27-1-2024 (PHNOM PENH) Cambodia’s government has praised Prime Minister Hun Manet’s recent trip to France, where he met with President Emmanuel Macron. The visit followed Manet’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where some media outlets criticized him as one of the “bad boys” among world leaders.
Manet’s Paris trip was considered successful, resulting in $235 million in development agreements with France for energy and water infrastructure in Cambodia, along with support for vocational training. It also signified Western countries’ varying degrees of engagement with Manet’s administration, seen as an opportunity to improve relations after decades of rule by his father, Hun Sen.
“There is a sense that the West has come to the end of the line in its unsuccessful attempts to disrupt Cambodia’s authoritarian trajectory, and a nagging realization that these ultimately pushed Cambodia further into China’s orbit,” remarked Astrid Noren-Nilsson, a researcher of Cambodian politics at Sweden’s Lund University.
However, human rights advocates and Cambodian opposition leaders criticized France and other Western countries for engaging with Manet, arguing that it legitimizes a government elected in what they deemed a sham election last July.
Monavithya Kem, daughter of incarcerated opposition figure Kem Sokha, labeled the French leader’s meeting with Manet as “lazy diplomacy” and cautioned against aligning with Cambodia’s dictatorship.
While France acknowledged the absence of the main opposition party from the polls and stressed the need for protecting rights, the meeting with Manet was perceived in Cambodia as European endorsement of the new government, according to Noren-Nilsson.
Post-election changes in tone were not exclusive to France. The US initially paused an $18 million aid package after deeming the elections neither free nor fair, but later reversed the decision to encourage the new government to be more open and democratic.
At the Davos forum, Samantha Power, head of the United States Agency for International Development, discussed environmental protection and anticorruption with Manet. However, Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch criticized Manet’s rights record, stating that it resembles his father’s.
Since Manet assumed power, critics of his government have faced arrests and beatings, with opposition leaders being detained ahead of senate elections next month. Despite international pressure and sanctions, little has been done to address the billion-dollar scam industry, which implicates high-ranking CPP members.
Western countries are adopting a “holding pattern,” waiting to see if the new administration improves democracy and human rights. While Manet is viewed as an improvement over Hun Sen, he remains entrenched in the ruling CPP’s patronage system. The hope is that by maintaining good relations with Manet, he will eventually support democracy and human rights as the old guard diminishes.
“A long play and will it pay off, none of us know,” stated a Western diplomat. “But there is a general consensus that we at least need to try — and that does involve participating in a lot of unpleasant photo moments.”
