Cambodia goes to the polls on Sunday in nationwide local elections after a two-week campaign that hinted at a return to a more contested political environment in the Southeast Asian country.The opening rally on 21 May was a familiar one in the capital of Phnom Penh: noisy processions of cars, trucks, motorised rickshaws and motorbikes, with people on loudhailers calling for everyone to vote in the elections. Cambodians will be selecting local leaders in each of the country’s 1,652 co

When Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen became the first head of state to visit Myanmar since the military seized power in a coup last year, he seemed to think he would be able to bring the generals back into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) despite the country’s worsening humanitarian crisis.“I am thinking whether we should keep ASEAN nine or ASEAN 10, because, in the recent ASEAN Summit, we have only nine, this is a problem,” he said ahead of the January trip.

A China-style internet gateway scheduled to be imposed in Cambodia this week would grant the government far greater powers to conduct mass surveillance, censor and control the country’s internet, rights groups have warned.Human rights experts and media advocates fear the gateway could be a step towards the kind of censorship enforced through China’s Great Firewall – though some question what technical capacity Cambodia’s systems currently have, and say the process has lacked transparency.Unde

Cambodia's strongman ruler Hun Sen held talks Friday with the Myanmar junta – the first foreign leader to visit since the generals seized power almost a year ago.Myanmar has been in chaos since the 1 February coup which ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government and ended the country's decade-long dalliance with democracy.More than 1,400 civilians have been killed as the military cracks down on dissent, according to a local monitoring group, and numerous anti-junta militias

Cambodian leader Hun Sen ordered the country's military to destroy any United States (US) weaponry or dump it in warehouses on Friday, after Washington imposed an arms embargo over human rights concerns and Phnom Penh's close ties with China.The US on Wednesday imposed an arms embargo on Cambodia, citing concerns about human rights and corruption in the Southeast Asian nation as well as China's activities there.The actions taken by the US State and Commerce departments aimed to

More than 50 European and Asian leaders called for vaccine equity Friday at a virtual summit as a new COVID-19 variant was detected in South Africa.The two-day 13th summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting, hosted by Cambodian leader Hun Sen, came as nations raced to slow the spread of the new more infectious strain – known as B.1.1.529 – that scientists fear could be more resistant to vaccines.Globally, coronavirus jab distribution has been unequal with poorer nations' vaccination rates remain

Three decades after a landmark agreement ended years of bloody violence in Cambodia, its strongman ruler has crushed all opposition and is eyeing dynastic succession, shattering hopes for a democratic future.The Paris Peace Agreements, signed on 23 October, 1991, brought an end to nearly two decades of savage slaughter that began with the Khmer Rouge's ascent to power in 1975.The genocidal regime wiped out up to two million Cambodians through murder, starvation and overwork, before a Vie

Cambodia on Friday began inoculating children as young as six against coronavirus, even though the World Health Organisation (WHO) has yet to approve a vaccine for the under-12s.The Southeast Asian country has won praise for its swift vaccination programme, which has seen more than 98 percent of the adult population receive at least one dose, according to the health ministry.The latest phase of the drive began with the grandchildren of Prime Minister Hun Sen and other officials receiving a Si

China has handed over to Cambodia a US$150 million stadium in Phnom Penh, with officials saying Sunday it is the result of Beijing's biggest ever infrastructure grant to the country.The 60,000-capacity venue is the latest project under China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a plan to fund infrastructure projects and increase its sway overseas.The presentation of the arena, intended as the main venue when Cambodia hosts the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2023, was ma

A Cambodian court on Wednesday jailed outspoken union leader Rong Chhun for two years on incitement charges relating to comments about the country's border, the latest legal case activists say is aimed at cracking down on opposition voices. Rong Chhun, the leader of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, was arrested in July last year after accusing the government of "irregularities" over the demarcation of the eastern border with Vietnam. The demarcation proc