Sunday, March 1, 2009

The Past's Haunting Cambodia!


I'm not talking about Khmer Rouge Tribunal Process that taking place. I'm talking about the other side of the past. During the period of civil war, Vietnam and China greatly got involved with our nation. From former king Sihanouk to current prime minister Hun Sen, Vietnam took advantage by manipulating Cambodian politics for its own benefit. And it's no doubt that Vietnamese policy still strongly influences Cambodia's current government. China, on the other hand, economically supported and armed Khmer Rouge Regime all the way in exchange of its Communism expanding ambition. Nowadays, no one can deny that China is not the biggest investor in Cambodia's economy. From textile industry to agricultural products, Chinese investment takes over and plays a very crucial role in the country's economical growth. The outside look of a very small scale development might confuse people's mind that the nation is moving in the right direction. In fact, we are so fragile internally. We are politically not an independent state. That is what I am afraid of. I'm worried that we may follow the past shadow. We used to make friends with the Communists and became foe with the West. And what happened? The nation was torn apart and the people died. Now what? Our current government obviously hate the West and allies with China and Vietnam. So just like the old time, we are moving in the right direction (??). I'm not a politician. I'm taking any political side either. I'm just a decent Khmer citizen who speak from what I envision.

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