Phnom Penh: The Royal Government has dismissed US claims that China hacked Mekong data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs back in 2018. Government spokesperson, Mr. Phay Siphan, told EAC News that the claims make little sense, with the information in question publicly available. He says the allegations have no impact on Cambodia’s relations with either Washington or Beijing, saying that Cambodia remains “everyone’s friend”.

The claims are contained in a now-unsealed court document filed by the US Department of Justice. According to that document, Chinese hackers stole data about the Mekong shortly before high-level discussions about the river in 2018. The Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh has dismissed the claims, which also make little sense to government spokesman, Mr. Phay Siphan, who spoke to EAC News on Friday morning:

He said, “The Mekong data is already public. It is on the website. I don’t understand why anyone would need to hack for that information.” Mr. Siphan would not be drawn on whether he thought Washington was trying to create tension between Cambodia and China, but did say the allegations will have no impact at all on the country’s diplomatic relations with either China or the US.