Biden, Albanese urged to fight repression in Cambodia

Singapore: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden have been urged to take Cambodian leader Hun Sen to task at the East Asia summit in Phnom Penh after he threatened to have the country’s main opposition party abolished.

Leaders are flying to the Cambodian capital for the first stop of a circuit of major gatherings in the coming week that also takes in the G20 in Bali and the APEC conference in Bangkok.

Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen will present visiting dignitaries with Cambodian-made luxury watches.Credit: AP

They are embarking on summit season at a time of geopolitical fissures on a scale not seen in decades and crises such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, tensions in the Taiwan Strait and Korean Peninsula, as well as the US-China rivalry are expected to feature heavily in discussions.

But they will arrive amid a political climate of renewed fear and repression after Prime Minister Hun Sen warned his rival Candlelight Party could be dissolved before next year’s elections.

The long-time ruler last month signalled the party could go the way of the previous opposition, the outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), unless it denounced comments by its exiled co-founder Sam Rainsy that insulted Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni. He said it should not be seen as a threat, but called on members of the party to leave the organisation “before it is too late”.

The party has since distanced itself from Rainsy, who Hun Sen branded a “traitor”, and decried any abuse of the king, but it claimed that more than 200 commune councillors who had signed a petition condemning the former opposition leader had been coerced to do so by local authorities.

Security personnel stand guard at the Phnom Penh venue for the East Asia summit and other ASEAN-related meetings.Credit: AP

Sophal Ear, a Cambodian-American associate dean of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, described Hun Sen’s message to opposition party members as “extremely concerning”.

“He’s not taking any chances. The lesson he learnt from the CNRP is that he allowed the party, which was the most credible opposition party, to exist far too long and nearly cut short his 37-year rule,” he said.

“There is no prospect for a free and fair election next year so long as there is no credible opposition permitted to compete.”

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, right, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, left, shake hands during a welcome meeting at Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Wednesday.Credit: AP

The latest attack on the opposition in the south-east Asian nation comes after the party’s deputy president, Cambodian-Australian dual citizen Son Chhay, was prosecuted for criminal defamation for alleging vote-buying and intimidation at nationwide local elections in June and following a sustained crackdown on dissent featuring mass trials of dozens of CNRP leaders and members.

The CNRP’s banning before the 2018 election effectively left Cambodia a one-party state, with Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) winning all 125 seats in parliament.

‘There is no prospect for a free and fair election next year so long as there is no credible opposition permitted to compete.’

Sophal Ear, Arizona State University

As leaders head to Cambodia, protesters who have staged a year-long demonstration after lay-offs at the country’s largest casino have also been told to cease activities or be “held responsible by legal force” but have indicated they will ignore the order.

Biden is due to meet with Hun Sen as well as attending the US-ASEAN summit and East Asia summit and US officials indicated the democratic regression in Cambodia would be on his agenda in their one-on-one meeting.

“You can anticipate that the president will raise our views on the importance of supporting the aspirations of the Cambodian people for a prosperous, democratic, independent country and the importance of respect for human rights, including … our concern about some specific cases,” the Agence France-Presse reported US officials as saying.

The US has previously hit out at the “politically motivated” five-year trial of former CNRP leader Kem Sokha on charges of treason.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong also met with Sokha during a visit in August, as did her predecessor Marise Payne last year. Albanese’s office was contacted for comment.

Hun Sen will present Cambodian-made luxury watches to each of the visiting dignitaries but the gift should not dissuade them from speaking up, say rights groups.

“The fact that Hun Sen is brazenly threatening to ban the Candlelight Party is eerily reminiscent of his threats against the CNRP in the run-up to its dissolution in 2017,” said Human Rights Watch Asia director Elaine Pearson.

“Biden and Albanese should publicly express concerns about Hun Sen’s comments and make it clear that they are paying close attention to the credibility of Cambodia’s 2023 elections. They should meet with opposition leader Kem Sokha and urge the Cambodian government to drop the trumped-up charges against him and ensure his full unconditional release.”

Ear, the Cambodian-American academic, said Albanese should also insist that harassment of Cambodian-Australians by CCP operatives must stop.

“Leaders like Joe Biden and Anthony Albanese have an opportunity to tell Hun Sen and the Cambodian people that the West did not invest billions of dollars in Cambodia to see it all go up in smoke,” he said.

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