泰國退出世界遺產公約

Thailand on Sunday withdrew from the World Heritage Convention as Cambodia prepared to present management plans for a 900-year-old temple to a meeting of the committee in Paris. The Thai government says its withdrawal is meant to protect the country's sovereignty; analysts say it further delays implementing a management plan for the historical site.

泰國星期天退出了世界遺產公約，起因是柬埔寨準備向世界遺產公約在巴黎舉行的會議上遞交有關一個900年曆史寺廟的管理計劃。泰國政府表示，退出這個公約是爲了保護泰國的主權。分析人士說，泰國的舉措進一步推遲了落實對這個歷史古蹟的管理計劃。

Thailand’s withdrawal from the World Heritage Convention and the World Heritage Committee came during a Paris meeting after an agreement was reached to place a proposed management plan for the site on the meeting’s agenda.

泰國是在世界遺產委員會在巴黎舉行會議時退出世界遺產公約的。此前，委員會議同意把這所寺廟的擬議管理計劃列入開會議程內。

Thailand has disputed moves by Cambodia to present a management plan for the 900-year-old disputed temple on the Cambodia-Thailand border.

泰國一直對柬埔寨要爲這座900年古廟提出管理計劃的做法有意見。這座有爭議的古蹟位於泰國和柬埔寨邊界。

At the meeting, Thailand requested a deferral of any proposed management plans until the the border dispute is settled. In 1962, the Hague-based International Court of Justice, or ICJ, ruled that the temple belonged to Cambodia. But the more than four-square-kilometer border around the temple, known as the Preah Vihear in Cambodia and Phra Viharn in Thailand, remains in dispute. In May, Cambodia called on the ICJ to force Thailand to withdraw troops from the contested territory surrounding the temple.

在會議上，泰國要求推遲任何擬議的管理計劃，直到邊界爭議得到解決。1962年，設在海牙的國際法庭裁定這座寺廟歸柬埔寨所有。但是圍繞柏威夏寺廟4平方多公里的邊界仍然存在爭議。今年5月，柬埔寨請求國際法庭迫使泰國從這座寺廟附近有爭議的土地上撤軍。

The Thai Natural Resource and Environment Minister, Suwit Khunkitti, announced Sunday's decision to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention.

泰國自然資源和環境部長素威坤吉滴星期天宣佈，泰國退出世界遺產公約。

Thai Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the decision is aimed at protecting his country's national interests, given the territorial dispute.

泰國政府發言人帕尼坦說，在領土有爭議的情況下，這個決定是爲了保護泰國的國家利益。“This is why the prime minister and the government of Thailand made a decision to withdraw from the treaty and the membership of World Heritage [Committee], just to make sure that we are not running any risks affecting our national integrity and sovereignty," he said.

他說：“這就是泰國總理和政府決定退出這個公約，以及世界遺產委員會會員資格的原因，就是要確保我們沒有冒着影響國家完整和主權的風險。”

In 2008, the temple was listed as a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization, or UNESCO. Since then, Thailand and Cambodia have fought sporadically over the site.

聯合國教科文組織2008年把柏威夏寺廟定爲世界遺產。此後，泰國和柬埔寨不時爲這座寺廟發生爭執。

In cross-border clashes in April, as many as 50,000 Thai and Cambodian villagers were forced to flee to emergency centers.

今年4月兩國發生越境衝突，有多達5萬名泰國和柬埔寨村民被迫逃到緊急中心。

Political scientist Carl Thayer at the University of New South Wales in Australia calls the Thai government's decision to withdraw from the World Heritage Convention and Committee a step backward in ending the cross-border conflict over the Hindu temple.

澳大利亞新南威爾士大學的政治學者卡爾塞耶認爲，泰國政府退出世界遺產公約和委員會的決定使結束有關這座印度教寺廟的邊界爭議向後倒退。

“I suspect Cambodia will have to come up with a bit of a delay on their part," he said. "Bottom line - it would delay getting UNESCO to put the final seal of approval on it [i.e., the management plan] because the management plan is going through disputed territory. How does Cambodia effectively develop that temple? The stronger case would be if the two countries were going to cooperate.”

卡爾塞耶說：“我想，柬埔寨這方將不得不延後推出他們的計劃。底線是這將會推遲聯合國教科文組織最終對這個管理計劃的核準，因爲管理計劃將通過有爭議的領土。柬埔寨如何能有效發展這座寺廟呢？最可行的辦法會是兩國展開合作。”

Angered by the government’s failure to take a tougher stance against Cambodia over the conflict, Thai nationalists welcomed their government’s withdrawal from the convention. In a protest last week in Bangkok, the nationalists demanded that the United Nations withdraw the temple's World Heritage designation.

泰國民族主義者對政府沒有在這個衝突中對柬埔寨採取更強硬的立場感到憤怒，因此他們歡迎政府退出世界遺產公約。上星期民族主義者在曼谷舉行的一次抗議活動中，要求聯合國撤銷指定這所寺廟爲世界遺產。

Thai officials say they are prepared to work with the international community as well as with UNESCO and World Heritage members to move forward without the proposed management plan, they say, that affects Thailand's sovereignty.

泰國官員說，他們在沒有擬定管理計劃的情況下準備和國際社會、聯合國教科文組織以及世界遺產委員會的成員合作。他們說，擬定的計劃影響到泰國主權。