Cambodia is facing a tough year as ASEAN chair this year due to the prolonged civil war in Myanmar. Myanmar’s case will be at the top of the agenda for ASEAN leaders at the upcoming ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat, which is scheduled for Feb. 16-17 after being postponed from January due to the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Having endured its own civil war, Cambodia has offered to share its past experience with Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC), to help resolve the current crisis. In early January, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen paid a visit to Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, who promised to extend a “ceasefire” throughout 2022. Hun Sen called on all parties concerned to halt all violence and exercise the utmost restraint.
However, citing a lack of progress in implementing ASEAN’s five-point consensus (5PC), Cambodia now says Myanmar can only send a “non-political representative” if it wants to attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat.
