Trip to Washington DC

On this 9/11 I and my wife will be flying to Washington DC to participate at a forum organized by CAHRAD on the eve of the Democracy Day International, September 15, as part of the commemoration.
    A chance for me to revisit friends and relatives after a lapse of many years. At the forum, we will discuss on the state of the Democracy in Cambodia, and also the agreement between the CNRP and the CPP that ended the boycott of almost a year long by the CNRP.
     A new battle of words between newly appointed NA Vice President Kem Sokha and Prime Minister Hun Sen regarding the Kem Sokha plan to fight corruption by looking at corrupt ministers and voted them out. PM Hun Sen said that if so, VP Kem Soka can be voted out too.
     Is there a separation of powers, a big pillar of Democracy among others?

Khmer Krom: The power of protest

After numerous protest against a statement a Vietnamese diplomat in Phnom Penh regarding the history of Kampuchea Krom, finally it bears fruit. He did not apologize but was recalled by his government.
Here in Chinese Xinhua papers:

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh said Thursday that Vietnam would recall Tran Van Thong, spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy to Cambodia, after the spokesman's comments have triggered off a wave of protests among ethnic Khmer Krom in Cambodia, according to Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Cambodia's Foreign Ministry.

Vinh made the remarks during a meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia.

"Vinh told Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong that the Vietnamese Embassy to Cambodia will send a diplomatic note to the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the calling back of spokesman Tran Van Thong to Vietnam," Koy Kuong told reporters after the meeting.

Tran Van Thong's recall came after he commented on a radio in June that South Vietnam, or former Kampuchea Krom provinces, belonged to Vietnam "long" before colonial France's official transfer of the land in 1949.

The comments triggered off a wave of protests last month among ethnic Khmer Krom monks and activists in Cambodia.

Hundreds of protesters had staged demonstrations and burned a Vietnamese flag in front of the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh to demand an apology from the spokesman and urged him to accept the true history of the former Kampuchea Krom provinces.

According to history, French protectorate officially turned over the former Kampuchea Krom provinces, once Cambodian territory, to neighbouring Vietnam on June 4, 1949.

Editor: yanting