On June 4, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made a short visit to Cambodia, his only stop in the region after attending the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. In Phnom Penh, Austin met with Prime Minister Hun Manet, Senate President Hun Sen, and Defense Minister Tea Seiha, discussing bilateral defense cooperation and regional issues.
Hun Sen, who was prime minister for 38 years until August 22 last year, said he held a talk with William Burns, director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), on June 2 ahead of Austin’s arrival in Phnom Penh.
The fresh Cambodia-U.S. interactions gave a boost to bilateral defense ties and overall relations, which have been in decline since Cambodia canceled the Angkor Sentinel military exercise in 2017.
In full: https://thediplomat.com/2024/06/after-pentagon-chiefs-visit-hope-for-recovery-in-cambodia-us-ties/
