The Cambodian part of the process for the beatification of Bishop Joseph Chhmar Salas and 11 other victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide ended today. Since 2015, dozens of testimonies have been collected from people who witnessed their faithfulness to the Gospel during a time of horror. Among the candidates are two nuns and four lay people. If recognised by the Vatican, they will be the first blessed of this small Church reborn in the 1990s.
The decision to join UNCLOS comes after 40 years of delays, opening a new front with Thailand over the disputed oil fields off Koh Kood Island. In 2001, then Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra signed an agreement with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, for joint exploitation, but this never materialised and is now contested by Bangkok. The issue ties in with the 2016 arbitration on China’s "nine-dash line” with which Beijing claims most of the South China Sea.
From Sihanoukville, a missionary talks about the many ambiguities behind the high-profile operations and arrests targeting the local scam farm system. With so much hypocrisy, he sees “silent complicity” and “utter abdication of responsibility.” Even scammers now “desperately flock to embassies claiming poverty”. As someone who loves this country, he calls for “true repentance.”
Despite a ceasefire in effect since 27 December, tensions remain high along the border between Cambodia and Thailand. Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler slams the world's indifference to the violence affecting civilians, citing destruction, displacement, and the indiscriminate use of force. Cambodia accuses Thailand of illegally occupying parts of its territory, while Thailand complains of fresh Cambodian violations of the ceasefire and threatens retaliation.
Celebrations are held but the mood is sober to show solidarity with the soldiers at the front while help is offered to the displaced with calls for a ceasefire. Fr Franco Legnani, a PIME missionary in Battambang Prefecture, speaks about Christmas among Cambodian Christians while war with Thailand continues. “Its effects affect everyone. The elderly say: we are back to the times of the Khmer Rouge. May the Lord grant us his peace.”
China’s special envoy Deng Xijun visits Phnom Penh to revive ceasefire efforts. Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy attacks Hun Sen and the Cambodian government for fanning the flames of conflict to mask a "personal conflict" with Thaksin Shinawatra. More than 30 Thai and Cambodian NGOs issue an appeal for a truce, stressing that mostly ordinary people are affected by war.
