PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Secretary of State John F. Kerry met Tuesday with Cambodian leaders to express concern over 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.
“In my discussions today, I emphasized the essential role that a vibrant, democratic system plays in the development of a country and the legitimacy of its political system,” Kerry told reporters before departing for Beijing. “Democratic governments have a responsibility to ensure that all elected representatives are free to perform their responsibilities without fear of attack or arrest.”
Though this was his first trip to Phnom Penh as secretary of state, he recalled that he came to Cambodia several times as a senator on the Foreign Relations Committee and was involved in helping establish an international tribunal to try former Khmer Rouge.
Under Brother Number One, Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, when an estimated 1.7 Cambodians died, either of violence, hunger or other mistreatment. He also came to Cambodia when he co-chaired a Senate committee trying to account for Americans lost during the Vietnam War era, in Cambodia as well as Vietnam and Laos.
“So I am very, very conscious in returning here now in 2016 at the extraordinary distance traveled by Cambodia,” Kerry said.
In his official talks here, as in Laos, Kerry was laying the ground work for a summit President Obama will host next month for the 10-member Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) at the Sunnylands estate in California.
The administration has been trying to “rebalance” its foreign policy to pay more attention to Asia, which is expected to fuel much of the world’s economic growth in the future. Cambodia has one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, and the United States is its largest export market.
“I’d just emphasize that the United States is an Asia-Pacific nation,” Kerry said, adding, “And we are deeply committed to our partnership with Cambodia and with all the members of ASEAN on a regional and global basis.”
