Hun Sen counts on China as he cracks down in Cambodia – has he miscalculated?
Emboldened Cambodian strongman feels he no longer needs the West – but critics say he may have overestimated his leverage with his friend to the north
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has upped the stakes in the country’s pivot to China, accusing the United States of conspiring to overthrow him as he escalates a crackdown on dissent with a view to extending his three decades in power.
Critics say Chinese support for Cambodia has emboldened Hun Sen as he takes unprecedented steps to silence his opponents, safe in the knowledge he no longer needs to keep Western donors happy.
Over the past month, Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has forced the closure of dozens of independent radio stations, English-language newspaper The Cambodia Daily and an American NGO and has jailed the country’s opposition leader, Kem Sokha, on treason charges. This week, tensions grew when Hun Sen accused the US of conspiring with the jailed opposition leader to overthrow his government.
Referring to Cambodia’s bloody military coup in 1970 – which the US supported, according to diplomatic cables released in 2015 by WikiLeaks – Hun Sen said he wanted to prevent history from repeating itself.
His comments prompted a stern response from US ambassador William Heidt, who slammed the accusations as false and demanded Sokha be set free. The US government has ceased issuing visas for high-ranking Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs employees and their families, and released a travel warning for the country.
