Cambodia PM takes issue over Japan rebuke allegation

[geovalin]

By Julia Wallace

PHNOM PENH

The Cambodian government has taken issue with a local newspaper for reporting that the Japanese premier may have criticized the Southeast Asian country over its stance on the South China Sea dispute. The Cambodia Daily reported last week that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan “appeared to rebuke” Cambodia’s position on the waterway during a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Asia-Europe Meeting.

Hun Sen took issue with that characterization, lashing out at the newspaper in a speech delivered at the opening of a new Japanese-funded water and sanitation project, the Daily reported Friday. The Cambodian premier -- speaking in the third person -- complained the newspaper had “stated that Abe blamed Hun Sen” and beseeched the Japanese ambassador to Cambodia to issue a clarification on the issue. “Oh God! Nobody in the world dares blame Hun Sen,” the premier said, according to the Daily.

Tensions have been rising in the region over the South China Sea, which China claims nearly all of, despite competing claims from countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia -- all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc. While the rival countries have attempted to jointly negotiate with China over its sea claims, China has refused and has counted on the support of Cambodia and Laos -- both impoverished nations that have become key allies to Beijing within the bloc -- to keep sea-related issues off the ASEAN agenda. China is Cambodia’s largest bilateral donor, and last week announced a massive donation of more than $500 billion in aid shortly after Cambodia refused to join fellow ASEAN members in issuing a joint statement on a recent international tribunal verdict that found in favor of the Philippines.

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