~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Cambodian Buddhist monks protest against Vietnam

PHNOM PENH - More than 40 Cambodian Buddhist monks protested outside the Vietnamese embassy today, calling on the communist-run nation’s visiting president, Nguyen Minh Triet, to allow greater freedom of religion. More than 100 riot police armed with electric-shock batons and AK-47 rifles lined up outside the compound as officials tried to persuade the saffron-robed monks to leave. One civilian bystander was arrested for shouting.

"I don’t understand why police caught me just because I was expressing my opinion against arresting monks," 24-year-old Phat Ha said as he was led away. The monks accused police in southern Vietnam of arresting and disrobing nine ethnic Cambodian Buddhist monks. "We want the Vietnamese authorities to give them the right to practice Buddhism," one of the monks, Hol Pirom, said.

Triet was due to meet King Norodom Sihamoni today at the start of a two-day state visit to its Southeast Asian neighbour. He will also hold talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla who fled to Vietnam in the late 1970s before returning with the 1979 invasion that brought an end to Pol Pot’s four-year reign of terror. Appointed prime minister of the Hanoi-backed regime in 1985, Hun Sen has been criticised frequently by nationalists as being pro-Vietnamese. However, he says he is merely normalising relations with one of his country’s most important trading partners.

Vietnam denies accusations by international human rights groups that it represses human rights and religious freedoms. The government has an official policy of a citizen’s right to "belief or non-belief".

Reuters - February 27, 2007.


Promoting Vietnam-Cambodia friendly neighbourliness and comprehensive co-operation

State President Nguyen Minh Triet today, February 27, left for Cambodia to begin an official visit at the invitation of the Cambodian King, Norodom Sihamoni. This is the second foreign visit and the first Cambodian visit by President Triet since he was elected President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The visit is taking place at a time when people in Vietnam and Cambodia are entering the new year 2007 with stronger spirit and determination to successfully implement socio-economic development targets and to celebrate the 40th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Following the fruitful visits to Vietnam by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni in March 2006 and to Cambodia by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in December 2006, this visit by President Triet reaffirms the fact that the Parties, States and people in the two countries attach great importance to continuously developing good neighbourliness and comprehensive co-operation. The visit reflects the determination of leaders and people in the two countries to further strengthen their relations to serve their own interest and to make a contribution to peace, stability and development in the region and the world as a whole, thus helping to raise the two nations' international prestige.

Visiting Cambodia in the early days of New Year 2007, President Triet extends the Vietnamese people's close sentiments to the Cambodian people. The Vietnamese people highly value the great achievements made by the Cambodian people in recent times which have highlighted an image of a Cambodia as a country of dynamic development The Vietnamese people are glad to witness the positive changes in Vietnamese-Cambodian friendship. The exchange of visits is of great significance for the promotion of bilateral ties in the 21st century under the motto "Good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive co-operation and long-term stability" so as to serve national construction and development in each nation.

In 2006, the two sides exchanged 106 visits at different levels and joined many meetings such as the eighth session of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on economics, culture, science and technological co-operation; the third meeting on co-operation and development between border provinces from Vietnam and Cambodia held in Long Xuyen, An Giang in December 2006; the inauguration of a marker at the Moc Bai-Ba Vet international border gate in September 2006 and two other markers at the border gates in Vietnam's southern Tay Ninh province and Cambodia's Kompong Cham province in September 2006; and the meeting among the prime ministers from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos held in Da Lat in December 2006. These events helped boost bilateral relations.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Cambodia has steadily increased over recent years, making an average growth of 40% per year and reaching US $900 million in 2006 as compared to US $180 million in 2000. The two counties have agreed to take a number of measures to accelerate co-operation in economics and trade in order to reach the target of US $2 billion in two-way trade by 2010. The two sides have also paid attention to co-operation in the areas of education, energy, electricity, health care and transportation. Co-operation between localities in two countries has developed positively, contributing to consolidating the traditional friendship and comprehensive co-operation.

Vietnam and Cambodia have closely co-ordinated and supported each other at international forums. The active participation and effective contributions made by the two countries in the framework of regional and multilateral co-operation have helped promote the co-operation process within ASEAN, the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) co-operation projects, the Mekong Sub-region and the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle and others. These activities affirmed the higher role and prestige of the two countries in the region and the world. The Vietnamese people take this opportunity to thank Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, the Royal Family, Government and people for their valuable support given to Vietnam during the previous struggle for national independence as well as the on-going renovation process.

May the Cambodian people record greater achievements in their national construction and defence. May the visit by President Nguyen Minh Triet be crowned with success, thus marking a new development in the Vietnam-Cambodia traditional friendship and comprehensive co-operation for happiness and prosperity in each nation and for peace, stability, stability and progress of nations in the region and the world as a whole.

Nhan Dan - February 27, 2007.