G.W. Bush and the 3 Martians (2005-Jan-18) Angaro2: Mr President! On November 2, 2004, Charlie Jones asked "Are U.S. Marines returning to Cambodia?" Angaro1: Today, Bill Gertz says China will go militarily from Pakistan to Burma to Cambodia. Angaro3: So, what will you say? G.W. Bush: All right! Good news, folks! Just listen to my speech on Thursday, January 20!

China builds up strategic sea lanes
           Carre Caress : .... through Cambodia!

         [By Bill Gertz in THE WASHINGTON TIMES] : China is building up military forces and setting up bases along sea lanes from the Middle East to project its power overseas and protect its oil shipments, according to a previously undisclosed internal report prepared for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. "China is building strategic relationships along the sea lanes from the Middle East to the South China Sea in ways that suggest defensive and offensive positioning to protect China's energy interests, but also to serve broad security objectives," said the report sponsored by the director, Net Assessment, who heads Mr. Rumsfeld's office on future-oriented strategies. The Washington Times obtained a copy of the report, titled "Energy Futures in Asia," which was produced by defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. The internal report stated that China is adopting a "string of pearls" strategy of bases and diplomatic ties stretching from the Middle East to southern China that includes a new naval base under construction at the Pakistani port of Gwadar. Beijing already has set up electronic eavesdropping posts at Gwadar in the country's southwest corner, the part nearest the Persian Gulf. The post is monitoring ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea, the report said.
         Other "pearls" in the sea-lane strategy include:
         • Bangladesh: China is strengthening its ties to the government and building a container port facility at Chittagong. The Chinese are "seeking much more extensive naval and commercial access" in Bangladesh.
         • Burma: China has developed close ties to the military regime in Rangoon and turned a nation wary of China into a "satellite" of Beijing close to the Strait of Malacca, through which 80 percent of China's imported oil passes. China is building naval bases in Burma and has electronic intelligence gathering facilities on islands in the Bay of Bengal and near the Strait of Malacca. Beijing also supplied Burma with "billions of dollars in military assistance to support a de facto military alliance," the report said.
        •Cambodia: China signed a military agreement in November 2003 to provide training and equipment. Cambodia is helping Beijing build a railway line from southern China to the sea.
        •South China Sea: Chinese activities in the region are less about territorial claims than "protecting or denying the transit of tankers through the South China Sea," the report said. China also is building up its military forces in the region to be able to "project air and sea power" from the mainland and Hainan Island. China recently upgraded a military airstrip on Woody Island and increased its presence through oil drilling platforms and ocean survey ships.
        •Thailand: China is considering funding construction of a $20 billion canal across the Kra Isthmus that would allow ships to bypass the Strait of Malacca. The canal project would give China port facilities, warehouses and other infrastructure in Thailand aimed at enhancing Chinese influence in the region, the report said.

       The report reflects growing fears in the Pentagon about China's long-term development. Many Pentagon analysts believe China's military buildup is taking place faster than earlier estimates, and that China will use its power to project force and undermine U.S. and regional security. The U.S. military's Southern Command produced a similar classified report in the late 1990s that warned that China was seeking to use commercial port facilities around the world to control strategic "chokepoints." A Chinese company with close ties to Beijing's communist rulers holds long-term leases on port facilities at either end of the Panama Canal. The Pentagon report said China, by militarily controlling oil shipping sea lanes, could threaten ships, "thereby creating a climate of uncertainty about the safety of all ships on the high seas." The report noted that the vast amount of oil shipments through the sea lanes, along with growing piracy and maritime terrorism, prompted China, as well as India, to build up naval power at "chokepoints" along the sea routes from the Persian Gulf to the South China Sea.
       "China ... is looking not only to build a blue-water navy to control the sea lanes, but also to develop undersea mines and missile capabilities to deter the potential disruption of its energy supplies from potential threats, including the U.S. Navy, especially in the case of a conflict with Taiwan," the report said. Chinese weapons for sea-lane control include new warships equipped with long-range cruise missiles, submarines and undersea mines, the report said. China also is buying aircraft and long-range target acquisition systems, including optical satellites and maritime unmanned aerial vehicles. The focus on the naval buildup is a departure from China's past focus on ground forces, the report said.
       "The Iraq war, in particular, revived concerns over the impact of a disturbance in Middle Eastern supplies or a U.S. naval blockade," the report said, noting that Chinese military leaders want an ocean-going navy and "undersea retaliatory capability to protect the sea lanes." China believes the U.S. military will disrupt China's energy imports in any conflict over Taiwan, and sees the United States as an unpredictable country that violates others' sovereignty and wants to "encircle" China, the report said. Beijing's leaders see access to oil and gas resources as vital to economic growth and fear that stalled economic growth could cause instability and ultimately the collapse of their nation of 1.3 billion people.
       Energy demand, particularly for oil, will increase sharply in the next 20 years — from 75 million barrels per day last year to 120 million barrels in 2025 — with Asia consuming 80 percent of the added 45 million barrels, the report said. Eighty percent of China's oil currently passes through the Strait of Malacca, and the report states that China believes the sea area is "controlled by the U.S. Navy." Chinese President Hu Jintao recently stated that China faces a "Malacca Dilemma" — the vulnerability of its oil supply lines from the Middle East and Africa to disruption. Oil-tanker traffic through the Strait, which is closest to Indonesia, is projected to grow from 10 million barrels a day in 2002 to 20 million barrels a day in 2020, the report said. Chinese specialists interviewed for the report said the United States has the military capability to cut off Chinese oil imports and could "severely cripple" China by blocking its energy supplies.

Mrs Hun Sen is the major shareholder of a prominent gasoline company (2005-Jan-12)
         K.I. : Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife Bun Rany (real name: Bun Sam Heang) is officially the major shareholder of Kampuchea Tela, which is Cambodia's main gasoline distribution company along with CPP-affiliated conglomerate Sokimex. The two companies, which control more than 80 percent of the local market, are engaged in a massive gasoline smuggling that deprives the State of tax revenues amounting to approximately $90 million a year.

Hun Sen may form new party with Ranariddh (2005-Jan-12)
         K.I. : CPP Vice-President Hun Sen may break away from his party and form a new political party with Funcinpec President Norodom Ranariddh. The two politicians have clearly different motives.
         - Ranariddh realizes that his "royalist" party, which has continuously lost ground over the last ten years, cannot stand alone and may be virtually eliminated from the political scene at the next general elections in 2008 without a strong and intimate support from the CPP or at least the pro-Hun Sen faction of the CPP.
         - Hun Sen knows that the majority of the 20-member Standing Committee (former Politburo) and probably also a majority in the 153-member Central Committee of the CPP will not support him to be the party's candidate for prime minister for a fourth 5-year term in 2008. Besides threatening his opponents within the CPP, he is considering alternatives that would imply a new deal in Cambodian politics.

Toutankhamon, sans chair et en os (2005-Jan-09)

Radio-Canada.Ca : Des chercheurs égyptiens commandités par le National Geographic ont passé la momie du pharaon Toutankhamon au scanner. Les images montrent que le crâne est intact (?), mais que le reste du corps est en mauvais état. Les 1700 photos prises mardi au cours de cette radiographie, qui n'a duré qu'une quinzaine de minutes, pourraient permettre d'en savoir plus sur la vie et la mort de ce jeune monarque ainsi que sur sa généalogie. C'est la quatrième fois que son sarcophage est ouvert. En 1925, trois ans après sa découverte, puis en 1969 et en 1986 pour des examens aux rayons X. Et puis en 2005, pour un examen au scanner.

Un peu d'histoire Toutankhamon n'avait que huit ans lorsqu'il est monté sur le trône d'Égypte. Il a régné de 1333 à 1323 avant Jésus-Christ, année de son décès. La tombe du pharaon, mort à 17 ans, fut mise au jour dans la vallée des Rois en 1922 par l'archéologue anglais Howard Carter. Le corps du pharaon était enseveli dans trois cercueils gigognes, dont un en or massif, la tête recouverte d'un masque d'or. En 1968, une radiographie a permis de détecter des fragments osseux à l'intérieur du crâne, ce qui suggère que le jeune pharaon a pu être tué d'un coup à la tête.

Mais le mystère n'est pas totalement levé. En 2002, des chercheurs de Nouvelle-Zélande avaient fait appel à des techniques numériques utilisées par la police pour reconstituer les traits du visage de Toutankhamon.

Sirik Matak en voulait à Sihanouk (2005-Jan-03)

Pen Nearovi : Dommage que Sisowath Sirik Matak et Lon Nol mouraient sans laisser de mémoires sur le 18-Mars-1970. Notons que, avant le prince Sihanouk, le général Lon Nol venait se faire soigner en France et laissait l'intérim au prince Sirik Matak. Après le "coup d'État", beaucoup d'étudiants et de fonctionnaires venaient à Paris pour continuer des études ou effectuer des stages. Certains d'entre eux disaient que Sirik Matak, qui avait placé certaines unités de l'armée sous son commandement direct, poussait Lon Nol à renverser Sihanouk. Ceci était assez vraisemblable car, d'un côté on savait que les princes khmers voulaient tous monter sur le trône (le roi Sihanouk lui-même a récemment décrit les attitudes de Sisowath Youttévong et de Norodom Norindeth), et de l'autre on connaissait le niveau politique de Lon Nol, un fonctionnaire civil habitué à s'agenouiller devant Sihanouk et prendre les ordres de ce dernier : sans la complicité d'un membre haut placé de la famille royale, jamais Lon Nol n'oserait se rebeller contre son auguste "Samdech Ov".            C'était vrai aussi que le comportement des Nord-Vietnamiens et des Vietcongs mécontentait beaucoup l'armée khmère. Alors, des témoignages des ex-militaires haut gradés sur le rôle de Sisowath Sirik Matak aideraient à faire la lumière sur les événements de mars-avril 1970 et seraient les bienvenus. Sirik Matak avait un double grief contre Sihanouk. Primo, les Sisowath ont perdu la couronne (à cause certes de Pétain et de Decoux) au profit des Norodom. Secundo, ce qui est moins connu du public, le roi Sihanouk a volé du prince Sirik Matak, personnellement, nul autre que ... Monique Izzi.

           En effet, lors d'une visite familiale à son cousin, Sa Majesté a vu la très belle domestique (?) Monique placée par madame Pomme Peang chez Sirik Matak. Le roi demanda alors au prince de la lui donner, et ... on ne dit pas "non" à un monarque.
           On connaît la suite. Sihanouk jouait la "Haute Politique" et cachait des Vietcongs, le clan Monique-Pomme Peang-Oum Manorine y était impliqué et gagnait en argent et en pouvoir, Sisowath Sirik Matak voyait ... rouge! Il aurait pu dire à Lon Nol : "Le bataillon de Phnom Penh est sous mes ordres, je vais inciter la population à manifester contre les ambassades vietcong et nord-vietnamienne puis renverser le prince chef d'État, ou vous marchez avec moi ou vous serez contre moi"!
           Autre remarque : En 1952, Monique avait 16 ans. Alors, Norodom Sihanouk était-il pédophile ?

         Rithourn OM : J'estime que j'étais assez bien placé, en tant que jeune ingénieur formé au Cambodge et Président des Étudiants de l'Université de Kampong Cham, pour analyser avec un certain recul ce qui s'est passé en 1970. Comprenons que le terme de "COUP D'ETAT" n'a aucun sens en ce temps. Du temps où on était, il y avait San That, Président des Étudiants de la Fac de Droit, Men Hoeun, Président des Étudiants de l'université de Techno Russe et Porte-Parole des Présidents des Étudiants des Universités (hélas assassiné sous le régime des KR) et moi-même Président des Étudiants de l'Université de Kampong Cham (Keat Chhon était Recteur et Professeur de thermodynamique) avec trois autres Présidents des fac (Takeo-Kampot, Commerce, et Beaux-Arts) dont les noms m'ont complétement échappé après 30 ans de séparation, nous tous avons signé au nom de l'Assemblée des Présidents des Étudiants des Universités pour la destitution de Samdech Norodom Sihanouk et opté pour le choix d'une République.
         Nos signatures ont certes appuyé la destitution de Samdech Norodom Sihanouk par les parlementaires, et étaient exploitées peut-être par les parlementaires. Mais réellement nous l'avons fait pour contester une certaine injustice sociale qui a été perçue par les étudiants dont 90% venaient de la masse paysanne. Et ne parlons pas des fils et filles de notables qui n'avaient même pas de baccalauréat mais qui passaient deux, trois, voire quatre ans en France pour frimer et rentrer après au Cambodge pour diriger ces jeunes ingénieurs venant "d'en bas".
         Le régime princier de Samdech Norodom Sihanouk gérait le pays sans coup férir et en toute quiétude parce que les trois pouvoirs (exécutif, législatif et judiciaire), soi-disant indépendants, ont été en fait tenus par la haute sphère du Palais Royal. A partir de là, nul n'est dupe même si certains essayent de se redorer le blason et glorifier telle ou telle époque pour justifier un certain régime autoritariste qui n'avait rien à envier aux régimes de Pékin ou de Ceaucescu. Et Dieu sait qu'à cette époque (1970), la masse intellectuelle à 80% a soutenu le changement de régime, non point pour dédaigner la monarchie mais ne serait-ce que pour mettre dehors les clans et les cliques qui accaparaient tous les patrimoines nationaux et en faisaient leurs propriétés privées.
         Mais soit ! Que maintenant, ici et là, chacun se plaise à dire qu'effectivement "IL S'AGISSAIT D'UN COUP D'ETAT", j'aimerais quand même que les juristes cambodgiens imprégnés de foi de profession définissent en toute impartialité ce qu'est un "COUP D'ETAT". Impatiemment, juristes, j'attends vos définitions, notamment de Bang Docteur en droit et Professeur Douc Rasy dont je me ferai un réel plaisir de lire la réponse.        [cf. Le naufrage princier et le renouveau escompté]

           Virak Pruhm : LLoyd Shearer met Samdech Sihanouk and Princess Monique in Peking in July 1973. On his July 73's report he stated that Prince Sihanouk met Princess Monique in 1951 while she was 15, and took her into his [Sihanouk's] household and married her in 1955. If king Sihamoni was born in May 1953, then he was conceived some time in August 1952. At that time Princess Monique was 16. So Prince Sihanouk and Princess Monique were probably having fun in August of 1952, three years before they got married in 1955.
           Shearer stated that, "Oddly enough, Princess Monique Sihanouk has no Cambodian blood. She was born in Saigon on June 18, 1936. Her mother, Madame Pomme, is a Vietnamese, and her father, a Franco-Italian named Izzi, was killed in World War II. The question is who was Madame Pomme? If she was a Vietnamese then, Monique is a mixed and has no Khmer blood in her at all.
           With a man of that Status (Sihanouk), someone had to know when and where he got married. How come there is no record about that? What about babies who were born before their parents' marriage? Are they qualified to become King or Queen? Interesting!           [cf. Monique too greedy, in Angkor Borei News]

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(nearovi@sympatico.ca)