Two senior officials of the Cambodian Senate have shared the principles of Cambodia’s foreign policy with the Japanese Ambassador and a visiting Japanese political analyst. They explained that the Kingdom adheres to a policy of “building friendships, not making enemies and adhering to the principles of law and righteousness”.
This position was explained by Thun Vathana, second vice-president of the Senate, and Chem Widhya, chairman of the Senate’s 5th Commission, during a November 26 meeting with Japanese ambassador Ueno Atsushi and Professor Hosoya Yuichi, a renowned expert in international politics from Keio University, Tokyo, according to a Senate social media post.
During the meeting, Vathana affirmed Cambodia’s commitment to peaceful diplomatic solutions regarding border disputes with Thailand. He emphasised the necessity of respecting international law, specifically the Joint Peace Accord which was signed on October 26.
Hosoya explained the international policy currently being implemented by newly-appointed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, particularly Japan’s role within the security framework and regional potential in East Asia, ASEAN and Africa.
“Cambodia has always been a good and long-standing friend of Japan; specifically, Cambodia was the very first country to announce support for Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy,” Hosoya was quoted as saying in the post.
He also noted that he had observed that Cambodia’s international policy stands on principles that are just and correct.
Regarding Cambodia-Japan bilateral relations, ambassador Atsushi raised the importance of cooperation to further strengthen the relationship, with a focus on public infrastructure development, Japanese investment, the establishment of processing factories and concessional loans, among other areas.
