PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to pay an official visit to Cambodia, one of China’s closest allies in Southeast Asia, after holding talks with his Chinese counterpart at an annual security conference in Singapore, officials said.
A U.S. Department of Defense statement issued in Washington on Friday said Austin would travel next week to Singapore, Cambodia and France.
He will visit Cambodia on June 4 after attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Among the talks she is planning is one with his Chinese counterpart, Adm. Dong Jun, the Defense Department said. The meeting would be part of an effort to repair ties that have deteriorated over Beijing’s aggressive policies toward Taiwan and its vast territorial claims in the South China Sea.
U.S. relations with Cambodia have been frosty for years, largely due to Phnom Penh’s close ties to China. Washington has also been vocal about what it sees as a poor human rights record in Cambodia, which has seen continued clampdowns on dissidents and political critics.
Cambodia is Beijing’s closest ally in Southeast Asia, and Washington is especially concerned that a naval base in southern Cambodia, in the Gulf of Thailand, has been upgraded with Chinese help to serve as a strategic outpost for the Chinese navy. .
Cambodian officials deny that China has special basing privileges and say their country maintains a neutral defense posture.
The Defense Department statement said Austin will meet with senior officials in Cambodia in his first visit there since attending a meeting of Asian defense ministers in November 2022.
“We are now working with the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh to arrange their meetings with Cambodian leaders,” Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said Saturday in response to a question from The Associated Press. “The visit will be another important step in advancing relations between Cambodia and the United States.”
It will also be Austin’s first visit to Cambodia since Hun Manet became prime minister last year, succeeding his father Hun Sen, who held the position for 38 years. The handover has led to speculation about a reset in relations between the United States and Cambodia, although Hun Manet has so far maintained his father’s policies.
Hun Manet was a commander in Cambodia’s army before becoming prime minister last August. He and Austin both graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point: Austin in 1975 and Hun Manet in 1999, as the first Cambodian cadet there.
From Cambodia, Austin will go to France to attend events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings, the Defense Department said.
On Friday, Austin underwent a medical procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, resuming his duties after temporarily transferring power to his deputy, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.
Austin continues to deal with bladder issues that arose in December after his treatment for prostate cancer, Ryder said.
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