China and Russia face an expansive US-Japan security relationship that extends throughout the Pacific to the Middle East and Central Asia.This is by way of introduction to M K Bhadrakumar's analysis of recent conflicts, or at least cooling, in Russia-China relations in the areas of energy cooperation and arms trading that this former diplomat in India’s Foreign Service believes “have undoubtedly introduced an element of chill into bilateral ties.” These two countries recently issued a joint declaration that opposes US missile defense, advocates peaceful diplomacy with Iran and supports an expansion of Russian civilian nuclear technology trade to China. Now the US is invoking island possessions, national character and history to claim and justify an authentic Asian identity. If the Asia Pacific becomes more politically and militarily contested, will this lead to strengthened Russia-China bonds? Possibly, but as described by Bhadrakumar some significant bilateral differences apparently need to be addressed first. John McGlynnKremlinology is back in vogue. Experts and analysts have come out of the woodwork to run a fine-tooth comb through Kremlin events, searching for clues on the direction of Russian policies under new President Dmitry Medvedev.Often in the Soviet era, during feverish over-analyses by foreign experts, the obvious would get elbowed out in favor of tantalizing interpretations over men and mice. Could history be repeating itself?Much has been made of Medvedev's choice of Kazakhstan and China as his first destinations after assuming office from Vladimir Putin on May 7. Was it a deliberate signal to Western capitals? Moscow pooh-poohed the suggestion. A prominent Moscow commentator pointed out, "It would be best to go to the East and West at the same time, but that is impossible."But the disarming explanation overlooked the fact that Medvedev after all did make a choice in traveling to Beijing via Astana last weekend. Eight years ago, in 2000, when Putin went abroad as Russia's president for the first time, he travelled to London via Belarus. At that time, Moscow let it be known there was rich symbolism in Putin's choice, which was intended to convey that Russia wanted closer ties to the West.
Medvedev and Hu Jintao
Equally, in May 2003, Chinese President Hu Jintao's first foreign visit took him to Moscow. The government-owned China Daily newspaper aptly commented on the day of Medvedev's arrival in Beijing on Friday: "The first foreign trip of any head of state should be a carefully calculated move. The country he or she visits is supposed to be important to his or her own country's foreign relations. Little wonder that Medvedev's two-day China visit has generated much interest ... Clearly, new leaders of the two countries have put their bilateral relations on top of their foreign policy agenda."Pragmatic cooperationThe Chinese comment stated the obvious to emphasize the bilateral content of Medvedev's visit. In fact, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Hui told the media at a briefing that Medvedev's visit would have four "goals": one, to establish a "working relationship and personal friendship" at the leadership level; two, to oversee the fulfillment of bilateral cooperation in practical terms; three, to increase political trust and extend mutual support on "issues concerning sovereignty, security and territorial integrity"; and, four, to deepen "pragmatic cooperation".The fourth "goal" - pragmatic cooperation - captures the quintessence of the so-called strategic partnership between the two countries. China would have no difficulty to know that Russia has been and will remain essentially Western-centric (as distinct from "pro-West"). Over two-thirds of Russia's population live in its European part and the locus of economic and political power lies there.But that does not detract from Russia's abiding interest in China, which is natural and historical as a neighboring country, and combines pragmatically in the present day with the imperatives of China's phenomenal rise. At the same time, Russia realizes that it is only one among many big players seriously engaging China and cannot hope to claim a privileged partnership with it.No sooner had Medvedev concluded his two-day China visit on Saturday, South Korea's newly elected "pro-American" President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Beijing on a four-day trip. China followed the United States and Japan in Lee's itinerary. South Korea's trade volume with China is four times that of Russia's.A free trade agreement between the two countries is under negotiation. China hopes to collaborate with South Korea in finessing a regional security mechanism for the Asia-Pacific region. Similarly, by Monday, Moscow's attention had already began drifting westerly toward Brussels, where European Union (EU) foreign ministers finally announced plans to commence negotiations with Russia over a new strategic partnership and cooperation agreement.The talks are expected to begin at the EU-Russia summit meeting in the town of Khanty-Mansiysk in Russia's Siberia on June 26-27. Moscow is keenly listening to the new voice of realism ringing in Brussels, with both Old and New Europe alike advocating a new partnership with Russia. As noted Russia hand Jonathan Steele of the Guardian newspaper of London wrote, "The reality is that interaction between Russia and the EU is bound to develop in all these areas, however they are labeled."Frictions in cooperationMoscow would have reason to worry that frictions have appeared in two areas of its ties with China, which are critical to sustaining the momentum and verve of the strategic partnership. First is the energy relationship. The implementation of the multi-billion contracts signed in 2006 for Russian energy supplies to China has run into difficulty. Russia's Rosneft oil company is threatening to terminate the contract unless China agrees on a price increase.This may also complicate the signing of a new agreement for the supply of 50 million tons of Russian oil to China in 2010-2015. In turn, this puts a question mark on the efficacy of the Chinese branch to the East-Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline, which Russia is constructing. In an interview with Chinese journalists in Beijing prior to his departure for Moscow, Medvedev said Russia and China have reached a "basic agreement" on the ESPO and that the negotiations on oil price are "nearly complete". Expressing willingness to set up new oil refineries in China, he said natural gas cooperation with China is also "under discussion". But there was no concrete outcome during the visit.The root of the problem in energy cooperation lies in Russia's focus on expanding its European market, which is where the money lies. Unlike the Europeans, China constantly seeks discount prices. Also, Russia's deposits are mostly in western Siberia, which is closer to Europe than China. The existing pipeline system is also orientated heavily toward supplying the European market. Russia's priority lies in buying downstream assets in Europe. All in all, China is quite a long way from becoming an alternative market for Russian energy exports, which in turn acts as a disincentive on Russia committing investments on projects geared for China. Medvedev mentioned in China that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) should develop "new directions of cooperation" in the field of energy. China and Russia are the lead nations in the SCO, which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.The second fault line in Russia-China cooperation concerns military cooperation. The stark reality is that the Russia-China bilateral commission on military cooperation hasn't even had a meeting during the past two years. Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov's visit to China has been repeatedly postponed. At present, Russian companies have nothing on their order book from China. Simply put, China has stopped buying weapons from Russia.Post-Soviet Russia supplied more than 90% of China's imports of weapons and China accounted for 39% of all Russian exports. In 2007, China was the single-biggest recipient of Russian weapons. Yet, as of today, there are no outstanding Chinese orders with Russia for big-ticket items. It seems China is signaling its displeasure. The point is that for a variety of reasons, Russia is reluctant to supply China with state-of-the-art weapons systems such as rocket-launched flame-throwers, long-range bombers, nuclear-powered submarines, etc. China would have noted that Russia has no such misgivings about supplying sophisticated weapons systems to India.
In 2005 China purchased Russian IL-76s and IL-78s
A Russian commentator argued, "Such [Russian] caution is not pleasant for China, which has suggested that Russia think about the future of bilateral military technical cooperation. Bilateral military ties would have been rolled back to zero very quickly, if not for a European ban on the supply of weapons and combat control systems to China."Curiously, Russia doesn't seem to be unduly perturbed by this decline in deliveries and orders. Arguably, Russia has already begun securing orders from other countries to make up for the "loss" of the Chinese market. The head of Russia's Federal Service for Military and Technical cooperation, Mikhail Dmitriev, was on record last December that Russia had secured orders worth US$32 billion from several countries, including new markets such as Algeria, Indonesia and Venezuela. There are no clear indications of Medvedev's talks in Beijing having resolved the differences impeding Russia-China military cooperation.Russia woos China By far the most impressive outcome of Medvedev's visit to China concerns a nuclear agreement. Russia secured contracts in excess of $1.5 billion. This includes the construction of two VVER (Vodo-Vodyanoi Energetichesky Reactor) 1,000 reactors and a gas centrifuge plant in China, apart from Russia providing uranium-enrichment services and implementing a high-capacity fast-breeder reactor.Significantly, Russia agreed to share with China for the first time the high technology behind gas centrifuges produced in secrecy at the Kovrov mechanical plant in the Vladimir region. The contract provides for Russia supplying 6 million SWUs (separation work units) of low-enriched uranium to China, which is very substantial quantity. (The entire uranium-enrichment capacities in the world amount to 36 million SWUs currently.)Medvedev's visit to China underscores Russia's wooing of China. Moscow extended a strong show of support to China in countering Western pressure on Tibet. Moscow has generously come to the aid of earthquake victims in China. Against the backdrop of the growing chill in Russia's ties with the West, Moscow estimates the need to strengthen its strategic understanding with Beijing. The joint statement issued after Medvedev's visit strongly affirms a common position between the two countries regarding the US's missile defense system, the US's pressure tactics on human rights and related issues, the problem over Iran's nuclear program, the militarization of outer space, etc. In a speech at Beijing University, Medvedev said, "Russian-Chinese cooperation is now becoming a key factor in international security - a factor without which it would be impossible to take fundamental decisions through international cooperation."All the same, the fact remains that the normative convergence in the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership aims at achieving certain specific objectives and shared interests and is not about values. Attention now turns to the annual meeting of the SCO in August in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.So far so good. But the massive imbalance in bilateral trade (Russia increasingly supplying raw materials and China exporting engineering products); the drop in Russian military sales; and the impasse in energy cooperation - these negative developments have undoubtedly introduced an element of chill in bilateral ties. As the political commentator of Russia's Novosti news agency put it rather sardonically, "It is difficult to understand what to do next - invest more in each other's economies, continue cooperation in space (we have programs to develop the moon, Mars and Phobos), make movies together, or translate more books? Shall we do all of that at the same time?"M K Bhadrakumar served as a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service for over 29 years, with postings including India's ambassador to Uzbekistan (1995-1998) and to Turkey (1998-2001).

Retrieved from Japan Focus at http://www.japanfocus.org/_M_K_Bhadrakumar-Russia_China_Relations_Cool__Implications_for_the_Asia_Pacific

Japan China and Africa

Japan Seeks to Outbid China in Quest for African Support Ramesh Jaura and Kawakami OsamuTwo reports follow on the vast, and vastly expensive, Tokyo International Conference on African Development designed to showcase Japan’s aid to Africa. The conference, held in Yokohama with the presence of 51 of 53 African nations, was attended by 40 Presidents of African nations. The first report by Ramesh Jaura concentrates on the proposed Japanese aid package, as Japan proposes to double both trade and investment in Africa within five years. The second report by the Yomiuri Shimbun's Kawakami Osamu highlights the real stakes for Japan: the effort to outbid China whose burgeoning trade, investment and presence in Africa is a cause of Japanese, and the continued pursuit of the chimera of a Japanese UN security council seat. Neither report mentions either oil and energy or military strategic issues. MSJapan To Double Aid to Africa by 2012Ramesh JauraAfrican leaders are in Japan seeking an increase in official development assistance (ODA) and a boost to trade and investment.


In a keynote address at a three-day conference that kicked off on Tuesday in Japan's port city of Yokohama, Tanzania's President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete welcomed the announcement by Japan's Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo to double Japan's ODA in the next five years, bringing annual aid from the current US$900 million to $1.8 billion by 2012.But, he added: "Africa needs more ODA to develop its infrastructure, develop its human capital, and improve the provision of basic social and economic services."
Pres. Kikwete and Prime Minister Fukuda
Kikwete was addressing the fourth round of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). Speaking on behalf of 52 African governments, the Tanzanian President said: "Besides the increase in ODA, which is highly appreciated, TICAD needs to go further."He said there was a need for increased trade between Africa and Japan, more Japanese investment, and "more involvement and active presence and participation of the Japanese private sector on the continent."Kikwete and other African heads of state also welcomed a Japanese package that includes up to US$4 billion of soft loans to Africa over the next five years to help improve infrastructure, and the doubling of grant aid and technical cooperation for the region over the next five years, bringing the five-year average to $1.4 billion from $700 million at present.But they stressed the need to take into account all countries on the African continent, and not focus the measures on South Africa and Egypt, which absorb 85% of Japanese investment in Africa."We must attach importance to the local potentialities of the African countries - particularly in the face of the current food crisis," Ohata Akihiro, a senior leader of the New Komei Party that is part of the ruling coalition government in Japan led by the Liberal Democratic Party told IPS. Ohata pleaded for exploring needs for technology and aid, keeping in view concerns about the environment and human rights.Contradicting reports in some newspapers that along with China and India, Japan was joining the run for Africa's rich resources, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Kodama Kazuo said Japan was keeping up a high-level policy dialogue with African leaders and development partners that it had launched at the first round of TICAD in 1993 - when "aid fatigue" had set in after the end of the Cold War.Kodama told IPS that the process continued with TICAD II in 1998 and TICAD III in 2003, and has evolved into a major global framework to facilitate initiatives for African development."The [present] conference comes at a time when Africa's average economic growth rate has reached 6%, peace-building and democratization are taking hold, and countries are tackling climate change and environmental concerns," Kodama said.This view is supported by a World Bank study released ahead of the conference. According to the study, sub-Saharan Africa is reversing its two-decade decline in economic and social development. That is reason enough for the organizers to give a forward-looking title to the conference, "Towards a vibrant Africa: A continent of hope and opportunity".Fukuda said Tuesday: "If we were to liken the history of African development to a volume of literature, then what we are about to do now is open to a new page, titled the 'century of African growth'. In the future, Africa will become a powerful engine driving the growth of the world."The conference, TICAD IV, is being attended by leaders from 52 African countries including some 40 heads of state and government, 22 donor nations along with the European Union (EU), 12 Asian countries, and officials from 16 African regional organizations and 55 international organizations.The conference has three priorities: boosting economic growth; ensuring human security, including the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and consolidation of peace and democratization; and addressing environmental issues and climate change.The conference is co-organized by the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the World Bank.The results of TICAD IV will be fed into the G8 summit in Hokkaido in Japan, scheduled to begin July 7. "We want to bring African priorities to the summit of the world's major industrial nations," Kodama said.Foreign Ministry spokesman Kodama said TICAD IV will conclude with the adoption of the "Yokohama Declaration" outlining guiding principles and approaches to African development among TICAD stakeholders, as well as a "Yokohama Action Plan" and a "Yokohama Follow-up Mechanism" laying out a road map for action-oriented initiatives with measurable targets.This article was published by Inter Press Service on May 29, 2008.China Rivalry Behind Japan's Bid for African support at TICAD IVKawakami OsamuThe government believes it has built a concrete diplomatic footing with African countries at the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), which closed Friday. However, it is unclear if TICAD IV will lead to African support for Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. Fifty-one of 53 African nations took part in TICAD IV. Of the 51 participating nations, 40 sent their presidents, vice presidents or premiers.A senior Foreign Ministry official said: "TICAD IV became one of the biggest international conferences ever held by the Japanese government. I feel that trust between African countries' and Japan has crystallized."Japan's hosting of the conference has fueled its rivalry with China over Africa. China has been economically penetrating African countries for natural resources, and in 2006, it held the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing. Thirty-five heads of state from African countries took part in the forum.
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and President Thabo Mbeki in South Africa in 2006
Government officials are pleased by the number of leaders that participated in TICAD IV. "TICAD's participation figures are comparable to FOCAC's," one official said.At the conference, the Japanese government announced assistance measures for African countries. One measure was a promise to double Japan's official development assistance in the next five years. This included providing a loan of up to 4 billion dollars in yen.At a Thursday meeting on escalating grain prices, Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo said: "Japan promised to provide assistance measures to Africa. These measures include supporting food production expansion and improving agricultural productivity. We're prepared to make further contributions."China's total trade with African countries came to 73.5 billion dollars in 2007. Total trade between Japan and Africa was 26.6 billion dollars in 2007. "This conference has been assisting African countries since 1993. As this year's host, we wanted to be more competitive than China," a government official said.
China-Africa summit 2006
Increasing government loans to Africa aims to support African countries' development of infrastructure such as roads. In turn, it will be easier for domestic companies to expand investments there. However, some experts point out that the 4 billion dollars loan looks bigger than it actually is because previous debt repaid by countries will be deducted from the amount of the new loans. Thus, the net amount the countries will receive is expected to be less than 4 billion dollars.There were instances when the conference did not go as Japan expected. The government planned to include a statement in the Yokohama Declaration to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent from current levels by 2050. However, the government withdrew this provision after encountering fierce opposition from South Africa, a major polluter.Fukuda held bilateral talks with 40 leaders of African countries and seven private sector Africa supporters. At the meeting, Fukuda asked for support of U.N. Security Council reform and Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. The government hopes to gather momentum for Security Council reform through support from African countries, which hold about 25 percent of U.N. General Assembly seats.Fukuda met with 47 people during the summit and saw varying responses. John Kufuor, president of Ghana, was a strong supporter. "We will support Japan becoming a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council," he said. However, some countries were not as positive. Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba said, "I will take the issue back to my country and examine it."A government official said: "Most participating countries showed understanding or support on the [United Nations] issue. However, only a few countries went beyond their past stances and expressed their support for our bid." "Algeria, Egypt, Libya said they won't approve the Security Council reform if they can't become a permanent member themselves. I'm worried some countries are showing superficial support for Japan while in their hearts they are less than supportive," he added.Kawakami Osamu is a staff writer for The Yomiuri Shimbun.

This article was published in The Yomiuri Shimbun on May 31, 2008.

Retrieved from Japan Focus at http://japanfocus.org/products/details/2768

AHRC-STM-157-2008June 5, 2008

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

CAMBODIA: Ban on election campaign references to the monarchy is unconstitutional
Cambodia is making preparations for the general election to be held on 27 July 2008. Yet, well before the start of the official campaign period, which is due on 27 June, the 11 registered parties have already been busy.
As in previous elections, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party or CPP is exploiting all the advantages it has to garner popular support, while the other parties are facing threats, intimidation, assassinations, and restrictions in one form of another. According a group of civil society organizations, during the period of January 2008 -- May 2008, there were five cases of political killings, 21 cases of harassment of and threat against party activists and 15 cases of dismantling of party banner signs.
On the 2nd June, Prime Minister Hun Sen made a public appeal to the king of Cambodia to issue a message "to prohibit political parties from using the monarchy as their own possession" in their campaign to garner votes. He said that the National Election Committee or NEC would prepare a letter of request to the monarch to issue the message he wanted. He also said that NEC had already issued such a ban to political parties, but that they had not heeded them, the last resort, therefore, was the king himself. It is generally accepted that that the recalcitrant party Hun Sen was alluding to was the one led by Prince Norodom Ranariddh and which is widely known as the royalist party.
Ranariddh used to lead the royalist FUNCINPEC party founded by his father, retired King Sihanouk. He and his FUNCINPEC party had been in a coalition government with Hun Sen and his CCP until Ranariddh’s ousting from FUNCINPEC's presidency in 2006. While FUNCINPEC continued its coalition with CPP, Ranariddh formed a new, self-named party, the Norodom Ranariddh Party or NRP in 2007. Before his ousting, Ranariddh had become Hun Sen’s arch enemy.
Ranariddh is now living in exile in Malaysia. In 2007, following a criminal lawsuit by his former party; he was sentenced to prison for breach of trust in the management of FUNCINPEC's assets. Though his appeal against his sentence is pending at the Supreme Court, Ranariddh would, according to Hun Sen’s recent statement, be "handcuffed and sent to prison" if he ever retuned to Cambodia.
Hun Sen envisaged the defeat of the "royalist party", meaning the NRP, by "sons of commoners", meaning Hun Sen and his own CPP, in the forthcoming election. He said that the royalist party had used the campaign slogan, "If you love the King Father (Sihanouk), vote for me (Ranariddh)", but it had, nonetheless, been defeated many times in the past. Without naming him or his party, Hun Sen said that Ranariddh was using King Sihanouk’s name all the way, and the use of the name and the repeated defeats were harmful to the monarchy. In his call on the reigning king, who is also Sihanouk’s son, Hun Sen said "we want to protect the monarchy, but he destroys it". This is the reason behind his appeal to the king to issue the concerned ban.
NEC has already issued such a ban. For the forthcoming election, it has issued a Code of Conduct for Political Parties, Candidates, and Political Party’s Agents during the Election of the National Assembly Members, July 27, 2008. This Code of Conduct was launched at a meeting with political parties held on the 6th May. The next day a leading Khmer-language newspaper, Koh Santepheap, reported on that meeting under the headline “Prohibition Governing the Election Campaign: End of Road for Self- Proclaimed Royalist Parties”.
This newspaper wrote, among other things, that "according to this law (code), it is prohibited to use photos, speeches, messages, achievements and names of the king, the great and valorous king (retired King Sihanouk) and the great queen mother (Sihanouk’s wife and the reigning king’s mother).... during the election campaign".
The ban on campaign references to the monarchs as reported by that newspaper is wider than the prohibition provided for in NEC’s Regulations and Procedures for election of members of the National Assembly dated the 28th May 2003. Point 7.13.11 of these Regulations and Procedures say that “Any propaganda activity using photos, royal speech, messages, achievements or the name of His Majesty the King or the logo of the NEC in order to gain votes shall be prohibited.”
The same reported ban is also wider than Prohibition No. 22 under Section IV on “Prohibitions for the Political Parties, Candidates, and Political Party’s Agents” of the Code of Conduct. This Prohibition No. 22 says that “The political parties, candidates, political party’s agents, and supporters must not use during the campaign, the (reigning) king’s photo or name, or the name of the great and valorous king (Sihanouk), or NEC logo to gain voters’ support.”
By virtue of Article 73 of the Law on the Election of Members of the National Assembly of 1997 as subsequently amended, NEC is habilitated to adopt a code of conduct, and all political parties and candidates, members and supporters of political parties must comply with this code and the rules, regulations, procedures and principles set out in this law. However, neither this law, nor any other law, nor the Constitution of Cambodia itself has laid down any principle for or has specifically stipulated such a ban on campaign references to the monarchy as adopted by NEC respectively in its 2003 Rules and Procedures and in its 2008 Code of Conduct, or as Koh Santepheap newspaper has reported.
Only the Political Party Law of 1997 has prohibited the use of symbols related to the monarchy as a symbol or logo of a political party under its Article 11, paragraph 3 which says that “symbol/logo of a political party shall not be copied or taken from a national symbol or picture representing religion, Angkor Wat temple or photos or pictures of all Khmer (Cambodian) kings.” However, this ban has nothing to do with the election campaign.
The ban as stipulated in NEC’s 2003 Regulations and Procedures or its 2008 Code of Conduct, or as reported in Koh Santepheap newspaper, or as might be issued by the Cambodian reigning king upon Prime Minister Hun Sen’s appeal, is therefore ultra vires, and violates the Cambodian people’s constitutional right to freedom of expression.
When this prohibition is meant for a political party, that is, the royalist Nororom Ranariddh Party, as Prime Minister Hun Sen and Koh Santepheap newspaper’s headline have alluded to, it is discriminatory and violates the principle of legal generality. Furthermore, it violates Article 76 of the Constitution of Cambodia on the holding of free and fair elections of Members of the Parliament which says: “The deputies shall be elected by a free, universal, equal, direct suffrage and secret ballot.”
More importantly, the king of Cambodia would greatly compromise his integrity and moral authority, should he heed his prime minister’s appeal and issue any message prohibiting the use of campaign references to the monarchy as detailed above. He would violate the Constitution and laws of his country which he has taken oath to obey as spelled out in Annex 4 to the Constitution. He would also fail in his constitutional duty to protect the rights and freedoms of the Cambodian people as stipulated in Article 8 of the same Constitution.
Therefore the National Election Committee should remove the ban on campaign references to the monarchy from its 2003 Regulations and Procedures and 2008 Code of Conduct. For his part, Prime Minister Hun Sen should desist from imposing this ban and retract his appeal to the king to issue it.
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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.