The Cambodian military has requested that the United States Army reconsider the resumption of Angkor Sentinel, an annual bilateral military exercise that the Cambodian government suspended in 2017 due to improved relations with China.
Commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), Gen. Vong Pisen, made the request while meeting with Gen. Ronald Clark, commanding general of the United States Army Pacific.
During the meeting in Phnom Penh, Vong Pisen requested “a review and discussion on the possibility of resuming joint military training, such as the Angkor Sentinel exercise,” according to a statement from the RCAF.
Gen. Ronald Clark concluded a two-day official visit to Cambodia on Tuesday, during which he “held constructive meetings with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and top military leadership” including Défense Minister Tea Seiha and Gen. Vong Pisen, according to a statement.
Clark explored ways to enhance the US-Cambodia bilateral Défense relationship to promote Indo-Pacific peace and security.
They covered military training exchanges focused on disaster relief, United Nations peacekeeping, and efforts to make Cambodia mine-free.
Angkor Sentinel, which was held for the first time in 2010, was unilaterally cancelled by the Cambodian government in early 2017, shortly after Cambodian troops took part for the first time in Golden Dragon, a joint military exercise with the Chinese military.
The move reflected both the sharp deterioration of relations between Phnom Penh and Washington and the growing closeness between Cambodia and China, which was symbolised in the Défense realm by the controversial Chinese refurbishment of Ream Naval Base in Preah Sihanouk province.
The deterioration of relations between Phnom Penh and Washington has numerous factors.
However, on the Cambodian side, the principal issue was a long-standing suspicion that the United States was intervening in domestic matters and attempting to overthrow the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) regime under the pretence of democracy promotion initiatives.
Later in 2017, a Cambodian court outlawed the country’s biggest opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, on allegations that it cooperated with foreign powers, including the US government, to wage a “colour revolution” against the CPP. This allowed the CPP to win every seat in the National Assembly during the 2018 elections, effectively restoring the country to one-party control.
Cambodia’s desire to resume Angkor Sentinel is the clearest indication that Prime Minister Hun Manet’s government wants to rebalance its foreign relations and repair relationships with the United States.
President Donald Trump’s transactional foreign policy, as well as his administration’s gutting of the US agencies most responsible for democracy promotion and civil society support in countries such as Cambodia, may provide the CPP government with what it has long desired: a relationship with the US that strengthens, rather than undermines, the CPP’s hold on power.
