CAMBODIA/CHINA/EU/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump has written to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen urging him to put the Southeast Asian nation back on a democratic path and seeking to improve ties with one of China’s closest regional allies. Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 34 years, has been under increasing western pressure to improve his human rights record, with the European Union threatening the withdrawal of important trade benefits. The relationship with the United States has been particularly dire after Cambodian accusations of U.S. plotting against Hun Sen…Critics have called Cambodia a one-party state since the Supreme Court dissolved opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) in 2017, paving the way for Hun Sen’s ruling party to win all the seats in parliament in an election last year.”
–Reuters Staff, “Trump Urges Cambodia to Return to ‘Democratic Path’ After Crackdown,” The New York Times online, November 22, 2019