PHNOM PENH: The U.S. Embassy Spokesperson to Cambodia, Chad Roedemier, told EAC News that the United States welcomed Prime Minister Hun Sen and other ASEAN heads of state to Washington, D.C. for a successful ASEAN-US Special summit. He said the meeting demonstrated the United States' long-term commitment to ASEAN's centrality in providing sustainable solutions to key regional challenges.

Spokesperson Chad Roedemier told EAC News, "The United States and ASEAN have committed to establish an ASEAN-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that is meaningful, substantive, and mutually beneficial at the 10th ASEAN-U.S. Summit in November 2022.”

The response from the U.S. Embassy Spokesperson in Cambodia was made on the evening of Tuesday, 17 May 2022, seeming to indicate the close relationship between Cambodia and the United States after the ASEAN-US Special Summit.

Prior to the summit, Prime Minister Hun Sen was greeted by a large crowd of Cambodians living in the United States and Canada in front of the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, his residence in Washington, D.C.

The ASEAN-US Special Summit was held on 12-13 May, chaired by US President Joe Biden and co-chaired by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. After the summit, ASEAN and the US reached a 28-point joint vision statement, according to the US State Department.

The 28-point joint vision statement emphasizes the importance of adhering to the key principles, shared values and norms set out in the Charter of the United Nations, the ASEAN Charter, the Declaration on Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN), the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Treaty on the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).

ASEAN and the United States reaffirmed the joint commitment to strengthen and build more comprehensive ASEAN-US dialogue partnership that has been long indispensable to ASEAN and the United States as well as the broader region and the international community, in order to promote and maintain peace, security, stability and prosperity in the region; to ensure that relations remain adaptable to meet new challenges and to cooperate appropriately in international and regional forums where ASEAN and the United States are members.

The reaffirmation of the joint commitment includes maintaining and promoting peace, security and stability in the region, as well as the peaceful resolution of disputes, including full respect for the legal and diplomatic process, without resorting to threats or intimidation or use of force, in accordance with international law.