you are feeling very depressed. in thejuly election in cambodia for the national assembly, the ruling people's party won 120 of the 125 seats. was that really the final nail in the coffin of your opposition movement? no, we continue the fight. it is an uphill battle. but i think in the end, democracy will prevail. what makes you think that, given the track record of the last 30, a0 years, why on earth do you still believe what you call democracy will prevail? because nobody is eternal. hun sen is 72 year old. and many, many cambodians among the young generation, they are hoping for a democratic change. but the point about hun sen, he is clearly getting older but the whole point of this election is that as soon as the election was done he told the nation that he is handing the reins of power to his son, hun manet, who now sits in the parliament and will be cambodia's next prime minister. but for the cambodian people, this succession within the same political clan, the same family, actually, isjust unacceptable. it's easy in a way for you to say that with great confidence sitting here with me in the hardtalk studio and from your home in exile in paris, but the reality for cambodians is the hun sen regime, if i can put it that way because he still is the leader of the ruling party even though he is handing over the premiership, the reality is he looks stronger today than ever. he uses brutal force but if you recall the last election in 2013, when the opposition was allowed to participate in, we won nearly half of the popular vote, in spite of serious irregularities. had the election been more honest, we would have won, definitely. so the support of the population is still there. no doubt, there was significant support for your cambodia national rescue party in that election but a lot has happened since then, not least to you personally. since 2015, you've been living in paris, you are portrayed by hun sen and the people close to him as a man enjoying a very comfortable life, out of touch with the reality that face ordinary cambodians today. and you also now face a whole host of legal issues, not least the fact that on several different charges, you have been condemned to life in prison, should you return. so it is hard to see how you can still present yourself as a credible leader of the opposition? for opposition leaders, in cambodia, you can face only three possible fates. one is assassination, i escaped several assassination attempts. two is jail, i have lost my freedom several times. and third is exile. i am forced into exile. but i am just a symbol, what is important is the will of the people, especially the young generation, who have never seen any other leaders than hun sen for a0 years. yes, let us just stick with this exile idea for a minute. you do have a choice. it's a very tough choice but you could go back to cambodia, the fact is you would immediately be arrested and probably be a prisonerfor a very long time. but others in the opposition movement have chosen to stay in cambodia, in particular i'm thinking of kem sokha who has, despite years of harassment, continued to oppose hun sen from inside cambodia and to many cambodians looks like a man of great courage, of great bravery. iam prevented, physically prevented from going back to cambodia. hun sen has banned airline companies who would carry me back to cambodia. how do you feel? because there has been tension between you and kem sokha, you are collaborators and cofounders of the cambodia national rescue party, but you seem to have parted company on several different issues. his daughter, he has been convicted to 27 years, i believe, currently under house arrest, but his daughter has been quoted as saying, quoting him, that a leader never asks supporters to do what he is not willing to do himself. is that a problematic idea for you? not at all. i will go back to cambodia immediately when hun sen stops preventing me physically from moving there. i am ready to go but how can i go? no airline would carry me. and if i go by land, i am prevented from entering cambodia. hun sen said he would ask his soldiers to dig trenches and to fire me with machine—guns, preventing me from just moving into cambodia. so, how can i do? you've just made a whole series of extremely serious allegations directed at hun sen. he is not here to refute them and what the cambodian government has always said is that you have been accorded due legal process and you have been convicted in cambodia's courts? it's almost impossible to be an active opponent of hun sen and his associates inside cambodia today. there are many political prisoners, street protest is virtually impossible, dissenting voices and newspapers have been closed down. so i appreciate it is very difficult. nonetheless, you seem to have achieved something which is sort of extremely problematic for the opposition. you have split the opposition. there are many opponents of hun sen inside cambodia who now find you to be problematic. i think this is a small group of people, which do not represent the general population. the general population continue to vote for another opposition party. we collect, in spite of the very little time left to prepare the last election, we collected nearly one quarter of the popular vote. and for this year election, we were prevented from running because hun sen knew that the trend is very strong in favour of the opposition that i represent. but why is it then, the leader of the candlelight party, which since your party was dissolved, the candlelight party took on the mantle as the main opposition leader in cambodia and its veteran leader kong korm has made a point of saying, we have nothing to do with sam rainsy and we want nothing to do with him, why has that happened? this is because hun sen is paranoid. the previous name of the candlelight party was the sam rainsy party. i founded that party. but hun sen would destroy anything which is related to me. so you can understand why the current leadership of the candlelight larty want to disassociate themselves from me otherwise they will be dissolved or they will be put injail. you have chosen again to point yourfire, you have targeted hun sen in that answer. i'm asking you why senior figures in the cambodian opposition, including kong korm, do not want to be associated with you and it seems the answer is — which you did not want to give me — it seems the answer is they want to distance themselves from a lot of your political rhetoric, which they find inflammatory and some of it even racist, nationalist, xenophobic and racist? i think it is out of fear. hun sen has the national... forgive me. you had made many allegations about hun sen, i am not actually talking about hun sen. i am asking you to account for your language over many yea rs. going back a decade there are many examples of you using inflammatory, racially charged rhetoric, specially directed at the small, ethnic vietnamese population inside cambodia. and some of your fellow opponents of hun sen do not like your language. it is not for this reason. it is out of fear that they want to distance themselves from me. i was invited to vietnam. i was received by the deputy prime minister by the foreign affairs minister, meaning that they consider me as representative of the cambodian people. and they respect me, receiving me as an official guest. so have you stopped using a word — i'm not going to used the word — but for years you used a word to describe vietnamese people in cambodia which is regarded widely as a slur, as derogatory. have you stopped using that word? no, it is a matter of...it is a controversy. people who are native cambodian, who speak cambodian or khmer naturally, they consider, they do not consider any word that we use currently in cambodia as derogatory. you are not going to apologise for your use of language? are you going to apologise for saying things like this — this was nine years ago, but i don't know if you still believe it today. you said of the hun sen leadership, you said "that leadership is destroying our country, murdering it bit by bit and they are giving..." and then you used this racial derogatory word which i am not going to use, they are giving the vietnamese you meant, "the chance to kill cambodia." do you apologise for saying that? i did not say that, that is a bad translation. i said cambodia has lost territory to neighbouring countries, we lost an island, koh tral, because hun sen signed a treaty giving that island belonging to cambodia to a neighbouring country. so i have nothing to apologise because this is the truth. there are many human rights workers who worry you have stirred up racism and to quote phil robertson who works, or did work for human rights watch in asia when you wre saying some of this stuff, he said racism is a problem that encompasses not only rainsy�*s party but other parties as well. it is an ongoing problem an the way you are using the language, he said, it could mean it bursts out into larger violence. i just wonder if you have any regrets about the way you used this xenophobic, nationalistic tone? no, not at all. for instance the spokesperson for the government, used the same term. so it means that it is common language, whether you are in the opposition or in the government. do you think nationalism is a vehicle you can use to erode support for hun sen and now hun manet. we don't need nationalism — there are enough serious problems facing the cambodian people, which is poverty, which is corruption, which is social injustice, which is deforestation, which is a modern form of slavery, so these issues are really big concerns that we have to address. on that score, look at the data. over two decades cambodia, led by hun sen, has delivered average growth rates of somethig around 7%. he has lifete cambodians out of poverty and improved infant mortality rates, improved longevity of life in cambodia. 0n so many different measures of quality of life over the last two decades, cambodians have experienced very positive developments. the contrary would have been surprising. because cambodia came from a very low level. after the deceptions caused by war, by massacre, cambodia was virtually reduced to ashes. so when you come from a near zero level, your progress can be only noticeable. but the 6—7% per year is not extraordinary, it is in line with the growth enjoyed by neighbouring countries. but more importantly, you have to look at the quality of the growth. you have to see whether this growth has been sustainable and equitable. they have not been sustainable and equitable because cambodia has suffered from the highest deforestation rates in the world. and with the social fabric tearing down because of human trafficking, prostitution, how can that kind of growth be sustainable? what one can say is the international community has deepened its trading relationships with cambodia, cambodia is now seen as a low—cost manufacturer to the world. yes, fortunately. did you say fortunately? yes, fortunately that the international community continue to help cambodia. you approve of that? yes to help the cambodian people. but they are also helping hun sen and his colleagues to stay in power. because hun sen holds the cambodian people hostage. he blackmail the international community. they must help the cambodian people. through... so you have been sitting in paris delivering that message saying the international community must get real and wake up to what is happening inside cambodia and put real pressure on hun sen. you've been saying it for so long and nothing is happening. look at his record in asean. he has been fully embraced into the regional group. i think he has chaired the asean summit three times. look at his relationship with emmanuel macron. despite the fact that the eu in 2020 did put some limited trade sanctions on cambodia not so long ago, hun sen was crowing about the warmth of this relationship with macron and the two were pictured holding hands together. but look at what the human rights organisation human rights watch have said about the violations committed by hun sen. what i am asking for is personal sanctions, targeted sanctions against individuals, those responsible for serious human rights violations for the destruction of democracy in cambodia. are you not prepared to give hun manet, the son of hun sen, a chance? i think hun manet is a prisoner of the system. remember what happened to syria in 2000 when hafez al—assad was replaced by his son, more educated and more open, presumably, people expected there would be an improvement of the regime. not at all. the americans are hoping that because they are aware that he was educated in part at west point. he was also educated in part in the united kingdom. what the west sees in hun manet, i think, is the possibility of a leader who is more open than his father. this is exactly what the west expected from bashar al—assad. but the child is worse than the father because the regime remained the same and the son is a prisoner of the system set up by the father. this is true in syria as well as in cambodia. whether or not that message is getting through in capitals like washington and london it does not seem to cut any ice in the capital that matters the most when it comes to diplomacy and that is beijing, because beijing, it seems, has an ironclad alliance with hun sen and the current cambodian government. nothing you say or do will change that, is it? because the strategic alliance between hun sen and beijing's is crucial to hun sen. is essential to hun sen. and for china, china has decided to make cambodia a military stronghold, an outpost for china in her expansionist policy. china is building a port in cambodia that many people believe could be used by the chinese navy ultimately. that is why the west must accept the fact that hun sen and hun manet will depend on china for their very survival. hun sen is very admirative towards the means of the chinese government and their sophisticated means to control the population. you have a strategic choice to make of your own. obviously you hope you are still speaking to the cambodian people and getting your message across to the cambodian people. what is your message to them today in terms of the geopolitical rivalry between the united states and china, which is so important to your neighbourhood in southeast asia, are you telling the cambodian people that if you were in power you would make a fundamental shift and aligning cambodia much more with the united states and western interest than with beijing? is that what you say? no. not at all. i call on the international community, especially the 17 countries who signed the paris peace agreement in 1991 to implement that treaty, that international treaty that mandates cambodia to be a neutral and independent country. but that ship has sailed. that is more than 30 years ago. you seriously think that the international community, perhaps you think the united states in the lead, is going to go out of its way, given the problems in the world today, make a big effort to go back to that treaty? of course. the last statement by the french government recalls the paris peace agreement because it is very important for cambodia to stick to democratic principles and for cambodia to remain a neutral and independent country, not to allow any foreign power to build military bases on her soil. so your message is you still want to believe that the 1991 peace accord can be implemented some 30 something years later but in the meantime, what will you do now? you sit there in paris and have told me you absolutely cannot go home, there is no room to manoeuvre from any opposition group in today's cambodia. what can you really offer the cambodian people? this can change at any time. a political leader in cambodia such as former king, he was exiled for many years, and hun sen himself had to flee the country to escape a massacre from the khmer rouge. so what i call for is a free and fair election to let cambodian people decide. not hun sen, not sam rainsy, but the cambodian people decide through real elections. do you believe that there ever could be a popular uprising, some sort of street movement that was capable of bringing down the current regime? i do not call for that. i just call for peaceful democratic process meaning free and fair elections. and this is according to the paris peace agreement, this must be organised with the support of the international community. if you stop respecting an international treaty, where are we going to? what is the use of signing any international treaty if you do not respect them? sam rainsy, ithank you forjoining me on hardtalk. hello. we're going to have all sorts of weather on friday — from morning thunderstorms across the south of the country, to sunshine in the lake district and scotland. so a real mixed bag on the way. so let's have a look at the big picture. here's the satellite picture — jet stream pushing along this developing area of weather. multiple areas of low pressure and multiple weather fronts heading our way. and yes, there'll be some storms, too. so let's have a look at the early morning forecast — showers already breaking out across some southwestern parts of the country, possibly some rumbles of thunder, too. but further north and east, i think bright spells, if not cloudy skies across some of these north sea coasts. quite muggy in the morning. but let's have a look at the thunderstorms, then. so sweeping in from the southwest — this is around about 7:00 — the position of these storms very tricky to pinpoint, but we will see some downpours in places. frequent lightning, gusty winds, as well. some rain moving through northern ireland in the morning, too, then eventually, these thunderstorms will move into the midlands, move a little bit further northwards, and most of them should fade — so we're not anticipating any storms further north. now further north, it'll be a little bit cooler — around 17 in aberdeen, 19 in glasgow, further south across the country, around about 21—23 celsius. then friday night, the next era of rain sweeps across the country — this is a developing area of low pressure — with the risk of gales around some western and southwestern coasts. so very blustery weather for a time in the morning, especially out towards the southwest. the rain will move north, and then later in the day on saturday, it's actually better — it's quite a breezy day, but plenty of bright, if not sunny weather, and just a scattering of showers. and the temperatures will rise a little bit, as well. now looking ahead to sunday, an area of high pressure is expected to build in from the south, extending all the way from these southwestern portions. and i think a pretty decent day on the way, just a scattering of showers, really pleasant temperatures — 25 in london, about 20 expected in glasgow, and about 21 in belfast. and the outlook is looking warm for many of us, not necessarily sunny all the time — i think the low 20s further north, and comfortably into the mid—20s across some southern areas. that's it for me, bye—bye. welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm monica miller. the headlines... canada evacuates thousands of people from the north western city of yellowknife, as a huge wildfire approaches. we have a special report from pakistan, after churches and christian homes were attacked following claims a copy of the quran was desecrated. when we first got here, people were still in a real state of shock. but now, it's quite clear that that is turning to anger. the leaders of japan and south korea travel to the us — for a summit withjoe biden — aimed at tackling rising regional threats. and tributes are paid to the uk tv chat show legend sir michael parkinson, who has died, aged 88. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to the programme. we begin in canada, where emergency workers are evacuating thousands of residents of an entire city in the northwest of the country, which is in the path of a huge wildfire. more than 20,000 people in yellowknife, the capital city of canada's northwest territories, have been told to leave by friday. authorities say the wildfires have taken a turn for the worse and pose a "real threat". yellowknife is now blanketed in smoke,

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