The United States on Wednesday blacklisted two Cambodian officials, accusing them of planning to profit from construction work at Cambodia’s biggest naval base, where Washington has expressed concern about China’s military presence.
The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it slapped sanctions on Cambodia’s navy commander, Tea Vinh, and on Chau Phirun, the director-general of the Defense Ministry’s Material and Technical Services Department, accusing the two of planning to share funds skimmed from the Ream naval base project.
The sanctions freeze any of their U.S. assets and generally bar Americans from dealing with them. The U.S. State Department on Wednesday also barred the officials and several of their family members from traveling to the United States.
