Volume 43, Number 20 · December 19, 1996
The Cambodian Tragedy, Cont'd
By William Shawcross
During a visit to Phnom Penh after my article on Cambodia appeared in these pages,[*] the country seemed more perplexing than ever. The press there expresses all sorts of opinions, and is usually free to criticize the government, but not without terrible risks—editors have been physically threatened for their dissenting opinions, and some have been shot, as happened in the case of Thun Bun Ly, whose murder I described in my article. The economy is apparently growing at an astonishing 13 percent this year, but the growth is mostly in Phnom Penh, and the gap between urban rich and rural poor is increasing alarmingly. The country's vast forests, one of Cambodia's great assets, are being illegally cut down and the timber stolen—usually by senior government officials and the Khmer Rouge. Civil servants are paid only $13 a month, while government ministers and businessmen from Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, and China are making large fortunes. Almost every day another graceful building is razed and replaced by a hideous gas station or office building that is hardly needed but has been constructed as a result of corrupt deals.
Feature, 1613 words
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