IQBAL - User contributions [en]

Cambodia wants US deportation deal renegotiated

2018-06-19T13:26:45Z

LyndonVolz04401:

Cambodia's premier Hun Sen has become noticeably more critical of Washington in recent years, a period in which he has also grown much closer to China Cambodia on Tuesday said it will renegotiate a deal with Washington where convicted criminals with Cambodian heritage are deported to the Southeast Asian nation, retracting an earlier statement that the deportations had been suspended. For the last 15 years, the two nations have had [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội] a repatriation agreement [http://Www.Shewrites.com/main/search/search?q=allowing allowing] them to forcibly deport criminals with ties to the other country. More than 500 felons with Cambodian heritage have been deported from the US, many with few ties to their ethnic homeland or even the ability to speak Khmer. Earlier in the day Chum Sounry, a spokesman for Cambodia's foreign ministry, said news of the suspended agreement was delivered to W. Patrick Murphy, one of the State Department's most senior Asia diplomats who is currently visiting. The deal, Chum Sounry said, had been "criticised by both Cambodians here and Cambodian communities in the US" as a form of "double punishment". But in a later statement he clarified that the deal was still in place and that Phnom Penh wanted it "amended". Earlier in the day he said any new deal should contain provisions ensuring repatriations are only voluntary and that deportees should have the right to visit family in the US. The US embassy in Phnom Penh told AFP it had been informed of Cambodia's desire [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] to renegotiate certain aspects of the agreement. Relations between the United States and Cambodia have grown increasingly frosty in recent years. Washington secretly bombed Cambodia during the Indochina wars but went on to be a major donor as the country emerged from the ashes of the Khmer Rouge genocide, pouring billions in aid into the country. It also took in tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees over the decades. But Cambodia's premier Hun Sen has become noticeably more critical of Washington in recent years, a period in which he has grown much closer to China. China has lavished poverty-stricken Cambodia with billions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans over the past few decades. Unlike aid from the US, Beijing's support comes without pressure on strongman Hun Sen to clean up his government's dismal human rights record. Hun Sen's speeches routinely lambast Washington and earlier this year Cambodia cancelled annual military drills with the US military. Officials at the time denied the decision was an effort to appease rival superpower China, with whom Cambodia had recently held drills. Advertisement

Vietnam seeks support for maritime freedom

2018-06-13T22:48:40Z

LyndonVolz04401:

France and other countries should help to keep the peace in the disputed South China Sea, Vietnam's president told AFP Wednesday, as unease grows over China's increasingly muscular approach in the key waterway. China claims most of the sea where it has built up reefs capable of hosting military equipment, sparking ire from competing claimants, including Vietnam, and raising fears of potential armed conflict. Speaking to AFP ahead of a visit by French leader Francois Hollande next month, Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang said he hopes France and others will help to diffuse regional tensions in the waterway, which it calls the East Sea. Vietnamese president Tran Dai Quang speaks during an interview with AFP at the presidential palace in Hanoi on August 24, 2016 �Hoang Dinh Nam (AFP) "We highly welcome the cooperation from France and other nations in the process of maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world and on the East Sea," he said, speaking from the presidential palace, [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] the former residence of the Indochina governor during French colonial rule. Hanoi and Beijing have traded diplomatic barbs over disputed island chains and waters in the South China Sea and in 2014 China moved a controversial oil rig into contested territory, prompting riots in Vietnam. The strategic waterway, also claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, [https://www.Academia.edu/people/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Malaysia Malaysia] and Taiwan, is rich in energy reserves, fishery resources and is a busy shipping route. Quang's comments come after French Defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in June he would ask European countries to conduct coordinated patrols in the South China Sea. France and the United States have sent naval ships to the sea in recent months and have vowed to send more, angering Beijing. The Vietnamese president, whose role is mostly ceremonial, said Hollande's visit would help to boost military ties between the former colonial foes, as Hanoi has rapidly increased its defence budget in the last decade. "Several directions for cooperation will be strengthened and opened, like... ensuring security, safety and freedom of maritime and aviation," Quang said in a statement to AFP after the interview. He added that Vietnam wants more unity in the regional 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has failed to forge a unified front against Beijing's militarisation in the sea. "We have been active together with countries in the ASEAN community to increase unity, considering this an important structure to contribute to maintaining regional peace," he said. Last month Manila won its case against Beijing at a UN-backed tribunal in [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] the Hague which rejected China's claims to most of the sea. Beijing boycotted the hearing, and has refused to recognise the ruling, and ASEAN has sidestepped the issue, failing to comment directly on it at a meeting of ministers [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] last month. Diplomats say Beijing has deftly courted Laos and Cambodia to split the bloc and blunt unified criticism. France and Vietnam signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2013, which included boosted defence cooperation. Filipino and Vietnamese protesters [http://www.Melodyhome.com/category-0/?u=0&q=display%20anti-China display anti-China] placards during a call on China to respect their rights in the disputed South China Sea, in front of the Chinese consular office in Manila on August 6, 2016 �Ted Aljibe (AFP/File) Advertisement

User:LyndonVolz04401

2018-06-13T14:16:50Z

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