US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin traveled to Cambodia on June 4 in what was commonly regarded as a “historic” vacation, the first of its kind to be conducted bilaterally by a Pentagon key.
Austin and Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen, Prime Minister Hun Manet, and defence minister Tea Seiha were also present during the trip, and conversations apparently centered on bilateral security ties.
After a period of downgraded and occasionally intense relations, that raises some hope for a political and corporate update.  ,
The high-level discussions included a possible return to Vietnamese participation in UN peacekeeping operations, a suspended Angkor Sentinel joint military exercise, and renewed access for Cambodians to professional education programs run by the US military.
Austin even expressed concern that Cambodia was straddling China’s borders. The US is specifically concerned that Cambodia may permit China to access the Gulf of Thailand through its Ream Naval Base entry.
On the disputed South China Sea, that might give Beijing a proper base and important southern flank. Despite Cambodia’s persistent denial of any such” secret” base pact, these American concerns have been repeated and strengthened.
Austin arrived simply as Cambodia’s yearly Golden Dragon joint military exercises with China, which were held this time between May 16 and May 31, came to an end.
This year’s strong drills saw the participation of 2, 000- plus Thai and Chinese martial personnel, 11 Thai ships and three Foreign warships, and included survive- fire exercises focused on anti- hijacking and anti- terrorism in the sea near Cambodia’s Sihanoukville Port.
The Golden Dragon exercises first appeared in 2016 shortly after Cambodia discontinued its quarterly Angkor Sentinel drills with the US following their launch in 2010.
Austin’s decision to travel to Cambodia and rekindle the two sides ‘ dead defense relations surely played a role in the strengthening of China-Cambodge defense ties and their implications for the region’s tactical and maritime balance.
The new Thai government led by Hun Manet, a Westpoint student and graduate of New York University, may have also given the US defence chief an option.
However, there are indications of intensifying China- US jockeying for placement. China announced the appointment of its innovative ambassador after the president had completed his mandated term on the same day as Austin’s visit.
Wang Wenbin, China’s past Foreign Ministry spokesman and one of its consequently- called “wolf- hero” diplomats, was assigned as ambassador- identify to Cambodia, according to a China Daily report. The announcement was no doubt strategically timed and clearly showed Beijing’s bid to blunt the impact of Austin’s “historic” visit and outreach to Hun Manet’s new government.
There are two ways to interpret these developments. In order to maintain their economic and diplomatic dominance in Cambodia, China and the US are first and foremost beefing up their diplomatic spiel as part of their growing global conflict for economic and diplomatic power.
The second, and perhaps more granular, interpretation is that the US and China have been closely monitoring the new Cambodian administration for about a year and have both decided now is the right time to act after digesting its messaging and signaling.
Since coming to power last year, Hun Manet has openly sought to “diversify” Cambodia’s foreign relations by touring many Western countries under his Pentagonal Strategy’s “independent, rule- based and smart” foreign policy mantra. The strategy’s “rule-based” element is a direct reference to both the US and the West.
Some family members have noted that Hun Manet has shied away from the frequent anti-American and anti-West rants his father, former long-time prime minister Hun Sen, has made.
Hun Manet is portrayed as having a more nuanced diplomatic style that seeks to elicit the best possible economic returns from as many foreign partners as possible.
That could indicate that Hun Manet is making a delicate effort to rebalance his nation’s relations with China and the US, which have recently shifted more toward Beijing and away from Washington. China is currently Cambodia’s main development partner, largest investor, biggest creditor and main supplier of military equipment.
Beijing may have noticed the change in tone under Hun Manet and is gearing up for a more difficult tug-of-war with the US to gain influence in Cambodia. The shift would explain Austin’s questioning trip and China’s appointment of a well-known new ambassador to Phnom Penh.
Under Hun Manet’s rule, Cambodia could become more independent and diplomatically balanced.
Sothearak Sok is a lecturer at the Royal University of Phnom , Penh, Cambodia, and a research fellow at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.