Pamela Dockins

January 26, 2016 2:09 AM

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA—

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praised Cambodia’s economic progress Tuesday as he sat down for talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen.

“Cambodia has experienced remarkable growth,” Kerry told Hun Sen. “You have seen incredible changes, not just here in Phnom Penh, which moved from a 350,000-person, war-torn city to a much more modern city of 2.2 million people.”

The prime minister told Kerry that he considers next month's U.S.-hosted special Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit a “step forward for the strategic partnership” between the U.S. and ASEAN countries.

Kerry is on the second leg of a swing through Asia, which also included a stop in Laos, and will conclude in China.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, shakes hands with Cambodian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong before a bilateral meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Jan. 26, 2016.

Earlier Tuesday, he met with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. Heading into the meeting, Kerry said the U.S. and Cambodia had made progress in their strategic partnership in recent years.

He is also meeting with a Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha.

Human rights reforms

There is ongoing concern about Cambodia’s efforts to ensure democratic and human rights reforms.

With opposition leader Sam Rainsy in self-imposed exile to avoid what is widely considered to be politically motivated charges, and 17 opposition members and activists in prison, rights groups say any improved diplomatic ties must be accompanied with Cambodian guarantees for reform.

From Cambodia, Kerry travels to China where he will press Beijing to use its leverage to exert pressure on North Korea for what it said was a successful nuclear test. He is also expected to raise U.S. concerns about the ongoing maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

Earlier Tuesday, Kerry visited the National Museum of Cambodia, home to one of the world’s most extensive collections of Khmer cultural material.

source: http://www.voanews.com/content/john-kerry-focuses-on-trade-bilateral-relations-cambodia/3162772.html

John Kerry praises Cambodian revival but insists concerns over human rights and democratic process remain

Hun Sen, who has ruled for 31 years through a mix of hard power and political guile, smothered a resurgent opposition in legal charges over recent months.

US Secretary of State John Kerry met Cambodian leader Hun Sen on Tuesday, praising the kingdom’s “remarkable” economic revival but pushing for greater political freedoms as the strongman tries to extend his three-decade grip on power.

Cambodia has emerged from the ashes of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime to become one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies. But it provides political support to China within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, an alliance that has at times caused strain within the bloc in the face of increasingly aggressive Chinese claims in the South China Sea.

President Barack Obama has assiduously courted Asean as part of a diplomatic ‘pivot’ east aiming to offset China’s trade and diplomatic might in Southeast Asia.

The relationship between the ruling party and the opposition party is fraught right now

US State Department official

Kerry, who arrived in Phnom Penh from neighbouring Laos, praised Cambodia for rebooting its economy after the fanatical rule of the Maoist Khmer Rouge, which left up to a quarter of the population dead before its defeat in the mid-1970s.

Although some three million people still live below the poverty line, the World Bank said the economy is on track to expand just under seven per cent this year.

Hailing the “remarkable growth”, Kerry said Cambodia was “about the cross the line” into becoming a middle-income country.

“You have seen incredible changes,” he said ahead of talks with Hun Sen.

Garment manufacture is a key pillar of that success, with an industry lobby group saying exports to the US alone were worth US$1.8 billion in 2014. But economic gains are being offset by the threat posed to Cambodia’s fragile democracy.

Hun Sen, who has ruled for 31 years through a mix of hard power and political guile, smothered a resurgent opposition in legal charges over recent months. As a result the leader of the Cambodian National Rescue Party is now in self-exile, casting doubt over whether the party will be able to freely contest the next election slated for 2018.

read more:

source : http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1905386/john-kerry-praises-cambodian-revival-insists-concerns-over

Kerry raises human rights, corruption in Cambodia

by Carol Morello January 26 at 3:24 AM

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Secretary of State John F. Kerry met Tuesday with Cambodian leaders to express concern for the government’s record on human rights and corruption in a visit that otherwise focused on forging trade and investment ties.

Kerry held talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for three decades, and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, but he also pointedly met with the acting head of the opposition in Cambodia, Kem Sokha. The opposition has had an acting head ever since November, when the official leader, Sam Rainsy, went into exile after he was ordered arrested for defaming the foreign minister.

In his short, one-day visit to Cambodia, Kerry straddled the legacy wrought by past wars with the promise of the future.

He said respect for human rights and good governance is a critical factor in determining whether relations between Washington and Phnom Penh improve.

read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/kerry-raises-human-rights-corruption-in-cambodia/2016/01/26/9d813132-bfcc-11e5-98c8-7fab78677d51_story.html

Kerry fails to sway Cambodian leaders on South China Sea

By David Brunnstrom and Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of States John Kerry met Cambodian leaders on Tuesday but failed to secure their commitment to a more robust stance with Southeast Asian nations against China's pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Kerry was in Cambodia after a visit to neighboring Laos as part of an effort to urge unity among leaders of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations before a summit with President Barack Obama in Sunnylands, California, next month.

In Phnom Penh, Kerry met Hun Sen, Asia's longest serving prime minister, and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong for what Kerry described as "candid and constructive" meetings.

Hor Namhong said Cambodia's position on the South China Sea was unchanged. It believed individual countries should settle disputes among themselves without the involvement of ASEAN, he said.

That mirrors China's position that ASEAN is not a party to territorial disputes, so rows should be resolved bilaterally.

View gallery

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry holds "I love Cambodia" t-shirt that he bought for his …

"We want it open to negotiations in the future between countries who made claims in the South China Sea," Hor Namhong said.

China claims almost all the South China Sea, which is believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, and has been building up facilities on islands it controls. Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines also have claims.

Laos is the 2016 chair of ASEAN. Kerry said Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong told him on Monday that Laos wants to sea a unified association and avoid the militarization of the South China Sea.

http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-fails-sway-cambodian-leaders-south-china-sea-100527866.html