Cambodia’s PM Hun Sen criticises West’s ‘double standards’ after fresh sanctions

He complained that Cambodia was the victim of ‘political agendas’ and that Western countries failed to appreciate its great achievements

The EU partially suspended trade preferences while the US imposed sanctions on a Chinese developer over evictions in the Dara Sakor project

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Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Western states used human rights issues as a pretext for interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:22pm, 21 Sep 2020Updated: 3:43am, 22 Sep 2020

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has lashed out at the West for what he calls “double standards”, following a series of reprimands by the international community against the leader's regime.

In a statement released on Monday to mark the International Day of Peace, the leader, who has been in power for 35 years, complained that Western countries failed to appreciate Cambodia's “great achievements” of the past four decades.

Instead, he said Cambodia had been the victim of political agendas and “double standards”.

“They also use this human rights issue as a political tool or a pretext for interfering in internal affairs, violating sovereignty and independence of Cambodia and other weak countries,” he wrote, according to a translation by The Phnom Penh Post.

The European Union in August partially suspended the country's trade preferences in response to human rights violations, such as the forced dissolution of the main opposition party.