Cambodia cooled ‘hot Asean stone’ before handing it to Indonesia: Hun Sen

Speaking at a press conference after four days of talks, Hun Sen said that Cambodia proved mature enough to handle negotiations on heated issues such as Russia-Ukraine, Myanmar and the South China Sea dispute.

“There were no unpleasant exchanges or unkind words despite the controversial topics discussed. No one walked out of any meetings. This reflects the maturity of the leaders at the EAS, but also was due to Cambodia’s role of facilitator enabling all sides to have their say,” Hun Sen said referring to the East Asia Summit where leaders of the US, China and Russia were all gathered in one place.

“We’ve gained prestige from this. We managed to sign a hundred documents that the next generation will one day be able to learn from,” he said.

Hun Sen said leaders at the summits appreciated the efforts of Cambodia’s Asean Special Envoy on Myanmar in seeking solutions to the Myanmar crisis through the implementation of Asean’s five-point peace plan.

Asean leaders themselves admitted, however, there had been “little progress” in implementing the peace plan since it was signed with Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in April last year.

On the South China Sea dispute that caused controversy at the last Asean Summit in Phnom Penh in 2012, Hun Sen said that the meeting had noted the importance of the promotion of peace, security, safety, stability and freedom of navigation and flight over the sea, which required a thorough and full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

“We are optimistic and happy with the progress on the ongoing negotiations on the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea (COC), which recently resumed in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh,” he said, adding that the COC must follow international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in 1982.

“On Ukraine, I can say that it was the hottest stone as we have seen some very diverging views, especially during the East Asia Summit. I am happy that Cambodia could manage to host this summit in which many sides had different positions and exchanged their opinions in a frank manner.

“We reiterated our calls for respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. We stressed the importance of a cessation of hostilities in order to produce a conducive environment for peaceful solutions. We also called for support in the form of immediate humanitarian assistance – safely and without interruption – to the people of Ukraine,” he said.

Hun Sen also said that the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia had declined his invitation for talks in Phnom Penh.

Regarding Korean tensions, Hun Sen said that Asean leaders and partners all expressed concerns about North Korea’s ballistic missile tests over Japan, regarding such actions as a threat to regional security and calling on Pyongyang to respect decisions of the UN Security Council and refrain from testing nuclear weapons.

Asked which side Asean would favour in the new Cold War-style rivalry between the US and China, Hun Sen insisted the bloc would retain its unity and centrality and not lean to either side.

Cambodia also announced it would send its first batch of deminers to Ukraine in December in a joint effort with Japan. Hun Sen said the project should be viewed as humanitarian rather than military assistance.

On Myanmar, Hun Sen said that Asean wants all parties to the conflict to work together on a solution. He dismissed suggestions of “hot” measures (military intervention) and said Myanmar could not be expelled from the bloc as this would violate Asean’s charter on unanimity for such decisions.

“The best way is keeping the door open rather than slamming it shut,” he said, adding that he had not yet decided whether the Asean chair’s Special Envoy Prak Sokhonn would visit Naypyidaw again before Cambodia’s Asean chairmanship mandate ends.

He explained that Asean had invited non-political representatives from Myanmar to attend the summit, but the junta had declined.

Myanmar’s Asean seat would remain empty if the junta continued to show no progress in implementing Asean’s five-point consensus and failed to send non-political representatives, hun Sen said.

US President Joe Biden also urged Cambodia to be transparent over the development of Ream Naval Base, and to release American citizen Seng Theary, a lawyer serving six years in Preah Vihear prison for her activism with the Supreme Court-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party, a White House press statement said.

Asked for his reaction, Hun Sen denied that Biden had raised those issues with him but reported that the US president said he had enjoyed the Khmer food served during his visit.

The Phnom Penh Post

Asia News Network