PhnomPenhPost-May 12, 2022
A day before the ASEAN-US Special Summit is set to begin, Prime Minister Hun Sen has insisted that Cambodia will remain neutral and not choose between the US and China, as he attempted to assuage US concerns on Chinese military presence in Ream Naval Base. “We don’t have to choose between the US and China. There is no need to do so. Whether or not you force me to take one, I will refuse,” Hun Sen said while meeting with some 2,000 members of the Cambodian diaspora in Washington, DC. As ASEAN chair, Hun Sen is co-hosting the summit with US President Joe Biden in Washington from May 12-13. “Our policy goes hand in hand with that of ASEAN’s. I want to draw a line in that, with any Indo-Pacific or Asia Pacific initiative, Cambodia will abide by three principles: firstly, peace and development, secondly, taking no one as enemy, and thirdly, respecting ASEAN Centrality,” he said. Hun Sen noted that these three principles have been consistently used by Cambodia as a basis to decide whether the Kingdom would support any regional initiative, and insisted that ASEAN will not support any country that deviates from its own principles. Read more at:
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-politics/pm-neutral-us-china-ties
