Asia may see more conflicts over water: Report

• 1 in 5 Asians lack access to safe drinking water
• Problem worsened by population growth, climate change

By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - Asia may see more conflicts over scarce water resources in the coming years as climate change and population growth threaten access to the most basic natural resource, a report warned on Friday.

Water problems in Asia are already severe, with one in five people, or 700 million, not having access to safe drinking water and half the region's population lacking access to basic sanitation, according to the report produced by the Asia Society, a New York-based think tank.

Population growth, rapid urbanization and climate change are expected to worsen the situation, according to the report, "Asia's Next Challenge: Securing the Region's Water Future."

It noted water disputes between hostile neighbors India and Pakistan and the complex relations governing the vast Mekong River, which is shared by China and its southern neighbors, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The report said while water issues have more often generated cooperation than conflict between nations in the past, demographic pressures and water scarcity would be unprecedented in the coming decades.

"The potential for conflicts sparked by the direct and indirect impacts of an increasingly volatile water supply should not be underestimated, particularly in the light of rising concerns about climate change," it said.

"No matter how we approach water resources -- whether it is on the basis of quality and quantity, or as the most potent manifestation of extreme climatic events -- hydropolitics is likely to be a growing force in Asian security," it said.

While Asia is home to more than half the world's population, it has less fresh water per person than any other populated continent, the report said. Asia's population is expected to rise by nearly 500 million within 10 years.

"The majority of Asia's water problems are not attributable to an actual shortage, but rather are the result of poor water governance," it said. "They are solvable through more effective governance and better management practices."

The report makes 10 recommendations to governments in Asia, including greater regional cooperation and ensuring that water management organizations work directly with those responsible for defense and diplomacy.

It also urged more investment, both public and private, in efficient water management and infrastructure.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Eric Beech)

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Cambodians' day to mourn Friday

Cambodians' day to mourn Friday

Two local groups will gather to commemorate a somber annual rite.

04/15/2009
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)

Want to go?

• Who: Killing Fields Memorial Center
• What: Memorial prayers, testimonials and candlelight vigil
• When: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m.-dark Friday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday
• Where: Wat Vipassanaram (Wat IRAP), 1239 E. 20 th St.
• Info: Bryant Ben, 562-999-6148, or Paline Soth, 562-360-5355

LONG BEACH — On Friday, two local Cambodian groups will gather to commemorate a somber annual rite.

April 17 marks the 34th anniversary of the date the Khmer Rouge rolled into Phnom Penh and cemented its ascendancy in Cambodia. It is also the date that is associated with the Killing Fields genocide campaign that left more than 2 million Cambodians dead from execution, starvation, disease and deprivation under the brutal 45-month reign of the Khmer Rouge.

As a result, for many Cambodians in Long Beach and worldwide, April 17 is a day of mourning, prayer and remembrance.

The Killing Fields Memorial Center began formally remembering April 17 in 2005 with a candlelight vigil, after it helped lead a fight to prevent the first Cambodian New Year Parade from being held on the 30th anniversary of the rise of Khmer Rouge.

This year, the group will stage its fifth annual memorial day at Wat Vipassanaram, also known as Wat IRAP, 1239 E. 20th St, with a day of prayer, testimonials and a candlelight vigil.

Also on Friday, for the first time, the United Cambodian Community will commemorate the day with remembrances and a fundraising dinner at New Paradise Restaurant.

At Wat Vipassanaram, survivors share tales every year about experiences in Cambodia during the genocide years. Often their voices quake with emotion.

One time, Chhom Nimol, a popular singer with the group Dengue Fever, showed up at the event and sang several traditional Khmer songs a cappella.

Chantara Nop is a poet who has written about the Killing Fields and is a regular at the memorial.

He said it is vital for the community to remember and share survivor stories so that history won't be repeated in Cambodia and so that children learn about the history of their forbears.

It is also important for the victims, according to Nop.

"It feels much relief when people are supportive," Nop said. "You go through so much pain if you don't tell and you keep secrets."

For UCC, the experience is new but continues efforts it has undertaken this year to heal wounds and close the generational gap.

"This year we're piggybacking on what we've done to help heal the community," said executive director Sara Pol-Lim. "We're addressing the past. We hope by facing it we can put it behind us."

Pol-Lim is also inviting the Jewish community to the UCC event, because of the history of suffering the two cultures share.

In addition to the dinner, the UCC event will feature Buddhist blessings and Jewish prayers, speeches and proclamations by elected officials, the honoring of survivors, poetry by youth and a veterans' salute.

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

Want to go?

* Who: Killing Fields Memorial Center
* What: Memorial prayers, testimonials and candlelight vigil
* When: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m.-dark Friday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday
* Where: Wat Vipassanaram, 1239 E. 20 th St.
* Info: Bryant Ben, 562-999-6148, or Paline Soth, 562-360-5355


* Who: United Cambodian Community
* What: Commemoration Day dinner
* When: 6:30 p.m. Friday
* Where: New Paradise Restaurant, 1348 E. Anaheim St.
* Admission: $40 individual ticket, 10-person table rates vary.
* Information: 562-433-2490

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China's ASEAN fund boost to challenge Japan

China's ASEAN fund boost to challenge Japan

April 16, 2009
ABC Radio Australia

China is continuing with plans to strenghten its economic presence in South East Asia, despite having to postpone the signing of a free trade agreement with ASEAN. Instead, the country's foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, has announced plans to allocate $US10 billion to an ASEAN infrastructure investment fund, and make $15 billion more available for loans.

Presenter: Helene Hofman
Speaker: He-Ling Shi, professor of economics at Melbourne's Monash University; Pande Silalahi, economist with the Jakarta-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies

Click here to listen to the audio program (Windows Media)

HELENE HOFMAN: This month's ASEAN summit in Thailand should have marked a turning point in economic ties between China and ASEAN member countries. Had it not been cancelled because of Thailand's political protests, the summit would have overseen the signing of an agreement between the two - creating the world's largest free trade area. That agreement may have been delayed, but on a flight back from Thailand the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, announced plans to inject billions of dollars into ASEAN in the form of aid and infrastructure funding.
He-Ling Shi, a professor of economics at Melbourne's Monash University says the timing of the announcement is not accidental.

HE-LING SHI: China basically wants to have a series of agreements with all these Asian countries so after they establish a free trade agreement china can export more goods and invest more in these countries. All these ASEAN countries, with the exception of Singapore, lack the funding to finance their infrastructure projects so they can use this funding to improve their infrastructure and we know that infrastructure is extrememely important for the future development of all these Asian countries.

HELENE HOFMAN: Over the next three years, China will contribute 10 billion US dollars to infrastructure projects which it hopes will improve its links with ASEAN member countries. A futher 15 billion US dollars will be available in credit, with part of that reserved for co-operation projects. It has also announced plans to offer almost 40 million US dollars to help Cambodia, Laos and Burma - the three ASEAN member states that have been hardest hit by the global economic downturn.

Pande Silalahi is an economist with the Jakarta-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He says the funding is part of a confidence-building exercise:

PANDE SILALAHI: This is the time for China to build confidence because if you look at the last few decades the Asean countries have become the centre of economic growth and I think China wants to contribute to that in the region. I think its a very important opportunity and I think the aim of China is to build the confidence.

HELENE HOFMAN: China has already made significant contributions to infrastructure projects in Burma, Laos and Vietnam - for the building of roads. But, this round of funding will go further than economic support, with the Chinese offering to train 1,000 agricultural technicians and give 2,200 Chinese government and public administration scholarships.

Dr Shi says its all part of China's intention to increase its influence in the region:

HE-LING SHI: At the moment Asia - there are some investment funds established by the Asia Development Bank, but that is mostly dominated by Japan so China basically wants to establish another mechanism in which China could dominate and so personally I believe that intention is behind that investment in the fund. But, if you noticed, in the announcement, in addition to this investment in the fund there's cultural and education exchange programs so I think its a starting point for China to exert a great influence on this area. Not just an economic influence but a cultural and political influence.

HELENE HOFMAN: The trade volume between China and ASEAN is already worth over 200 billion US dollars a year. Once the free trade agreement is signed this is expected to rise to over 1.2 trillion US dollars a year.

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Onondaga Road pupils help Cambodian orphans

Onondaga Road pupils help Cambodian orphans

Schoolchildren at an orphanage in Cambodia review school projects and books sent by pupils at Onondaga Road Elementary School. (Photo courtesy of Kathleen Hart-Zavoli)
Students at an orphanage in Cambodia review school projects and books sent by pupils at Onondaga Road Elementary School. (Photo courtesy of Kathleen Hart-Zavoli)
A student at an orphanage in Cambodia looks at a letter sent by pupils at Onondaga Road Elementary School. (Photo courtesy of Kathleen Hart-Zavoli)
Students at an orphanage in Cambodia review school projects and books sent by pupils at Onondaga Road Elementary School. (Photo courtesy of Kathleen Hart-Zavoli)

Wednesday April 15, 2009
By Catie O'Toole
The Post-Standard (New York, USA)

Pupils in Jessica Goodnough and Virginia Madden's classes at Onondaga Road Elementary School in the West Genesee school district took part in a project to help children in a Cambodian orphanage with their English lessons.
Goodnough's fourth-graders wrote original stories, with themes ranging from a pencil boy who wanted to be an eraser, to moving from the earth to the moon. Meanwhile, Madden's second-graders wrote letters telling the children in Cambodia about life in Central New York and at Onondaga Road school.

Kathleen Hart-Zavoli, whose son is in Goodnough's class and whose daughter is in Madden's class, hand-delivered the stories and letters to the Cambodia Tomorrow English School at the Kompong Speu Orphan Center in Cambodia during the last week of February.

Hart-Zavoli, of Camillus, is a volunteer board member for Cambodia Tomorrow, a non-profit group started by parents who adopted children from the orphanage.
Both Hart-Zavoli's children were adopted from different orphanages in Cambodia.

"I thought it was a good idea to give the students a connection outside of Camillus, and also give the students in Cambodia a connection to other children," Hart-Zavoli said. "The kids here have been so excited, and the kids in Cambodia were equally as excited to receive the letters and stories."

Last week, Hart-Zavoli brought Onondaga Road Elementary students letters from the students in Cambodia.

In their letters, the children in Cambodia drew pictures and wrote about their Khmer New Year, which is April 14 to 16.

Hart-Zavoli said the children at Onondaga Road were excited to learn about a different culture.

"They think this is a very cool thing they're doing and the fact that they got responses to their letters seemed to really make their week," she said.

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Cambodia's Kampot Pepper Makes a Comeback

Cambodia's Kampot Pepper Makes a Comeback

Bags of Kampot Pepper for sale by Farmlink-Cambodia

By Rory Byrne
Voice of America
Kampot, Cambodia
16 April 2009

Kampot province in southern Cambodia was long famous for the quality of its pepper. But under the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s, almost all of the province's pepper plantations were uprooted to make way for rice. Now a local company is leading an effort to revive Kampot pepper by earning it Geographical Indication protection, similar to Champagne or Parmesan cheese.
Many French chefs consider Kampot pepper the best in the world.

During the French colonial era, about one million pepper plants were grown in the province, mainly to produce pepper for export to France.

Famed for its strong, yet delicate, aroma, Kampot pepper can range from intensely spicy to mildly sweet.

Jerome Benezech, the director of Farmlink, which is working with local farmers to increase pepper production, says the pepper's unique flavor is thanks to a combination of factors found only in Kampot.

He says Kampot pepper has a distinct flavor. It has a very fresh aroma with hints of eucalyptus and it lingers in the palate. He says its unique flavor is due to the combination of Kampot's rich soil, the climate in this area which is between the mountains and the sea, as well as the experience of several generations of pepper farmers.

Under the Khmer Rouge government in the late 1970s, Kampot's famous pepper plantations were uprooted and replaced with rice fields.

But in recent years the spice has been making a comeback and production is once again on the rise.

Farmlink works with 125 local farmers with the aim of doubling pepper production over the next five years.

More than 20,000 pepper vines have been planted since 2003 - still a fraction of the amount produced under the French.

Many pepper farmers like Ngnoun Lay come from generations of pepper growers:

He says since he was born his mother and father grew pepper and now he does the same thing. In fact, he says, they have grown pepper in his family for the last four generations. Whether the price is high or low he stills plant pepper because, apart from growing rice, it is all he has ever known.

Farmlink staff members say that while pepper requires more labor than growing rice, it is more profitable for farmers.

Kampot pepper is the first Cambodian product to apply for Geographical Indication protection similar to Champagne or Parmesan cheese. GI status means that only pepper actually grown in Kampot can use that name.

Angela Vestergaard, Farmlink's marketing director, leads the effort to secure GI status. The aim is to help promote Kampot pepper around the world, and to protect its quality.

She says the GI project will protect the environment in this region and make sure that Kampot pepper keeps its high quality and is not mixed with lesser quality peppers. She says Farmlink wants the consumer to be guaranteed the highest quality and to be sure that what they are getting is authentic Kampot pepper.

Despite the economic slowdown, demand for Kampot pepper is growing, although more slowly than before.

But growers are hopeful that if Kampot pepper can earn GI protection next year, the province can regain its status as one of the world's premier pepper growing regions.

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Canada to close embassy in Phnom Penh

Canada to close embassy in Phnom Penh

PHNOM PENH, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian Embassy in Phnom Penh will close its doors in May after 17 years' operation, said an embassy statement received here on Thursday.
The Canadian government "has decided to change the nature of its diplomatic representation in Cambodia.... Our intention is that a Canadian Ambassador in a nearby country will be accredited to Cambodia," according to the statement.

The decision to close the embassy came after "serious re-examination of Canada's current diplomatic representation throughout the world," it said.

Although the Phnom Penh embassy is closing, new Canadian government offices will be opened, "mainly to take advantage of emerging markets," it said, adding that three of these have already been opened, with two in India and one in Mongolia.

Until now, the Canadian Embassy has occupied a small corner of the Australian Embassy on Street 254 of the capital city.

The Australian diplomats will move into new quarters later this year, and no space there has been allocated for their Canadian counterparts.

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Khmer Rouge trials will not bring justice

Khmer Rouge trials will not bring justice

April 15, 2009
By Chak Sopheap
Guest Commentary
UPI Asia Online

Niigata, Japan — It is not surprising that many foreigners know the details of the Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979, while the young generation of Cambodians may not even know that this inhuman regime ever existed. Cambodian schoolchildren are taught almost nothing about this dark period of their country’s history. Even 30 years after the Khmer Rouge committed its atrocities against the Cambodian people the subject is still sensitive among political groups.

Fortunately, “A History of Democratic Kampuchea,” written by Cambodian author Khamboly Dy and published in 2007, helps to fill in the gap and educate the nation about the murderous regime. The Education Ministry has approved the book as a "core reference" for history classes, but not as part of the core curriculum.

Still, the scope of the textbook is limited and it is controversial in its naming of only certain individuals involved in the regime, its characterization of the massive movement against the Khmer Rouge, and its unclear interpretation of a long-standing political debate in Cambodia over whether Vietnam “liberated” or “invaded” the country when it ousted the Khmer Rouge. Therefore, the young generation is still skeptical about the truth concerning the Khmer Rouge.

When the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, popularly known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, was established, many Cambodians hoped it would bring justice, truth and reconciliation for the victims and survivors of the regime. This new hybrid, national-international tribunal was expected to accomplish three things:

* First, it should bring justice to those who died and help those who survived to release their suffering.
* Second, it should strengthen the rule of law by judging and punishing the criminals in fair and open trials. It should be a model marking the end of impunity and the beginning of law enforcement in Cambodia, and serve as a deterrent to all who contemplate such inhuman behavior in Cambodia or in the world.
* Third, it should educate the people of Cambodia and raise awareness about this darkest chapter in the country's history, especially among the young generation. Ultimately, this would lead to the reconstruction of the society as a whole.


However, it is questionable whether these expectations will be met. The claim that the Khmer Rouge Tribunal will benefit Cambodians could turn out to be merely a myth – such a tribunal may not be the best option for national reconciliation.

For one thing, the scope of the tribunal is limited to senior regime leaders who planned its actions or gave orders, as well as those most responsible for committing serious crimes. The foreign countries that supported the Khmer Rouge, or acted as the main catalyst for the emergence of this cruel regime, will not be brought to court. The tribunal’s regulations indicate clearly that only individuals who committed crimes will be tried. This court is not mandated to sentence countries or organizations.

Therefore, only local leaders and a few high-level leaders that were directly involved in the genocide will be sentenced, while many others will go unpunished. It is doubtful if justice and the rule of law will prevail.

Those who support the tribunal may say it is better than nothing, that it is better to accept justice in a narrow sense than to have none at all. But real justice would only be achieved if all who are accused are treated fairly by the court. If the trial procedures do not reveal the root cause of the problem, it is unacceptable.

It is also unclear to what extent these trials can serve as a model for an independent court system in Cambodia, as corruption and nepotism are so widespread, even within this court. Moreover, it is unlikely that the whole truth about the Khmer Rouge regime will emerge through the proceedings of the tribunal. If this tribunal is to be the final page in the Khmer Rouge history, it will be unjust and misleading for future generations.

There are better alternatives to this court setup if justice and national reconciliation are the goals. The funds allocated for the court, which have already exceeded the original budget, should have been used for restorative justice – a healing process – rather than this imperfect retributive justice.

For Cambodian society, real reconciliation will be found only when trust returns between individuals; when they can smile at and trust each other again. Thus, a national dialogue or truth commission should be set up so that people, especially the victims, can fully participate to address their suffering and their needs.
--
(Chak Sopheap is a graduate student of peace studies at the International University of Japan. She runs a blog, www.sopheapfocus.com, in which she shares her impressions of both Japan and her homeland, Cambodia. She was previously advocacy officer of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights.)

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