The Cambodian military has asked the U.S. Army to consider the resumption of Angkor Sentinel, an annual joint military exercise that the Cambodian government canceled in 2017 amid a strengthening of relations with China.
Gen. Vong Pisen, commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), made the request during a meeting with Gen. Ronald Clark, commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific.
During the meeting in Phnom Penh on Monday, Vong Pisen requested “a review and discussion on the possibility of resuming joint military training, such as the Angkor Sentinel exercise,” according to a statement from the RCAF that was quoted by Radio Free Asia.
Clark yesterday wrapped up a two-day official visit to Cambodia, during which he “held constructive meetings with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and top military leadership” including Defense Minister Tea Seiha and Gen. Vong Pisen, the U.S. Army said in a statement on Monday.
During talks with Cambodian officials, Clark “explored ways to enhance the U.S.-Cambodia bilateral defense relationship to promote Indo-Pacific peace and security.” These talks “covered military training exchanges focused on disaster relief, United Nations peacekeeping, and efforts to make Cambodia mine-free,” the U.S. Army added.
The possible resumption of Angkor Sentinel was also reportedly discussed when Vong Pisen met with U.S. defense attaché Colonel Kyle Saltzman last month, according to a report in the Phnom Penh Post.
Angkor Sentinel, which was held for the first time in 2010, was unilaterally canceled by the Cambodian government in early 2017, shortly after Cambodian troops took part for the first time in Golden Dragon, a joint military exercise with the Chinese military. The move reflected both the sharp deterioration of relations between Phnom Penh and Washington and the growing closeness between Cambodia and China, which was symbolized in the defense realm by the controversial Chinese refurbishment of Ream Naval Base in Preah Sihanouk province.
The souring of relations between Phnom Penh and Washington had many causes. But on the Cambodian side, the primary factor was the long-standing suspicion that the U.S. was interfering in its domestic affairs and seeking to undermine the rule of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) under the guise of democracy promotion efforts. Later in 2017, a Cambodian court banned the country’s main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, on claims that it had colluded with foreign forces, including the U.S. government, to launch a “color revolution” against the CPP. This allowed the CPP to win every seat in the National Assembly at national elections in 2018, effectively returning the country to one-party rule.
In Washington, meanwhile, Cambodia’s simultaneous shift toward open authoritarianism and closer alignment with China attracted hostile attention in the context of the bipartisan shift toward a more confrontational China policy.
Cambodia’s interest in resuming Angkor Sentinel is the clearest sign that Prime Minister Hun Manet’s government is keen to restore some rebalance to its foreign relations and heal its ties with the United States. This desire has been apparent for some time, but the advent of the Trump administration may give the new-look Cambodian leadership—Hun Manet took over from his father, Hun Sen, in August 2023–a potentially agreeable partner.
President Donald Trump’s transactional foreign policy, and his administration’s gutting of the U.S. agencies most responsible for democracy promotion efforts and support for civil society in countries like Cambodia, may well offer the CPP government what it has long craved: a relationship with the U.S. that strengthens, rather than undermines, the CPP’s hold on power.