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Cambodia’s Hun Many Calls for Stronger US Ties

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ASEAN Beat

Cambodia’s Hun Many Calls for Stronger US Ties

The son of the country’s premier urges both sides to boost relations in spite of lingering differences.

Cambodia’s Hun Many Calls for Stronger US Ties
Credit: US and Cambodian flags via Shutterstock.com

The United States and Cambodia should look to strengthen their relationship even in the face of differences and challenges, the youngest son of the country’s premier Hun Sen with aspirations to hold the Southeast Asian state’s highest office told an audience in Washington, D.C. January 20.

Good momentum has been built up in U.S.-Cambodia relations over the past few years, Hun Many, a lawmaker from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) with a stated ambition to become the country’s next prime minister, said in a speech at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Wednesday. Both sides have seen a string of high-level visits, with U.S. President Barack Obama visiting Cambodia in 2012 for the East Asia Summit and even Michelle Obama doing so last year. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to make a trip to Cambodia later this month, and Hun Sen will be in the United States in mid-February for the U.S.-ASEAN Leaders Meeting at the Sunnylands estate in California (See: “A ‘Special’ US-ASEAN Summit in Sunnylands in 2016?”).

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