Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spent a “productive day” in Cambodia, where he met with the country’s defense minister and Prime Minister Hun Manet—as well as Hun Manet’s father, former Prime Minister Hun Sen. “We had substantive conversations about ways to strengthen U.S.-Cambodian defense ties, and I’m looking forward to further dialogue,” Austin wrote on X, noting that Hun Manet was a “fellow West Point graduate.”
Other accounts of the visit struck the same note of bland positivity: One U.S. official said the “relationship has a lot of potential and room for growth,” while Cambodian press called the visit “historic” and said the United States would “work closely with Cambodia to establish mechanisms to build better relations and cooperation.”
