Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has said the government will not evacuate nationals in China amid the coronavirus outbreak, so as not to “strain relations”.
The decision to leave Cambodian citizens in China was described by the prime minister as “soft diplomacy” during a press conference on Thursday.
Hun Sen also used the press conference to chastise reporters who wore masks to the event, threatening to remove them, and also criticised Cambodians for wanting to leave China.
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He said: “We decided not to evacuate Cambodian students. Evacuating them would probably bring an end to opportunities for Cambodians to study there. China would stop offering scholarships.
“We are keeping them there to share [Chinese people’s] happiness and pain and to help them solve this situation.
Coronavirus in UK: Patients test positive and Brits arrive from Wuhan
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Coronavirus in UK: Patients test positive and Brits arrive from Wuhan
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Buses carrying British nationals travelling along the M6 motorway on their way to Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside
PA
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A pedestrian wearing a surgical face mask walks outside the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where it is thought that two members of the same family who tested positive for novel coronavirus are being treated
AFP via Getty Images
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Coaches transport the Britons and foreign nationals to Arrowe Park Hospital
Getty Images
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A convoy of coaches carrying British nationals evacuated from Wuhan in China amid the coronavirus outbreak and medical personnel in a protective suit drive away from RAF Brize Norton
AFP via Getty
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British Nationals arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, after having flown in from Wuhan - the Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus
Tom Maddick / SWNS
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A police outrider heads a convoy of coaches carrying British nationals from the RAF station
AFP via Getty
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Passengers leave the plane
PA
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Barriers are put up at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, as they prepare for buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
PA
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Some of the eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan following a Coronavirus outbreak disembark a plane
Getty Images
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Getty Images
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Ambulance at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire
Tom Maddick / SWNS
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The plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arriving
PA
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Buses and ambulances standing by for the passengers
PA
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Gaming consoles and toys being brought into the Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, as they prepare for buses carrying British nationals from the RAF base
PA
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The flight track of the aircraft
Flightradar24/PA
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On arrival, the UK passengers will be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral and quarantined for two weeks
Reuters
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A student wearing a face mask walks close to the Royal Victoria Infirmary where two patients who have tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus are being treated by specialist medical workers
Getty Images
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A woman wearing a face mask passes a Public Health England sign at Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty
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Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton
Tom Maddick / SWNS
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The Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne, where two patients who have tested positive for coronavirus in England
PA
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A woman wears a face mask in Parliament Square in London as the first cases of the virus to be diagnosed in the UK were announced
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Passengers wear face masks after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty Images
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A St John's Ambulance vehicle exits the Royal Air Force station
AFP via Getty
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A pedestrian wears a face mask as he walks near the Houses of Parliament
AFP via Getty Images
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Coaches arrives at RAF Brize Norton
Tom Maddick / SWNS
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Passengers wear face masks as they stand with their luggage at Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty
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A man wears a face mask as he walks along the Thames embankment
AFP via Getty Images
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Passengers wear face masks at Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty
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Buses carrying British nationals travelling along the M6 motorway on their way to Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside
PA
2/28
A pedestrian wearing a surgical face mask walks outside the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where it is thought that two members of the same family who tested positive for novel coronavirus are being treated
AFP via Getty Images
3/28
Coaches transport the Britons and foreign nationals to Arrowe Park Hospital
Getty Images
4/28
A convoy of coaches carrying British nationals evacuated from Wuhan in China amid the coronavirus outbreak and medical personnel in a protective suit drive away from RAF Brize Norton
AFP via Getty
5/28
British Nationals arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, after having flown in from Wuhan - the Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus
Tom Maddick / SWNS
6/28
A police outrider heads a convoy of coaches carrying British nationals from the RAF station
AFP via Getty
7/28
Passengers leave the plane
PA
8/28
Barriers are put up at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, as they prepare for buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
PA
9/28
Some of the eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan following a Coronavirus outbreak disembark a plane
Getty Images
10/28
Getty Images
11/28
Ambulance at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire
Tom Maddick / SWNS
12/28
The plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arriving
PA
13/28
Buses and ambulances standing by for the passengers
PA
14/28
Gaming consoles and toys being brought into the Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, as they prepare for buses carrying British nationals from the RAF base
PA
15/28
The flight track of the aircraft
Flightradar24/PA
16/28
On arrival, the UK passengers will be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral and quarantined for two weeks
Reuters
17/28
A student wearing a face mask walks close to the Royal Victoria Infirmary where two patients who have tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus are being treated by specialist medical workers
Getty Images
18/28
A woman wearing a face mask passes a Public Health England sign at Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty
19/28
Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton
Tom Maddick / SWNS
20/28
The Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne, where two patients who have tested positive for coronavirus in England
PA
21/28
A woman wears a face mask in Parliament Square in London as the first cases of the virus to be diagnosed in the UK were announced
PA
22/28
Passengers wear face masks after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty Images
23/28
A St John's Ambulance vehicle exits the Royal Air Force station
AFP via Getty
24/28
A pedestrian wears a face mask as he walks near the Houses of Parliament
AFP via Getty Images
25/28
Coaches arrives at RAF Brize Norton
Tom Maddick / SWNS
26/28
Passengers wear face masks as they stand with their luggage at Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty
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A man wears a face mask as he walks along the Thames embankment
AFP via Getty Images
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Passengers wear face masks at Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty
“Don’t run away from the Chinese people during this difficult moment,” he added. “Loving each other during the time of adversity, being good friends during these difficult circumstances. This is the slogan of Cambodia since our ancestral times.”
Cambodia considers China a valuable diplomatic relationship due to the amount of economic investments and aid the Southeast Asian country receives from the latter.
According to the Phom Penh Post, the prime minister also said cancelling flights to and from China was out of the question as it would “kill the hospitality and service industry in Cambodia”.
“Cancelling flights with China would not be an attack on China. It would be an attack on the Cambodian economy,” he said.
“It would strain relations between the countries. I don’t care what other countries think – Cambodia does not behave this way.”
The announcement has drawn criticism by human rights groups and opposing political parties in the country.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures during a speech (AP)
Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, told the Independent: “PM Hun Sen can deflect blame all he wants, but why is he prioritising good relations between Cambodia and China rather than taking preventive steps to prevent the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus among the Cambodian people?
“Cambodia hardly seems prepared if there is a wider outbreak of this flu. Cambodia should prioritise greater transparency in preparing the country to respond, including by actively encouraging the involvement of community and civil society leaders in formulating the response to this crisis.
“But so far, it’s all been lectures and PM Hun Sen wanting to show bravado by not wearing a face mask,” Mr Robertson added. “This is authoritarianism, pure and simple – and it’s the Cambodian people who will suffer for it.”
Sopheap Chak, executive director at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), said in a statement: “The wellbeing of citizens should be the priority, and ought not to be compromised in favour of diplomatic and economic relations.
“The government is responsible for these individuals and should ensure the safety of all Cambodian citizens, regardless of where they are in the world.”
Mu Sochua, exiled deputy leader of the opposing Cambodia National Rescue Party, told the Independent “Hun Sen is kowtowing to China - [his] friend for life. His concern is how to keep his power more than the health of his own citizens and anyone inside Cambodia. He bullied a young female reporter for asking him questions about the competence of the Ministry of Health in handling this deadly virus.
"The lives of Cambodian students in Wuhan are far less important [to Hun Sen] than kowtowing to China. Hun Sen should be [held] responsible to the global community for taking no action."
There has been one confirmed diagnosis of coronavirus in Cambodia, from a man who travelled to the country from the Chinese city of Wuhan, which is ground zero for the virus.
Speaking after that confirmation, Cambodia’s Minister of Health, Mam Bun Heng, said on Wednesday that the virus could not spread in Cambodia because the “country is just too hot”.
He was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying: “Infections are unlikely here because our country is just too hot. Only one case has been reported so far in [Cambodia], so people that are not living in areas where the virus has been reported don’t need to wear a mask.”
The outbreak has infected 11,791 people in China alone and the death toll rose to 259 on Saturday.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global emergency on Thursday, which “flipped the switch” from a cautious attitude earlier to recommending governments prepare for the possibility of the virus spreading much more rapidly.
The WHO said it was especially concerned about some cases abroad that may involve human-to-human transmission, contrary to what Cambodia’s health minister has said.
China suspended plane, bus and train links to Wuhan on 23 January in an effort to contain the disease, with lockdowns taking place in surrounding cities as well.
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