Minister of National Defence Tea Banh regards as “groundless” the accusation that Cambodia is providing China with “exclusive use” of the north portion of Ream Naval Base, calling it an “insult” and merely an excuse to undermine the Kingdom’s interests. Tea Banh made the remark during the IISS Asia Security Summit – also commonly referred to as the Shangri-La Dialogue – held in Singapore on June 11, an event at which the naval base developments remained a popular topic of discussion that attracted many questions from the forum’s participants. “Unfortunately, Cambodia is constantly accused of giving exclusive rights to foreign…
Author: Niem Chheng
Prime Minister Hun Sen, in his capacity as chair of ASEAN, called on Myanmar’s ruling State Administration Council (SAC) leader Min Aung Hlaing to reconsider plans to execute members of opposition groups. In a June 10 letter, Hun Sen said that the death sentences for those opposing the SAC are causing great concern among ASEAN member states as well as the bloc’s outside partners. “Cambodia strongly believes that if the execution plans were carried out it would cause a widespread negative reaction from the international community. It will also have serious impacts on the efforts made by ASEAN and Cambodia…
Cambodia on June 8 broke ground on the construction of upgrades to the country’s naval capacity through the modernisation of Ream Naval Base, amid fresh speculation that China is “secretly building a naval facility” for its own “exclusive use” despite the Kingdom’s repeated denials of these accusations. The groundbreaking ceremony kicked off the construction project to rehabilitate the dry dock, pier and slipway along with the construction of a vessel maintenance workshop at the Modernization Centre of Ream Naval Base in Preah Sihanouk province. The construction is being paid for with a grant from China. The ceremony was attended by…
Prime Minister Hun Sen said sanctions against Russia as a result of its military offensive in Ukraine should be stopped as they have produced no tangible results, and predicted that a global food crisis would ensue in 2023 as a consequence. Speaking to an audience at the Strategic Outlook on ASEAN session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Hun Sen said: “Sanctions should be stopped because they don’t produce any benefits. Not only do poor countries suffer, even the countries that issued the sanctions are affected … The sanction directly impacts those of us who are not involved…
Foreign minister Prak Sokhonn has urged the US to consider lifting “unjustly imposed” visa restrictions for Cambodian foreign ministry officials as retaliation to the deportation agreement, in which the US accused Cambodia of being “uncooperative”. “His Excellency Prak Sokhonn sought the US’ reconsideration of unjustly imposed visa restrictions related to the repatriation issue, while reassuring his American counterpart of Cambodia’s full cooperation on the process,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation press statement regarding the May 13 meeting between Sokhonn and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The visa restriction has been imposed on foreign ministry employees…