ILS Journal Issue5

7/27/2019 ILS Journal Issue5

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ils-journal-issue5 1/4

Volume V I Little Slave Journal: Democracy and Economics in the LPDR



Dr. Bounsang Khamkeo

answers questions about the

Mekong River, Lao Foreign

Relations and Forgiveness in

this issue of ILS Journal.

Volume V: The Mekong River and Current Events in the LPDR — page 2

Cover Photo: Dr. Bounsang Khamkeo and members of a Southeast Asia delegation on the

Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, 2010.

FI: To celebrate the 66 th anniversary of Laos’ Independence Day, you

spoke at the World Affairs Council of Oregon. You talked of the history

of Laos. What do you think about today’s situation in your homeland?

Dr. Khamkeo: In 1945, a group of nationalists, including the Pathet

Lao, declared independence of Laos from France. Today Laos is still not

independent because of the Laos-Vietnam Friendship and Cooperation

Treaty signed in 1977. The Treaty is signed for 25 years and can be

extended 10 years automatically. Today Laos is under strong Vietnamese

inuence in every eld of political, military, economic, social and cultural

aspects of life.

The Lao leadership in Vientiane cannot do anything against the

Vietnamese. Personally, I’m certain that the Lao government wants to

be free and independent but they cannot their hands are tied by the Treat;

they are oppressed by the Vietnamese. That’s why I always say that exile

Lao can help. Lao inside the country and outside the country can work

together for this noble cause. I’m not saying that we want to overthrow

the government. We only want to help the government to regain Laos’independence. I want to promote dialog. I want to break barriers between

enemy cultures.

FI: You continue to mention forgiveness in all your talks. Why is

forgiveness important to you?

A: Hate is blindness and leads to irrational thinking and behavioral.

Hatred can only generate hatred. I forgive those who create the man-made

injustices that cause my suffering. For the salvation of Laos, I shall not

hate, I must work with the true patriots inside the country.

© 2011, ILS Journal

Published by Foreign Interest

Projects, Portland, Oregon, USA

Editor:

Sherry Harbert

Cover Photo:

Joel Haugen

ILS Journal is a publication of Foreign Interest Projects, based onthe work of Dr. Bounsang Khamkeo

and others to bring democracy andhuman rights to his homeland, theLao People’s Democratic Republic

(Laos). Opinions stated are thoseof the author and not expressively

that of Foreign Interest.

Dr. Bounsang Khamkeo’s

lie illustrates a compelling

story o survival in his

native country, Laos (Lao

People’s Democratic

Republic). He is the ormer

Executive Secretary o

the Lao Delegation o the

Mekong River Committee.

He survived seven years

inside inside Lao political

prisoner camps. Now a

U.S. citizen and author,

Dr. Khamkeo is working

to bring democracy

and human rights to his

homeland.

www.foreigninterest.com

© F o

r e i g n I n t e r e s t




FI: Environmental groups have opposed many of the dams and industrial development along the Mekong

River. How has development threatened the Mekong River?

Dr. Khamkeo: Dam constructions without coordination are a chaos on the Mekong River. There is no

coordinated approach, which not only means that each country’s decisions are taken on a national interest.

Concerned people around the world talk about upstream dam constructions in China that threaten the Lower

Mekong River. The Mekong River is Southeast Asia’s Mississippi or Rhine. China’s dams on the Lancang-

Mekong River in the Yunnan Province have affected river hydrology throughout the basin, and have caused

considerable controversy in downstream countries, most notably during the 2008 oods and the 2010 drought.

To make things worse, Laos has built a number of dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries that

government ofcials have said their ambition is to turn the country into “the battery of Asia.” And Cambodia

follows suite with two dams in sight on the Mekong. The victim is Vietnam which is located at the end of the

river. Hanoi reports dam constructions upstream have impacted its agricultural and sheries at the delta of

Vietnam.

Environmentalists worry that the rush to build dams on the Mekong is not only changing the panorama of the

river but could also destroy the livelihood of people who have depended on it for centuries, and natural disaster

and de-forestation. That is why, in July 2009, the U.S. government proposed the Lower Mekong Initiative as a

means to enhance cooperation in the areas of environment, health, education, and infrastructure development.The key player is China, but China is not a member of the Mekong River Commission which includes Thailand,

Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. We should include China in such talks. We should involve China in the Mekong

business for the good of the ve countries.

The rst Friends o the Lower Mekong (FLM) was held in July, 2011, with representatives rom

Australia, Japan, Republic o Korea, New Zealand, European Union, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand,

Vietnam and the U.S. convening with members o the Asian Development Bank and the WorldBank to discuss sustainable and equitable development along the Lower Mekong River.

The Lower Mekong Iniative (LMI), established to provide a working efort or regional

cooperation between the countries o the Lower Mekong (Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and

Cambodia), met our times this year. One o the many projects o the LMI includes cookstove

design and testing to improve health practices.

International Partnerships




FI: The Golden Triangle has recently resurfaced with recent reports

of violence along the Mekong River due to drug trafcking. What is

causing the upsurge?

Dr. Khamkeo: The causes continue to be the poppy cultivation in

Southeast Asia which is within the Golden Triangle. It’s a relatively

lawless territory, fueled by ethnic armies, opium warlords, and drug

cartels. Several of the ethnic groups ghting Burma’s government are said

to be deeply into heroin production.

Drug trafcking in the Golden Triangle, which includes Burma, Thailand

and Laos, has not only “re-emerged”, it has also increased for the last four

years according to a report of the Southeast Asia Opium Survey by the

Unites Nations Ofce on Drugs and Crimes, threatening to discourage

international measures taken to stop the drug trade in Southeast Asia.

As you know, the Golden Triangle has been an important heroin-producing

area for many decades. Poppies are grown here. Drug trafcking generates

hundreds of millions of dollars for these three countries. Drugs—

particularly heroin, opium and methamphetamine—are sold from here to

the rest of Asia.

The trend is seen by the U.N. as disturbing. It is being driven by poverty and political and military instability

which push farmers to grow, or sometimes return to growing illicit crops. The recent global economic crisis in

2008 appears to have exacerbated the situation for poor communities that cultivate opium poppy.

Can the U.N. and world efforts stop illegal drug trafcking? I think that if the military and political conict in

Burma is resolved, the ow of drugs is likely to decrease because Burma is the biggest producer of opium today

FI: The U.S. has increased diplomatic talks with Myanmar (Burma). Do you think the recent actions by the

government are positive? Dr. Khamkeo: Since the introduction of a civilian-military government this January in Burma, President Thein

Sein has made several public statements and promised a number of reforms and has even met with opposition

leader Aung San Sui Kyi. Now there appears to be the possibility of greater freedoms, rational economic

policies and a development of civil society. This is good news for the people of Burma who have suffered

decades of military dictatorship.

Indeed, Asia is undergoing profound political changes, such as in Tunisia, Egypt, Thailand, and Libya. Even

though Laos is still the same, unchanged, I believe strongly that nothing lasts forever. Change will come to

Laos. That is natural law. Laotian Communist Party and Laotian government have no choice.

I am positive that international conjunction will inuence Laos’s future like at the opening of the former Soviet Union to a market economy. Today, it’s true that the party-state has loosened some of its power, but

it’s not enough at all. Human rights in Laos are still a burning topic as evidenced by the multiple activities of

the Laotian nationalists in Laos who work closely with the true patriot Laotians living abroad. If you visit the

exiled Laotian websites, you can tell that the themes of their debates are freedom, human rights, dignity, and

independence. Time will tell who will win, oppressors or liberty combatants?

Dr. Bounsang Khamkeo (on right) at the Vat Pho

Temple Complex in the Champasak Province sh

before his incarceration.

ILS Journal Issue5

Documents

Transcript of ILS Journal Issue5