CPP Plans Succession, Hun Sen Angers ASEAN and U.S. Inflicts an Arms Embargo
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, December 10, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
TOUGH GUYS: Hun Sen has no problem sitting down with Myanmar’s embattled military leaders. Others in ASEAN, not so much. Many won’t touch the power-hungry junta, and say they expect better from Cambodia, the bloc’s current chair.
COURT DATE: The trial of 140 activists and opposition figures took a tragicomic turn when a defendant showed up in an overblown apsara outfit meant to highlight the staged aspects of what many have called a show trial.
VAX VOWS: China’s latest shot in the arm to the Kingdom is its very own Covid-19 vaccine factory, scheduled for completion next year. The project will be spearheaded by the Chinese pharmaceutical giant behind the Sinopharm jab.
THE LEDE
Generation Next
The ruling CPP will select a fresh slate of Cabinet members at its December central committee meeting, setting the stage for a generational handover across the Kingdom’s leadership.
Prime Minister Hun Sen, the CPP’s lifetime president, said the new crop of leaders is all younger than 60 and most hold advanced degrees. The emerging leaders will slowly replace the Kingdom’s roster of veterans, not change all at once.
The prime minister recently stirred succession plots with promises to promote his eldest son, Hun Manet, as the next prime minister. In speeches this week, Hun Sen reaffirmed his 2023 candidacy and said his son would have to wait until at least 2028.
Cowboy Diplomacy
Hun Sen infuriated fellow ASEAN heavyweights by agreeing to an official visit with Myanmar’s military rulers.
The prime minister will meet with General Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power in a February coup, early in the New Year. Cambodia’s leader is expected to lean on his experience negotiating peace with the Khmer Rouge. He will aim to smooth tensions between frustrated ASEAN leaders and an obstinate, blood-soaked junta.
Cambodia assumed the ASEAN chair in October. Hun Sen’s overtures represent an about-face in the bloc’s approach to the Myanmar crisis. One observer called his move “cowboy diplomacy,” and the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights said his rapprochement undermined ASEAN’s “hard-won diplomatic progress” with the junta.
Justice Upstaged
Phnom Penh Municipal Court restarted mass trials for more than 140 opposition activists after a monthslong delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer and human rights activist, stole the show. She appeared in court to face conspiracy and incitement charges sporting a shaved head, bare feet and an elaborate apsara outfit. The court promptly threw her out, citing the outlandish garb.
Her case and others are expected to unfold in weekly installments over the coming months, even as Cambodia faces growing international pressure for its dire human rights record.
Observers are watching intently. Will the government relent and reopen civic space ahead of scheduled elections? Or will the clampdown continue?
TALKING POINTS
Royal Funeral
King Norodom Sihamoni gathered with hundreds of mourners at Wat Botum for the cremation of Prince Norodom Ranariddh in a subdued royal ceremony organized by the state. Ranariddh, a political scion and former prime minister, died Nov. 29 in France at 77.
Arms Embargo
Hun Sen dismissed an American arms embargo as politically motivated and meaningless. The Biden administration banned sales of weapons and military equipment to Cambodia, citing the Kingdom’s deepening relationship with China’s armed forces. The sanctions are unlikely to have much impact. Cambodia has not purchased a single U.S.-made weapon in more than 30 years.
Macaque Attack
Wildlife officials relocated a troop of Wat Phnom macaques to Phnom Tamao Zoo after the boisterous bunch was caught terrorizing residents. Nearby people said the monkeys had been invading homes, damaging property and hurting children.
Tonle Sap Crackdown
Officials discovered more than 30,000 hectares of illegally cleared flooded forest after a weeklong investigation ordered by the prime minister. Officials have asked wrongdoers to return the land or face a criminal investigation. The state has so far reclaimed 7,000 hectares and arrested a few small-timers.
Monk Freed
Thailand released a Cambodian asylum seeker detained last week on immigration charges. Bor Bet, a monk, was the fifth activist arrested in recent weeks. Four others were deported to Cambodia and immediately jailed, prompting condemnation from rights groups.
Vaccine Plant
China promised to help Cambodia build a Covid-19 vaccine factory. The project will be led by China National Pharmaceutical Group, makers of the Sinopharm vax. The facility is scheduled for completion next year.
Airport Fight
More than 400 families are demanding compensation for the loss of communal farmland at the new Phnom Penh airport. Residents say developers have taken more than 80 hectares of land and offered nothing in return.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Relatives of Cadres Reflect on KR Tribunal
December 8, 2001
She could be any farmer in the village, hard at work milling rice as a visitor approaches. The stocky woman —the second daughter of the infamous Khmer Rouge commander Ta Mok—dumps milled rice into a cart before sitting down outside the house of her daughter-in-law, who sells everyday household goods.
Farmers Sue Top Officials, Blame Them for Flooding
December 6, 2001
The Cambodian Independence Farmer’s Association has filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Hun Sen and National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh in Phnom Penh Municipal Court, accusing the top officials of damaging their crops by allowing logging companies to cut trees throughout the country, which led to massive flooding.
Officials Prepare Rescue for Trapped Dolphins
December 6, 2001
Wildlife officials are preparing to catch and move at least one of two rare Mekong dolphins that have been stranded in small ponds since the Mekong river’s high waters receded here in September, according to Phay Somany, a fisheries official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Bopha Devi Sues Bangkok Post for Defamation
December 4, 2001
Princess Norodom Bopha Devi’s lawsuit against the Bangkok Post newspaper for defamation, filed after an editorial claimed that police accused her of drug trafficking, is scheduled to be heard in February in Bangkok.
WEEKEND READS
Major clothing brands contribute to deforestation in Cambodia, report finds
Garment factories were found to use at least 562 tons of forest wood every day, the equivalent of up to 1,418 hectares (3,504 acres) of forest being burned each year, according to a new report. While the garment industry does contribute deforestation, experts say that economic land concessions granted by the Cambodian government for agro-industrial purposes are by far the dominant driver of forest loss.
Cambodia Says Looter Helping It Reclaim Stolen Artifacts Has Died
Officials said they plan to continue to use evidence gathered from the reformed looter to pursue the return of many artifacts from museums and private collections.
Opinion: Listen to civil society to save the Mekong
Governments in Mekong basin countries, especially China, need to include and work with civil society groups to ensure the river’s survival