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![handle is hein.crs/goverch0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Cambodia
Updated October 23, 2024
Overview: U.S.-Cambodia Relations
U.S.-Cambodia relations have become strained during the
past decade, after former Prime Minister Hun Sen banned
the main opposition party in 2017 and as Cambodia's
relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC or
China) has grown closer. The U.S. government has sought
to remain engaged with Cambodia while calling on the
Cambodian government to restore democratic rights and
resist PRC influence. In 2017, the Cambodian government
suspended Angkor Sentinel, the annual U.S.-Cambodia
military exercise first held in 2010. In 2018, the U.S.
government suspended military assistance to Cambodia in
response to its government's suppression of the political
opposition. In June 2024, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd
Austin traveled to Phnom Penh, where he met with Prime
Minister Hun Manet and his father and predecessor, Hun
Sen. The two sides discussed possible ways to strengthen
U.S.-Cambodia defense relations, including through the
resumption of military exchanges. Some observers contend
that Cambodian civil society, independent journalists, and
urban youth may be particularly receptive to continued U.S.
engagement.
Politics and Human Rights
Hun Sen led Cambodia for 38 years (1985-2023), including
as premier of the Vietnam-backed Republic of Kampuchea
(1985-1993). He had been president of the ruling
Cambodian People's Party (CPP) since 1993. In 2023, Hun
Sen relinquished his position as prime minister while
retaining his leadership of the CPP. In a widely expected
move, Hun Sen transferred power to his eldest son, Hun
Manet, who had been elected to the National Assembly for
the first time and was endorsed by the body as the new
prime minister. In 2024, the Cambodian Senate
unanimously elected Senator Hun Sen as its president, a
largely ceremonial position. The King of Cambodia,
Norodom Sihamoni, is head of state and a largely symbolic
figure. Observers do not expect Hun Manet, a graduate of
West Point and New York University, to usher in major
policy changes in the near term.
Between 1993, when the United Nations administered
Cambodia's first national election following the end of the
country's civil war, and 2017, democratic institutions and
practices had gradually evolved to allow widespread civic
and political participation. The opposition Cambodian
National Rescue Party (CNRP) made significant gains in
the 2013 parliamentary election and 2017 local elections.
Meanwhile, Hun Sen employed a variety of means to stay
in power, including electoral victories; legal and extralegal
political maneuvers; and influence over the judiciary,
broadcast media, and labor unions; as well as patronage,
cronyism, violence, and intimidation.
In November 2017, the Supreme Court of Cambodia issued
a ruling that dissolved the CNRP for conspiring with the
https://crsreport
United States to overthrow the government, which the
CNRP and U.S. government denied. In the 2018 and 2023
National Assembly elections, the CPP won 125 seats and
120 seats (out of 125 total seats), respectively. The State
Department released a statement declaring, The United
States is troubled that the [2023] Cambodian national
elections were neither free nor fair.
Fiaure I . Cambodia at a Glance
Sources: CKS (map) and Central Intelligence Agency, the World
Factbook, 2024.
In what many observers view as politically motivated
actions, Cambodian courts have convicted opposition leader
and former CNRP President Sam Rainsy, who lives in self-
imposed exile in France, of numerous crimes. In October
2022, Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia to life in
prison, on top of previous sentences. In April 2023, former
CNRP Vice President Kem Sokha was convicted of treason
and sentenced to 27 years of house arrest. In 2021 and
2022, Cambodian courts tried over 115 former members of
the CNRP and other political activists, convicting 67 of
them and sentencing them to prison terms of five to 18
years. Many former CNRP members had fled abroad and
were tried in absentia. Cambodian-American lawyer and
democratic activist Theary Seng is serving a six-year
sentence on the charge of treason.
The Cambodian government limits civil society, press
freedom, and freedom of expression using means such as a
restrictive 2017 law on nongovernmental organizations,
harassment ofjournalists, control over permits and licenses,
and defamation lawsuits.
Economy
The Cambodian economy-which was largely destroyed
during the leadership of the Communist Party of
Kampuchea, also known as the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979),
and subsequent conflicts-achieved an average annual
growth rate of 8% between 1998 and 2019. The national
poverty rate dropped from 33.8% in 2009 to 17.8% in 2019,
according to the World Bank, due in part to growth in the
manufacturing and services sectors. Following a downturn
in 2020-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy
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