Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Positive outlook for Cambodia-US ties after PM visits embassy

Positive outlook for Cambodia-US ties after PM visits embassy

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Prime Minister Hun Sen shakes hands with US ambassador Patrick Murphy at US embassy in Phnom Penh on December 23. US EMBASSY IN PHNOM PENH

Positive outlook for Cambodia-US ties after PM visits embassy

Prime Minister Hun Sen on December 23 met with US ambassador Patrick Murphy at his embassy, in a visit hailed by diplomacy experts as a “rare gesture” that could elevate relations between Cambodia and the global power.

“With a view to the new year, Ambassador Murphy and the Prime Minister discussed ways to improve the bilateral relationship. We look forward to a productive 2023 and continued efforts to strengthen friendship between the American and Cambodian people,” the US embassy in Phnom Penh said in a social media post.

The US voiced appreciation for Cambodia’s 2022 ASEAN chairmanship in a year of regional and global challenges, the “historic” US-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington DC, the hospitality extended to President Joe Biden during the dual ASEAN summits in Phnom Penh last month, and the newly-launched US-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).

A CSP is generally a broad, detailed, dynamic, long-term, highly result-oriented agreement between signatories that affirms a high degree of maturity in relations as well as mutual trust and commitment. In 2010, Cambodia and China entered into such a partnership, and trade between the two countries has increased ever since, as has mutual support for international politics.

“We welcome Cambodia’s stance to uphold the UN Charter, defend territorial integrity, and co-sponsor UN resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the post added.

Royal Academy of Cambodia secretary-general Yang Peou said: “If we look at the general atmosphere of Cambodia-US relations this year, we see [how] different [it is] from many years ago, and the recent developments of these bilateral relationships are the best.”

He contended that Cambodian-US were elevated by the Kingdom’s early condemnation of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, accusing Moscow of being in breach of the UN Charter, international law and humanitarian principles.

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
US ambassador Patrick Murphy welcomes Prime Minister Hun Sen. US EMBASSY IN PHNOM PENH

For context, Cambodian joined 140 countries and seven ASEAN member states on March 2 to vote in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution censuring Russia on its military offensive in the embattled nation that began six days earlier.

“[This] is in line with what the United States and the West wanted, as well as the nations of the world.

“Furthermore, the Cambodian people also want it, because we went through civil wars. So when the head of the Cambodian government, Hun Sen, condemned the Russian Federation … [this elevated] relations between Cambodia and the US,” he continued.

He listed three other key recent events that have boosted bilateral relations between the two countries: Hun Sen leading the ASEAN delegation to the US-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington; the premier’s chairmanship of the dual ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh; and the December 23 rare visit to the US embassy.

“This is a rare picture – a rare diplomatic gesture – that I have observed. This is also what shows that the modus operandi and relations between the two countries are better than ever,” he emphasised.

Peou predicted that US-Cambodia relations would “be more positive” even after the ambassador's appointment comes to an end.

Murphy was appointed as US ambassador to Cambodia on August 8, 2019.

“The year 2023 is expected to bear fruit, and the political environment in Cambodia will be better, marked by free and fair elections,” he said, voicing optimism that the US would reinstate its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and provide preferential tariff treatment to Cambodia.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • PM urges end to ‘baseless’ international Ream base accusations

    Prime Minister Hun Sen urges an end to “baseless” foreign accusations surrounding the development of the Kingdom’s Ream Naval Base, as the US has consistently suggested that the base is being expanded to accommodate a Chinese military presence. Hun Sen renewed his calls while