Cambodia’s Hun Sen accused of undermining Asean with ‘cowboy diplomacy’ on Myanmar trip

Visit by the Cambodian strongman to the crisis-hit nation undercuts efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to pressure coup leader Min Aung Hlaing. Cynics question whether Hun Sen is an ‘honest broker’, given his own crackdown on political opponents and dependence on Beijing. Others doubt his leverage.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s trip to Myanmar begins Friday amid criticism that his visit will undo efforts by Asean to defuse the deepening political and security crisis that has been worsened by the pandemic.

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, who usually posts on Twitter in Indonesian, tweeted in English on Wednesday that he had spoken to Hun Sen about Myanmar.

While he extended his support for Cambodia’s rotating chairmanship of the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) bloc, the leader of Southeast Asia’s largest economy reiterated that Myanmar coup leader Min Aung Hlaing should comply with the “five point consensus” peace plan that he had agreed to last April.

In full: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3162381/cambodias-hun-sen-accused-undermining-asean-cowboy-diplomacy

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