Thread: US Pulls Cambodia’s Election Funding; Hun Sen Says Cut It All

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen challenged the United States on Sunday to cut all aid after it announced it was ending funding for a general election next year in response to the dissolution of the main opposition party, media reported.


Hun Sen, the strongman who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, has taken a strident anti-American line in an increasingly tense run-up to a 2018 election that has included a crackdown on critics, rights groups and independent media.


The United States announced on Friday it was ending funding for the election, and promised more “concrete steps,” after the Supreme Court dissolved the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) at the request of the government, on the grounds it was plotting to seize power.


The party denied the accusation.


The pro-government Fresh News website reported that Hun Sen said in a speech to garment workers that he welcomed the U.S. aid cut and urged it to cut it all.
“Samdech Techo Hun Sen confirmed that cutting U.S. aid won’t kill the government but will only kill a group of people who serve American policies,” Fresh News reported, using Hun Sen’s official title.


It did not identify the people suspected of serving U.S. policies but added: “Hun Sen ... welcomes and encourages the U.S. to cut all aid.”


The U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh did not respond to a request for comment.


In April, the U.S. embassy announced a $1.8 million grant to assist local elections this year and next year’s general election.



Chinese support


The U.S. State Department said on its website that U.S. assistance to Cambodia for programs in health, education, governance, economic growth and clearing unexploded ordnance was worth more than $77.6 million in 2014.


However, Chinese support for big ticket projects has allowed Hun Sen to brush off Western criticism of his crackdown on dissent.


China vastly outspends the United States in a country once destroyed by Cold War superpower rivalry, and its money goes on highly visible infrastructure projects and with no demands for political reform.



Opposition leader jailed


In September, authorities arrested the CNRP leader, Kem Sokha, and charged him with treason over what they said was a plot to take power with U.S. help. He denied any such plot. The U.S. State Department called on Friday for Cambodia to release him and reverse the decision to ban his party.


The court also banned 118 party members from politics for five years.


Police have begun to take down CNRP signs from their offices across the country. Mu Sochua, a senior CNRP member who moved abroad shortly before the party was banned, said Hun Sen was jeopardizing foreign investment.


“Foreign investors serious about investing in Cambodia won’t be coming and are, or will be, looking at an exit if they can’t compete with China’s monopoly in Cambodia because Hun Sen needs to pay back favors to China,” she said.


Western countries, which for decades supported Cambodia’s emergence from war and isolation, have shown little appetite for sanctions in response to the crackdown, but the European Union has raised the possibility of Cambodia losing trade preferences.


Tariff-free access to Europe for Cambodian garments, and similar trade preferences in the United States, have helped Cambodia build a garment industry on low-cost labour. EU and U.S. buyers take some 60 percent of Cambodia’s exports.

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-cambodi...n/4125151.html

Yes, cut it all. What's the point trying to instill democracy in a country run by a dictator. Elections? Waste of time.

It's a delicate balance. The US doesn't want to drive Cambodia into the arms of the Chinese.

Hun Sen and his corrupt cronies have squirrelled away so many billions of dollars over the years that it would literally make no difference to them personally if all aid streams stopped.

They barely even pretend to help the people with the aid money they receive, the only people to suffer from a complete withdrawl of aid would be the long suffering average man on the street, and as they receive fuck all anyway even they would likely not notice!

Originally Posted by Latindancer

It's a delicate balance. The US doesn't want to drive Cambodia into the arms of the Chinese.

The reason he came out with this is that he's already protected by the Chinese.

Robert Mugabe has fallen and one day Hun Sen's reign will end. A generation of Cambodians have grown up hating his regime and one day the old will be replaced by the new. So rant on Hun, rant away, because nothing lasts forever. One day you'll get yours.

he is already under the Chinese influence,

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

Robert Mugabe has fallen and one day Hun Sen's reign will end. A generation of Cambodians have grown up hating his regime and one day the old will be replaced by the new. So rant on Hun, rant away, because nothing lasts forever. One day you'll get yours.

Trouble is he might go on as long as Mugabe has done.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The reason he came out with this is that he's already protected by the Chinese.

Yes, I realize that.....I mean even more so into their arms.

Well....these things happen.

And the larger picture missed entirely.
Predictable.

A little refresher [real] history course is in order for some.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

A little refresher [real] history course is in order for some.

We're listening Ajarn. Go ahead and illuminate my mind with you're all knowing wisdom.