US Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin is expected to have an official visit to Cambodia, which is among China’s allies in South-East Asia this year and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart at an annual security conference in Singapore, official has said.
According to a statement from the US Department of Defence issued in Washington on Friday, Austin would travel next week to Singapore, Cambodia and France.
Before travelling to Phnom Penh on 4 June after attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. It was pointing out that one of these meetings were held with Admiral Dong Jun for China’s military counterpartship who meet them there. This meeting will be part of a broader engagement aimed at repairing relations that have soured over Beijing’s aggression against Taiwan and its vast territorial claims regarding the South China Sea.
The relationship between the US and Cambodia has been strained for years owing primarily to Phnom Penh’s close association with Beijing. Additionally, Washington has consistently voiced concern about what it perceives as Cambodia’s deteriorating human rights record which has seen ongoing oppression of political opponents and critics.
Cambodia serves as China’s closest partner in Southeast Asia and there are particular concerns in Washington over the upgrading by Chinese assistance of a naval base along the Gulf of Thailand southern coast to become the strategic outpost of China’s navy.
Cambodian officials insist however that China will not be given any special basing privileges there but say their own country maintains a neutral defence posture.
This announcement said Austin would meet senior officials during his first visit since he attended an Asian defence ministers’ gathering in November 2022.
“We are now working with the US Embassy in Phnom Penh to arrange his meetings with the Cambodian leaders,” Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Chum Sounry said Saturday responding to The Associated Press question. “To develop further Cambodia-US relations this visit is another significant step.”
It will also be Austin’s first visit to Cambodia since Hun Sen stepped down as prime minister last year and his son, Hun Manet took over the position after 38 years. Since the handover, there has been speculation of a US-Cambodia reset though Hun Manet so far has maintained his father’s policies.
Hun Manet became Prime Minister in August last year following his role as Commander-in-Chief of Cambodia’s armed forces. He attended West Point Military Academy in America, where both he and Austin graduated from – Austin in 1975 and Hun Manet in 1999 as Cambodia’s first cadet there.
From Cambodia, Austin will travel to France for events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Normandy during World War II, according to a statement by the department of defence.
According to Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary who made this announcement on Friday said that Austin went through a medical procedure at National Military Medical Center Walter Reed Army Hospital Washington before coming back on duty today
Ryder added that Austin continues to experience bladder problems which he had since last December having been treated for prostate cancer.
