Obituary: Norodom Sihanouk
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s former king Norodom Sihanouk, the charismatic monarch whose name was synonymous with the struggles and upheavals of his country for more than six decades, died in Beijing on Monday at the age of 89.
Cambodia as divide and rule pawn
PHNOM PENH – The official theme for Cambodia’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is “One Community, One Destiny” – but the outcomes of this year’s meetings highlighted the bloc’s growing divisions on the issue of China. Last week in the Cambodian capital, the Foreign Ministers’ meeting came to an acrimonious end...
Cambodia carve-up under the spotlight
PHNOM PENH -There were scenes of jubilation in Cambodia’s capital last month when a group of 13 imprisoned women – including a 72-year-old grandmother – was set free by an appeal court. The women were arrested in May during peaceful demonstrations against the forced eviction of thousands of families living around Boeung Kak Lake, an...
China’s Aid Emboldens Cambodia
Hun Sen aims at balancing US, Vietnamese and Chinese interests for Cambodia’s benefit
Annus horribilis for Cambodian rights
PHNOM PENH – On April 26, a prominent Cambodian anti-logging campaigner was shot and killed by military police in the Cardamom Mountains in the country’s southwest. Chut Wutty, the director of the Natural Resources Protection Group, was reportedly escorting two local journalists through a densely-forested part of Koh Kong province when his car was stopped...
The strings in Hun Sen’s rhetorical bow
PHNOM PENH – Between their anodyne pageantry and colorless mission statements about regional economic cooperation, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings are rarely known for their excitement. But on the last day of this month’s annual summit in Phnom Penh, the current chairman of the 10-country bloc, Cambodia’s long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, did...
Myanmar: No end in sight for Kachin conflict
Despite reforms elsewhere in the country, Kachin Independence Army troops maintain their tense daily vigil, eyeing off a Myanmar army post across the valley.
Myanmar by-elections a hard sell in Kachin conflict zone
In Kachin State, ‘reform’ remains a distant concept.
Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi Fever
Burma’s democratic icon is expected to take a seat in parliament following this weekend’s by-election. But is the junta using her as a fig leaf?
Myanmar: Suu Kyi fever in pre-election Yangon
Many of Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters view her as a national messiah able to overcome any obstacle.
In the picture: Burma
More than a year on from the 2010 elections, it’s starting to look as though the Burmese thaw might turn out to be the real thing.
More managed democracy for Cambodia
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s senate elections, held on January 29 to select members of the country’s upper house, came and went largely unnoticed. The poll barely registered in the international media, and local critics dismissed it as an undemocratic charade for selecting members to an inert and largely powerless body. Voting for 57 of the...
