BANGKOK: Southeast Asian nations may soon have to “choose sides” between the US and China in their ongoing trade war, the political heir to Cambodia’s strongman ruler Hun Sen warned Wednesday in rare public comments.
Impoverished Cambodia has become an unlikely staging ground for geopolitical influence in Asia.
In recent years it has turned into a key China ally, heading off criticism of the superpower over its claims to disputed seas in exchange for billions of dollars in investment and loans.
While China has cozied up to Cambodia, the United States and the European Union have admonished Hun Sen, the nation’s ruler for 33 years, for his increasingly authoritarian rule.
In a rare speech outside of his country, his son, Hun Many warned the US-China trade spat may create lasting divisions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“Perhaps one day ASEAN would have to choose between US or China,” Hun Many said in Bangkok.
“How would we see the trade war spill or expanded in other areas? Surely it will pressure individual members of ASEAN or ASEAN as a whole to choose sides.”
The economic ripples of the trade spat between China and the US could destabilize global supply chain links in Southeast Asia, while a slump in Chinese spending would impact its trading partners.
Cambodia’s strongman Hun Sen has welcomed Chinese investment to pump-prime his country’s economy.
At the same time, he has accused the US of trying to foment revolution in Cambodia by supporting his critics.
Both the US and EU decried the July elections, which were held without a credible opposition and gave Hun Sen another term in power.
When asked which of the superpowers Cambodia would side with, the Australian-educated Hun Many demurred.
“At the end of the day, it depends on those who are involved to take a more responsible approach for their decisions that affects the entire world,” he said.
Earlier this week, Hun Sen swatted away concerns that Beijing will construct a naval base off the southwest coast of Cambodia, which would provide ready access to the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing claims most of the flashpoint area, infuriating the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan who all have competing claims to its islands and potentially resource-rich waters.
Hun Many, who described himself as a “proud son,” is widely believed to be in the running to one day replace his father.
His elder brother, Manit, is the head of a military intelligence unit while Manet, the oldest, was promoted in September to the chief of joint staff of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces as well as the commander of the infantry army headquarters.
But Many brushed aside the notion.
“It is way too soon to say that I am in the next generation of leaders,” he said.
ASEAN may be forced to choose between US, China: Cambodia PM’s son
ASEAN may be forced to choose between US, China: Cambodia PM’s son
- Cambodia has become an unlikely staging ground for geopolitical influence in Asia
- The economic ripples of the trade spat between China and the US could destabilize global supply chain links in Southeast Asia
US, Ukraine hail ‘productive’ Miami talks but no breakthrough
- Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and Kyiv’s European allies, held separate talks hosted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff
- Russia's delegation said recent proposed changes to Trump's “20-point plan” to end the war were a non-starter
MIAMI, Florida: US and Ukrainian envoys issued a joint statement on Sunday that hailed “productive and constructive” talks in Miami but did not announce any apparent breakthrough in efforts to end the war with Russia.
Top representatives from both Ukraine and Russia, as well as Kyiv’s European allies, have been in southern Florida over the past several days for a series of separate talks hosted by US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
The meetings were the latest in a weeks-long diplomatic blitz over plans to end the war, after Washington last month presented a 28-point proposal widely seen as echoing the Kremlin’s demands.
It has since been redrafted following Ukraine and Europe’s involvement, though its contents have not been publicly disclosed.
“Over the last three days in Florida, the Ukrainian delegation held a series of productive and constructive meetings with American and European partners,” Witkoff and Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said in separate statements on X.
They said a bilateral US-Ukraine meeting focused on developing and aligning positions on “four key documents” — a “20-point plan,” a “Multilateral security guarantee framework,” a “US Security guarantee framework for Ukraine” and an “economic & prosperity plan.”
“Particular attention was given to discussing timelines and the sequencing of next steps,” they said, without announcing any further meetings.
National security advisers from Kyiv’s European allies “also joined the discussions to align on a shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the United States, and Europe,” the statements added.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev was also in southern Florida and met with the US delegation, which included billionaire real estate developer Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Witkoff on Sunday similarly said that the meetings with Dmitriev were “productive and constructive.”
Earlier, the Kremlin said recent proposed changes to the plan to end the war were a non-starter.
Dmitriev “should receive information about what has been developed by the Americans and Europeans” in the plan and report that back to Moscow later, Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV.
Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, sees Europe as pro-war and argues that its participation in the talks only hinders them.
War rages on
While little is known of the latest peace plans, Kyiv is likely to be expected to surrender some territory — a prospect resented by many Ukrainians — in exchange for US security guarantees.
Though envoys from both Moscow and Kyiv were in town, the Kremlin had earlier ruled out three-way talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier described the talks as “constructive” and said they were “moving at a fairly rapid pace.”
He nevertheless cautioned that “much depends on whether Russia feels the need to end the war for real.”
He also hailed this week as “historic” for Ukraine, thanking Europe for pledging $100 billion of funding over the next two years.
Moscow’s troops have been steadily advancing at the eastern front in recent months. Putin on Friday hailed the Russian army’s territorial gains — and threatened more in the coming weeks.
Just over the week, “Russia has launched approximately 1,300 attack drones, nearly 1,200 guided aerial bombs, and 9 missiles of various types” against Ukraine, Zelensky said.
Most of them have pummeled the Black Sea region of Odesa, where relentless strikes wrought havoc on ports, bridges and energy facilities, killing eight people Saturday.
In the eastern Sumy region, Russian troops attempted a breakthrough in an area previously spared from an intense ground offensive. Russian forces forcibly moved 50 people from a local village, said Kyiv.
“Russian invaders have stolen five dozen civilian people, mostly elderly women, from a tiny Ukrainian village Grabovske, right across the state border in the Sumy region,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.
Russia made no comment on the matter.
