Cambodia dug in its heals ahead of visit Tuesday by a senior U.S official, indicating it would not budge on freeing political prisoners jailed in a 2017 crackdown on a popular opposition party and affirming the China was helping to fund and build a naval base near where U.S.-built facilities had been demolished.<\/p>\n
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday, the most senior U.S. official to visit the Southeast Asian country in almost a decade, during which Phnom Penh\u2019s ties with the U.S. and European Union have deteriorated while it has moved close to Beijing.<\/p>\n
Hunan rights groups have urged Sherman to address strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen\u2019s crackdown on opposition figures, rights activists and environmentalists who have criticized illegal logging.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the most senior US official to travel to Cambodia in almost a decade, Sherman should strongly and publicly criticize PM Hun Sen\u2019s wholesale destruction of democracy, media freedom, and human rights,\u201d Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The main opposition, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was banned and its leader Kem Sokha arrested in late 2017, allowing Hun Sen's ruling party to win every parliamentary seat in 2018 elections, drawing international criticism and EU trade sanctions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSherman should press demands that Cambodia end show trials against former CNRP officials, release the scores of political prisoners behind bars, and drop the ridiculous charges against opposition leader Kem Sokha,\u201d said Robertson.<\/p>\n
\u201cFreedom of expression is under threat in Cambodia like never before, and now facing internet censorship and controls, so Sherman should demand an end to government censorship and persecution of its critics,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Sherman, who is slated to meet Hun Sen, was urged by U.S. lawmakers to call on him to drop treason charges against Kem Sokha and to reinstate the CNRP, most of whose members are in exile or under arrest.<\/p>\n
Sok Eysan, spokesman for the ruling Cambodian People\u2019s Party (CPP), rejected foreign pressure on what he called a judicial issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can [she] propose\u00a0to the Prime Minister to drop the charge against Kem Sokha,\u00a0because\u00a0he is not\u00a0the one, who charge him. It is the court and the case is in the court, so the proposal is not acceptable,\u201d\u00a0he told RFA.
Kem Sokha\u2019s lawyer Pheng Heng told RFA that the final outcome of Khem Sokha\u2019s case will depend on politics in a country where the U.S State Department said \u201cthe government did not respect judicial independence, exerting extensive control over the courts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCorruption among judges, prosecutors, and court officials was widespread,\u201d the State Department said in its 2020 human rights report.<\/p>\n
Speaking to RFA\u00a0on\u00a0Monday,\u00a0political and analyst Em Sovannara\u00a0said that it is very unlikely that Hun Sen will drop the charges against Kem Sokha and reinstate his party \u2013 a stance that could push\u00a0the\u00a0U.S. to impose more sanctions on the Cambodian government.\u00a0\u00a0
Former CNRP parliamentarian Soun Sorida said Washington must take the lead in solving the political crisis in Cambodia because Hun Sen\u2019s government accused the U.S. government\u00a0of conspiring with Kem Sokha to topple his government.\u00a0Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985, provided no evidence and the Washington has repeatedly rejected the accusations. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe U.S. has to play an important role in response to the accusation by the Hun Sen\u2019s government against CNRP leader Kem Sokha and the CNRP\u00a0as a whole,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf talks between the U.S. and Hun Sen do not work, severe international economic sanctions will be imposed and make Cambodia\u2019s situation worse, as it\u00a0is\u00a0now being\u00a0already\u00a0suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic,\u201d added Soun Sorida.<\/p>\n
Cambodia\u2019s Minister of Defense Tea Banh confirmed in an interview with RFA at the weekend that Ream Naval Base in the southwestern coastal city of Sihanoukville was being refurbished with China\u2019s help \u201cwith the construction of a maintenance facility, renovation of the port, the gate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChina helps us without any string attached. They also bring their forces to help,\u201d he told RFA.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce it is completed, they will hand over the facilities to Cambodia. It is Cambodia that has full rights to use the base. Hence, there is nothing strange, as such development has been practiced by many others,\u201d said Tea Banh.<\/p>\n
The minister declined to disclose further details on the scope of Chinese assistance in developing Ream Naval Base, a point of friction between Phnom Penh and Washington since reports of a secret deal to allow the Chinese to use part of the base for 30 years, and the release of satellite imagery that Cambodia had built facilities near two U.S.-built maintenance facilities were demolished last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t built anything yet. Such satellite imagery is just in order to stir trouble. The demolished places will soon be filled with land for further expansion,\u201d\u00a0Tea Banh said.<\/p>\n
Political commentator Seng Sary noted that\u00a0Hun Sen has clearly stated that Cambodia relies on China.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means that clearly Cambodia relies on China 100 percent. It is also a sign that Cambodia is moving away far from the U.S. and EU\u2019s orbits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reported by RFA\u2019s Khmer Service. Translated by Sok Ry Sum and Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Paul Eckert.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \n \n
\r\nThis content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia<\/a> and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
<\/p>\n