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Government Spokesperson: US Trying to Tarnish Relations

Phnom Penh: A spokesman for the Royal Government says the US Congressional “HR 4686”proposal to sanction senior government officials would tarnish US-Cambodia relations, and believed the measure would not pass the US Senate or the Oval Office.

Royal Government spokesman, Phay Siphan, told EAC News that in a situation where the United States is facing the Chinese superpower, trying to impose sanctions on Cambodia is a loss for the United States.

"I understand that the president is not implementing this law," he added, “Because the president needs a space for political opportunities to discuss rivalries, including cooperation between Cambodia and the United States with the United States facing Chinese influence, which the United States has always gathered allies and members against”.

The proposal for "Cambodian Democracy 2021" or “HR 4686”was proposed by two US lawmakers, Steve Chabot and Alan Lowenthal, with the aim of punishing senior Cambodian officials whom the United States considers to have “destroyed democracy and human rights.” Sanctions would include the confiscation of property or money in the United States or even a ban on entering the United States altogether.

Should Congress approve the bill, it would be sent to the Senate and then to the office of President Joe Biden. However, CPP spokesman, Sok Eysan, wrote to reporters in a Telegram group on 26 September that even if the bill was passed, it would not have any effect on a sovereign state like Cambodia.

"If US sanctions are effective, then maybe Iran and North Korea would both have been dead 30-40 years ago," he wrote.

The President of the Institute of International Relations of Cambodia, Dr. Kin Phea, says that the United States is showing the world the inequality of the rights of UN members, as well as the application of two standards to an independent country that does not follow them.

He added that a series of sanctions would undermine the relationship between Cambodia and the United States, which it has been trying to build for years. He said that if the United States wanted to help democracy and human rights in Cambodia, it would not use use sanctions.

"Know that Cambodia today is not Cambodia in the 1950s and 1960s," he said. Cambodia now plays an increasingly important role in international affairs. Especially next year, with Cambodia chairing ASEAN. Whether we like it or not, it might become law later this year or next year when the US president signs it. It could pose a barrier to relations and cooperation between the two countries."

On June 12, 2018, the US Treasury Department decided to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act on the head of the Prime Minister's bodyguard, Hing Bun Heang, who was required to freeze all his assets in the United States. In response, Hing Bun Heang called the decision "ridiculous" and told the United States to freeze if he had money in the United States.

At the 76th United Nations General Assembly on September 25, Prime Minister Hun Sen stated that the destiny of a country should not be determined by any country in violation of international law and the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter.


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