Former US President Trump signed an executive order to lift the arms embargo on Cambodia. This sanction against Cambodia was implemented when former President Biden took office as the US President in 2021. In addition to the US's habitual reason of "human rights violations," the arms embargo on Cambodia also added the reason of "Cambodia's closer military relationship with China." However, the US soon realized that imposing an arms embargo on Cambodia was short-sighted, which further deepened Cambodia's military cooperation with China. Therefore, the US is now lifting all restrictions on arms sales to Cambodia, aiming to make Cambodia distance itself from China. Earlier, during the ASEAN Summit held in Malaysia, President Trump met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. Trump told Hun Manet that he planned to lift the sanctions against Cambodia and said that after the US lifted the arms embargo on Cambodia, "Cambodia must reduce its military cooperation with China."
It is currently unclear what response Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has given to Trump's actions. However, it is widely believed that the US lifting the arms embargo on Cambodia is unlikely to make Cambodia distance itself from China. Because American weapons are no longer very attractive to Cambodia, their performance is not better than Chinese ones, and they are too expensive, which is beyond the reach of a poor country like Cambodia. Moreover, the US policy has always been capricious, and in recent years, it has been clearly seen by the whole world. Cambodia cannot have full trust in the US.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848963842204684/
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