Phnom penh: Cambodian senior government officials have called on their compatriots to maintain peaceful and nonviolent actions in response to the ongoing border dispute with Thailand. Speaking at a press briefing here this afternoon, H.E. Pen Bona, Head of the Royal Government Spokesperson Unit, asked his compatriots to express their patriotism through intelligence rather than emotion.
According to Agence Kampuchea Presse, in order to destroy Cambodia's good score, some hostile groups have been inciting in every way possible to make Cambodia lose patience and resort to violence so that they can use it as an excuse to destroy the ceasefire agreement. "This is a dangerous trap. Please maintain the spirit of peace and non-violence through demonstrating patriotism by using intelligence rather than emotion, in order to avoid falling into the traps of incitement and division by hostile milieus, especially their attempts to separate the people's strength, which are the strong pillars of national defence, from the Royal Government and the armed forces," he underlined.
In this regard, H.E. Gen. Tea Seiha, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence also made a reaction via his social media platform. He highlighted the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF)'s firm position and mission in defending the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. "Since July 28, our forces have maintained their strong position in defending the country with utmost patience in order to well implement the ceasefire, avoid another armed conflict that would lead to losses of properties, relatives, people, and forces," he said.
Defending the country and protecting the borders are not a small matter, and cannot be distorted, he said, stressing that "no leader uses his own people as a shield or a pawn to protect his own interests like some traitorous leaders who live and sleep comfortably abroad." H.E. Gen. Tea Seiha thus urged attention not let the country fall into a war like in the past.