U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday called on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to release the country’s political prisoners, including Cambodian-American activist Seng Theary, and for transparency in its relations with China, particularly over Beijing’s alleged use of a military base in the Asian country.
Biden and Hun met this Saturday in Cambodia as part of the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), currently chaired by the Cambodian prime minister, criticized earlier this year for a controversial visit to Burma to negotiate peace with the military authorities; a gesture, in the midst of the association’s radical opposition, which opposing voices interpreted as an attempt to legitimize the military regime.
«President Biden has urged Prime Minister Hun Sen to reopen civic and political space before the 2023 elections and called for the release of activists detained on politically motivated charges,» the White House statement said.
Biden also «expressed concern about the situation» at the Ream Naval Base, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand and the subject of rumors for three years, when a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed Chinese efforts to gain access to the base following an agreement with Cambodia, which has denied these reports.
«President Biden has stressed the importance of full transparency around the Chinese military’s activities at the naval base,» the note added.
On the issue of Burma, both leaders stressed that the international community «has an important role to play in promoting a return to democracy and stability» in the country after the 2021 coup and expressed their support for the peace plan, the so-called Five-Point Consensus, outlined by ASEAN.
