Will Cambodian-Japanese Ties Change if Japan Has a New Prime Minister? – Saturday, 29.8.2009

Posted on 30 August 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 627
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“Two different views have been expressed by official of the Royal Government of Cambodia and of the opposition party about the relations, both in diplomatic and in other terms, between Cambodia and Japan, if a new Japanese prime minister from the opposition party would take power after the general elections in Japan on 30 August 2009.

“An official of the Royal Government said that Cambodian and Japanese ties will not change and will become even better, whichever candidates from the ruling party or from the opposition becomes the new prime minister of Japan. An official of the opposition party of Cambodia, on the other side, thinks that the Cambodian-Japanese relations might change, if the president of the opposition party becomes the new prime minister, and he might restrict aid to Cambodia.

“On 30 August 2009, Japan will hold general elections, with two main candidates competing to become prime minister: first, the current prime minister, Mr. Aso Taro – 麻生太郎, Asō Tarō – and second, the president of the Japanese opposition Democratic Party, Mr. Hatoyama Yukio – 鳩山由紀夫. An opinion poll in Japan shows that an [opposition] majority seems to be able to take the position of the present prime minister, who will fall into the position of the president of the opposition party. Currently, Mr. Hatoyama is president of the opposition party, but the majority of Japanese people have lost faith in Prime Minister Aso Taro, who made the Japanese economy drop dramatically.

“The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. Koy Kuong, told Deum Ampil by telephone on Friday, ‘I think that the Cambodian-Japanese ties will not change, regardless of which candidate will take power, and the relations of both countries’ will become better, both as far as aid is concerned, and also in relation to other sectors.’

“When asked why the relations might become better if a new prime minister would be elected in Japan, Mr. Koy Kuong said, ‘What is good will not change. Whichever candidate will make the relations to move ahead, because the whole world is cooperating towards globalization, and a party that takes power will surely always walk along this same track.’

“The spokesperson of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, Mr. Yim Sovann, expressed a contrasting opinion to the above view, saying, ‘Normally, if a country changes to a new prime minister, foreign politics will also change, because they are smart, and if the opposition party wins the elections, I believe that the aid requested to be provided to Cambodia will be severely restricted.’

“Mr. Yim Sovann added that Japan’s new government will not let the Royal Government of Cambodia do whatever it wants to do freely, relating to both corruption and to violations against democracy. They will not just stay calm and will carefully make their decisions before granting aid to Cambodia.

“According to information from Japan, Mr. Hatoyama, a co-founder and president of the opposition party, who expects to become the new Japanese prime minister, said that the government will focus on the requirements for the integration of economy and of politics with the East Asian countries, especially with the Beijing government, and also, he warned that Japan will likely also criticize America, a country which has been supporting Japan.

“According to a survey in Japan, if this opposition party president wins the elections, the whole Japanese government will turn to cooperate with Asian countries, especially with ASEAN countries, continuing to provide aid to those countries.

“It should be noted that so far, most of the aid that Cambodia has received [from one country] is from the Japanese government that is leading in helping to speed up the economy and to eradicate poverty in Cambodia, following the core policies of the Cambodian government.”

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #275, 29.8.2009
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Saturday, 29 August 2009