Cambodia Breaks With the West
https://thediplomat.com/2017/12/cambodi ... -the-west/

Cambodia’s drastic renunciation of democracy in 2017 was accompanied by deteriorating relations with the US and EU.

By Markus Karbaum
December , 2017



The dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the only relevant opposition party in Cambodia, caught a lot attention abroad, but was not the main event in 2017. It was just one part of a fundamental strategic change that affects not only Cambodia’s domestic politics, but also its international relations.

The deterioration of Cambodia’s ties to the United States was merely collateral damage of the democratic destruction. Instead, during the whole year, tensions were actively pushed by the Cambodian government, without a sufficiently plausible reason. With the visa sanctions imposed by the United States in early December, relations reached a new low, with grave disadvantages for both sides.

On the one hand, Cambodian foreign policy threatens to lose its balance, which has always been a huge advantage for any small nation surrounded by strong regional forces. Without good relations to the main player in the international order, Cambodia’s dependency on other nations is likely to increase. Moreover, Cambodia needs to settle its dispute about a debt the United States granted in the 1970s if it wants to become a member of the International Monetary Fund. On the other hand, the United States forfeits regional influence in the superior rivalry with China. While busy with other conflicts (North Korea and Iran are top issues on the agenda while Syria, Libya, and Ukraine could return any time), the U.S. administration lacks both the capacity and political will to prioritize the dispute with Cambodia. Most likely, Washington will try counterbalancing the loss of influence in Cambodia by strengthening ties with Thailand and Vietnam.

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Automatically, this begs the question whether China is just the beneficiary of eroding Cambodian-American relations or the driving force behind it. Over the last years, Cambodia has become the biggest recipient of international aid granted by the Beijing government, consistently labeled as unconditional by its counterparts in Phnom Penh – who, so far, have failed to explain why it is advantageous putting all of Cambodia’s eggs in one basket. With this one-sided orientation, Cambodia also risks its regional relations within ASEAN, where several states – especially Vietnam and the Philippines – have disputes with China over overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.

However, it would be premature to label China as a strong backer of the current Cambodian government against domestic challengers such as the CNRP. Instead, Beijing attaches high importance to political stability in Cambodia, irrespective of its rulers. To safeguard its long-term interests, China uses extensive foreign direct investments, business linkages, and growing exclusive Chinese enclaves in society as well as closed loops in the economy – sometimes criticized as neocolonialism by international observers – to cement its influence beyond political relations. There is no indication that this systematic appropriation will decelerate in the near future, with unpredictable effects on the domestic population.

While China is the most influential foreign player in Cambodia, being under its tutelage brings one crucial weakness. Cambodia heavily depends on its access to Western markets, in particular for the products of its apparel industry, which is eased by preferential trade treatment. After the dissolution of the CNRP, calls to review these de facto subsidies, especially the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme set up by the European Union, became louder. On December 12, the European Parliament sent a strong message by adopting a resolution in which it calls on the EU “to consider the temporary withdrawal of trade preferences given under the EBA scheme.”

Nevertheless, it is very unlikely that EBA will be suspended by the EU in the near future. It is widely regarded as a last resort and should not be wasted on an incident that has not provoked any internal unrest in Cambodia. In addition, the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy is subject to unanimity and several Eastern European states have already signalized that they are not interested in revising EU-Cambodian relations. Among these states, Hungary enjoys excellent bilateral relations with China, a relationship that cannot be underestimated with regard to the European approach.

Thus, political reactions to the dissolution are limited to some minor adjustments in development cooperation – and to an opening for Cambodian asylum seekers among former CNRP members and civil society activists. Such a release valve stabilizes the current Cambodian government (although this is not intended by Western states). There is a second, even more important outlet for Cambodians: Thailand offers work – sometimes under subhuman conditions – for hundreds of thousands Cambodians who cannot be absorbed by the Cambodian economy. As long as dissatisfied and marginalized people are able to leave Cambodia easily, the country remains stable despite increasing political repression.

Consequently, all international partners of Cambodia are well advised to assume the continuity of the current leadership. It will emerge strengthened from 2017, when Western states lost considerable ground in favor of Chinese expansion – although it is reasonable to doubt whether this strategic shift is beneficial for the whole country.

Dr. Markus Karbaum is a political scientist and an independent consultant specializing in Cambodian politics.

Labour Ministry downplays Walmart's concerns over working conditions, politics.

http://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/lab ... s-politics

This is exactly what any sane person should be worried about, public sentiment in the EU and the US being whipped up by every dictator's worst nightmare - a free press. He maybe able to bully everyone here, but I'd like to see how it all has gone down in the eyes of public that buy their clothes and shoes etc.

:

Cambodia's Ministry of Labour today downplayed concerns expressed by American retail giant Walmart, which had written the minister a letter asking the government to improve working conditions in the country and to treat the US government and NGOs with “fairness”.

The letter was sent by Scott Price, executive vice president for Walmart, to Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng on December 6, and was received and posted to Facebook by Sam Heng on Tuesday. In the letter, Price reiterates the retailer’s commitment to sourcing from Cambodia but says their consumers expect high standards of “social and labour conditions” in countries they source from

Continued

Abc123 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2017 10:50 am Labour Ministry downplays Walmart's concerns over working conditions, politics.

http://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/lab ... s-politics

This is exactly what any sane person should be worried about, public sentiment in the EU and the US being whipped up by every dictator's worst nightmare - a free press. He maybe able to bully everyone here,

but I'd like to see how it all has gone down in the eyes of public that buy their clothes and shoes etc.

:

Cambodia's Ministry of Labour today downplayed concerns expressed by American retail giant Walmart, which had written the minister a letter asking the government to improve working conditions in the country and to treat the US government and NGOs with “fairness”.

The letter was sent by Scott Price, executive vice president for Walmart, to Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng on December 6, and was received and posted to Facebook by Sam Heng on Tuesday. In the letter, Price reiterates the retailer’s commitment to sourcing from Cambodia but says their consumers expect high standards of “social and labour conditions” in countries they source from

Continued

in the eyes of public that buy their clothes and shoes etc. it sums up as ,,, they want cheap items ,,, a bargain, nothing else matters.

Duncan wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2017 11:12 am

Abc123 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2017 10:50 am Labour Ministry downplays Walmart's concerns over working conditions, politics.

http://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/lab ... s-politics

This is exactly what any sane person should be worried about, public sentiment in the EU and the US being whipped up by every dictator's worst nightmare - a free press. He maybe able to bully everyone here,

but I'd like to see how it all has gone down in the eyes of public that buy their clothes and shoes etc.

:

Cambodia's Ministry of Labour today downplayed concerns expressed by American retail giant Walmart, which had written the minister a letter asking the government to improve working conditions in the country and to treat the US government and NGOs with “fairness”.

The letter was sent by Scott Price, executive vice president for Walmart, to Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng on December 6, and was received and posted to Facebook by Sam Heng on Tuesday. In the letter, Price reiterates the retailer’s commitment to sourcing from Cambodia but says their consumers expect high standards of “social and labour conditions” in countries they source from

Continued

in the eyes of public that buy their clothes and shoes etc. it sums up as ,,, they want cheap items ,,, a bargain, nothing else matters.

Politician-businessmen and even the public consumers would, i think in general, be quite happy to continue the status quo in Cambodia, just so long as it didn't make them too unpopular.

Beware the media - it is manipulated by many - like the CD, the likes of Somaly Mam, the ADB, and political and economic interests.

So Cambodia could be plugging away at keeping Cambodian factories affordable for the end consumer, but then a semi-unrelated issue crops up, is whipped into a frenzy by a small group, the public doesn't know what to think, then Walmart decides not to renew and tens of thousands lose jobs in Cambodia.

THANKS you f!'ed up media types, for "doing an ADB" like some idiot SJW, like that idiot swimming in Aung San Suu Kyi's pool behind her house. All sacrificed for your own personal glory to sensationalize a story, right?

THAT SAID
Honestly, I'm not sure not allowing elections is the best move right now.

There is little real opposition, and the business community is with the establishment. So are most.

It will slow down the establishment, but both (huge) end markets and local business leaders should be satisfied with the result.

Anyways, if they lose, a coup will arise to ensure order. So, they really can't lose!

It may be called a sham of an election by biased sources, but if the will of the people be heard, then at least a minimum for democracy will be satisfied.

Of course, most people in impoverished Cambodia just want a better phone, bike, car, home or business ... and may vote accordingly.

So, I'm on the fence on this one.

"Pontius, oh, Pontius! Can we all wash our hands of this dirty political matter?"

Fuck Walmart. More effing US hypocrisy. Used Lockheed and the FBI to spy on employees. One of the world's worst anti-union organisations.

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015 ... veillance/

Internally, however, Walmart considered the group enough of a threat that it hired an intelligence-gathering service from Lockheed Martin, contacted the FBI, staffed up its labor hotline, ranked stores by labor activity, and kept eyes on employees (and activists) prominent in the group. During that time, about 100 workers were actively involved in recruiting for OUR Walmart, but employees (or associates, as they’re called at Walmart) across the company were watched; the briefest conversations were reported to the “home office,” as Walmart calls its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/04/news/co ... lmart_spy/


Ex-Wal-Mart worker admits to spy campaign
A Wal-Mart employee, who was fired last month for intercepting a reporter's calls, says he was part of a sophisticated surveillance operation.
April 4 2007: 11:18 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. worker said he was part of a large surveillance operation that included snooping on employees, stockholders and others, according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday.

Security worker Bruce Gabbard was fired last month after 19 years with the company for intercepting a reporter's phone calls, the paper said.

Gabbard said he recorded the calls because he felt pressured to stop embarrassing leaks. But he said his spying activities were sanctioned by superiors.

Gabbard said that as part of the surveillance, the retailer infiltrated an anti-Wal-Mart group to determine if it planned protests at the company's annual meeting last year and deployed monitoring systems to record the actions of anyone connected to its global computer network.

Many of Gabbard's statements were confirmed by other former Wal-Mart employees, the paper said.

Wal-Mart (Charts) conducted an internal investigation of Gabbard and his group's activities, fired his supervisor and demoted a vice president over the group, the paper said.

"This group is no longer operating in the same manner that it did prior to the discovery of the unauthorized recording of telephone conversations. There have been changes in leadership, and we have strengthened our practices and protocols in this area," the company said in a statement.

Wal-Mart has since disconnected some systems and an internal investigation of the group's activities was launched earlier this year, the paper said citing an executive in the security-information industry.

Wal-Mart has always had strict limits on what its employees can do while at work. Store employees are prohibited from using personal cell phones on the job. And managers receive a list of email addresses and phone numbers their employees have used as well as a list of Web sites visited, the paper said citing current and former employees.

The company also limits Internet access and blocks social-networking and video sites, according to Gabbard.

"Like most major corporations, it is our corporate responsibility to have systems in place, including software systems, to monitor threats to our network, intellectual property and our people. These situations are limited to cases which are high risk to the company or our associates, such as criminal fraud or security issues," Wal-Mart said in a statement.

A U.S. attorney is investigating whether any laws were violated as a result of the phone and pager intercepts, according to the Journal.

So, Walmart is just as opposed to rival "sprouting heads" just as the current establishment is?

I suppose Command and Control is the term for this. Both seem to have good C&C.

But what if, in this day and age, a whiff of bad news from overseas sends sales plummeting locally?

I say hold the election, and embarrass the new party's goals and methods and foreign policy. The establishment, I think, has nothing really to fear.

Just thought ... a one-party system may be a prequisite for long-term aid from centrally controlled Beijing.

Meaning, China wisely doesn't want to aid a country which may one day vote against it.

Hence, the one party election. Aha ...

SmartAston Martin wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2017 12:39 pm So, Walmart is just as opposed to rival "sprouting heads" just as the current establishment is?

I suppose Command and Control is the term for this. Both seem to have good C&C.

But what if, in this day and age, a whiff of bad news from overseas sends sales plummeting locally?

I say hold the election, and embarrass the new party's goals and methods and foreign policy. The establishment, I think, has nothing really to fear.

Just thought ... a one-party system may be a prequisite for long-term aid from centrally controlled Beijing.

Meaning, China wisely doesn't want to aid a country which may one day vote against it.

Hence, the one party election. Aha ...

You don't have to guess what they'll do, look at what they are doing to Venezuela. Slightly old news:

http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-a ... ela-2017-9

I just hope no plug pulling. You get more bees with honey, and we've got plenty of honey now.

I don't really see the justification right now, war of rhetoric now. EU won't unless massacres take place. US neither, if the establishment stays on the strait and narrow.

Btw, Venezuela looks very attractive right now, like a tall, impoverished Latina with oil all over her, haha. Both the Chinese and Russians like her.