John Kerry praises Cambodian revival but insists concerns over human rights and democratic process remain
Hun Sen, who has ruled for 31 years through a mix of hard power and political guile, smothered a resurgent opposition in legal charges over recent months.
US Secretary of State John Kerry met Cambodian leader Hun Sen on Tuesday, praising the kingdom’s “remarkable” economic revival but pushing for greater political freedoms as the strongman tries to extend his three-decade grip on power.
Cambodia has emerged from the ashes of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime to become one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies. But it provides political support to China within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, an alliance that has at times caused strain within the bloc in the face of increasingly aggressive Chinese claims in the South China Sea.
President Barack Obama has assiduously courted Asean as part of a diplomatic ‘pivot’ east aiming to offset China’s trade and diplomatic might in Southeast Asia.
The relationship between the ruling party and the opposition party is fraught right now
Kerry, who arrived in Phnom Penh from neighbouring Laos, praised Cambodia for rebooting its economy after the fanatical rule of the Maoist Khmer Rouge, which left up to a quarter of the population dead before its defeat in the mid-1970s.
Although some three million people still live below the poverty line, the World Bank said the economy is on track to expand just under seven per cent this year.
Hailing the “remarkable growth”, Kerry said Cambodia was “about the cross the line” into becoming a middle-income country.
“You have seen incredible changes,” he said ahead of talks with Hun Sen.
Garment manufacture is a key pillar of that success, with an industry lobby group saying exports to the US alone were worth US$1.8 billion in 2014. But economic gains are being offset by the threat posed to Cambodia’s fragile democracy.