Letter to Editor: “What are the Reasons Behind PM Hun Sen’s decision on the Coronavirus?”

Letter to Editor: “What are the Reasons Behind PM Hun Sen’s decision on the Coronavirus?”

There is a post this morning on the Facebook page, named “អ្នកនយោបាយតុកាហ្វេ”, entitled “What are the Reasons Behind PM Hun Sen’s decision on the Coronavirus?”.

Speaking in Seoul, South Korea, on the evening of February 3, 2020, Prime Minister Hun Sen claims to visit Cambodian students and the citizens in Wuhan, Hubei province, with the new pneumonia virus. The Cambodian leader asked the relevant officials to contact the Chinese government to arrange the visit if the Chinese side agreed. The Prime Minister’s announcement made Cambodian people very appreciate of his willingness to travel to Wuhan, where everyone else is afraid of.

Mr. Hun Sen’s declaration to Wuhan also left the big-screen anti-extremist opposition and may find it hard to say a word because they have never had been a great leader. They also get a glimpse of the courage and responsibility of the leader, Hun Sen, in stark contrast to their “head or toe can’t reach the sky nor ground” leader. Their leader is afraid to face even the slightest thing and also willing to flee the country alone by leaving his fellows and supporters behind.

Everyone knows that PM Hun Sen used to leave his family to Vietnam, working his life to find a way to liberate Cambodians from the Khmer Rouge. The leader has also been through 105 direct combat battles. Later, the strongman of Cambodia again ventured into the Khmer Rouge Camp, converting his life for the exchange of peace. As a result, the win-win policy has brought about unprecedented nationwide peace in the last 500 years of Cambodia History. Therefore, going to Wuhan to greet his people is a small thing for Mr. Hun Sen, even though the opposition is scarier than nuclear bombs and is shrinking like turtles.

So far, let’s take look back a bit to understand the decision why the prime minister decides not to ban flight to and from China and not to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan, which he has announced on a January 30 at a press conference.

Some people, especially anti-extremist groups who do not know what the national interest is, what its virtues are, and what the smart foreign policy is. They ridicule and criticize Mr. Hun Sen that the prime minister took the nation’s economy larger than its people, and wanted to support China.

Although no one can fully comprehend this strong man as a political analyzer, I have been able to overlook some of his clever tactics.

Typically, Mr. Hun Sen, the founder of win-win politics, always does whatever it takes with his “win-win” strategy as the basis, including the Coronavirus. What is the concept of winning politics in this regard? I would like to state my views as follows:

1. Not to Ban Flight from China: If you’re not a deep thinker or one of the anti-government groups who always attack without any thought, you won’t see this point special. They instead try to explain that the Prime Minister has neglected his own people and has continued to open flights from China to Cambodia. We, in fact, do not need to announce the closure of flights from China, especially from Hubei and Wuhan, as China itself has already done. This is a key question for understanding Hun Sen’s decision as an experienced Prime Minister. Therefore, the decision not to close is the best because even if it does not, the flight from the danger zone to Cambodia is no longer available. After all, the Chinese side is already closed. But the difference is that by not announcing the closure, it is possible to maintain a good friendship and cooperation with China. This is another key point in foreign relations.
2. By now, it has become increasingly apparent that Mr. Hun Sen is an intelligent leader who is difficult to find someone to compare. Another special thing I noticed is that Hun Sen is not a tricky politician who always seek advantages like those who are from the opposition sides. In the name of the leader, the Prime Minister needs to consider in the interests of the nation and the people at large, even if he sometimes has to make a decision that you do not understand. Behind the benefit for the nation and people, there is nothing wrong like a parent who is sometimes willing to tears because of a decision that is upsetting her child. But the decision is for the good of the whole child.

In fact, in the case of Coronavirus, if the opposition leader were there, they will be 100% pretending to love the citizens very much and to please the people at one time and national interests would be lost later. After all, the shutdown may have made some people think that the government cares about its citizens, but the realization behind it is it starts to kill its own economy.

Not only the national economy but the scare or the blockade of tourists to visit the country has also adversely affected the businesses of the private sector and the tourist industry. Never forget that if the national economy were destroyed, 16 million people nationwide would be adversely affected. The relationship between Cambodia and China is also affected. Not only does he not use the trickery politics standpoint, but Mr. Hun Sen is also a smart leader who analyzes the situation in the country and abroad correctly.

Mr. Hun Sen is a leader who dares to take responsibility. Apparently, in deciding not to evacuate Cambodians from Wuhan, the Prime Minister announced to visit the students and the Cambodian citizen to Wuhan to show he is not the leader who leaves them alone and lack of responsibility like some political leaders. This is the courage and responsibility rarely anyone else can do.

In brief, behind the decision of Prime Minister Hun Sen, he is always in the interests of his nation and his people. This is Hun Sen’s greatest strength—that he has fought 100 times, won 100 times and been in charge as the Prime Minister for more than 35 years.

As for political opponents who want to defeat Hun Sen in a pro-democracy way, the People’s Revolution, the Color Revolution, or the burning of raw warfare, as in the case of the Coronavirus, ultimately, the result is that some of them have fallen. Some people are still alive, but they are not strong and their shouting has become weaker and weaker every time.