Cambodian Prime Minister responds to Vietnamese comment on Facebook regarding the South China Sea.

Prime Minister Hun Sen responded to criticism from a Vietnamese Facebook user regarding Cambodia's stance on the South China Sea issue.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Photo: Cambodia Herald

According to the Phnom Penh Post, Vietnamese commentators said that Cambodia had lowered ASEAN's standing in the South China Sea dispute by supporting China's position.

Yesterday, on his Facebook page, Hun Sen responded to this criticism, saying that it was not a Cambodian issue.

"If you or your country have problems with China, please resolve them peacefully. Don't blame me and don't drag Cambodia into your internal affairs," he wrote.

China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea using its self-drawn "nine-dash line," which overlaps with the maritime territories of neighboring countries, and consistently advocates resolving disputes through bilateral negotiations.

In its July 12 ruling, the Arbitration Tribunal in the Netherlands stated that China has no legal basis to claim historical rights to the resources within its "nine-dash line" claim.

Despite international support, China firmly refuses to recognize the ruling. Cambodia also agrees with China's position. Prime Minister Hun Sen declared his rejection of the ruling just one day after it was announced.

In July, Cambodia prevented ASEAN from mentioning the ruling on the "nine-dash line" in a joint statement of the association.

Yesterday, the Cambodian parliament also confirmed it would request the head of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) to remove a section referring to the South China Sea dispute from the joint statement that ASEAN is expected to issue at the end of a September meeting in Laos.

Cheam Yeap, a member of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), said he did not know whether the AIPA secretary-general would heed the Cambodian parliament's request, but he reiterated Prime Minister Hun Sen's position that the countries involved in the dispute should negotiate directly with China to find a solution.

According to VNE