Cambodia faces U.S., EU action after banning opposition

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The United States stopped election support for Cambodia with a promise of more “concrete steps” and the European Union threatened vital trade preferences after the main opposition party to Prime Minister Hun Sen was banned.

Buddhist monks walk past a banner of opposition leader and President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Kem Sokha at the party's headquarters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

But China voiced support for Cambodia’s government, standing behind the former Khmer Rouge commander who has become one of Beijing’s most important allies in Southeast Asia after more than three decades in power.

The ban on the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), decreed by the Supreme Court at the government’s request, followed the arrest of its leader, Kem Sokha, for treason. He is accused of plotting to take power with American help.

Hun Sen’s critics called the CNRP dissolution an attempt to steal the election and the death knell for democracy. Western donors have spent billions of dollars since 1993 trying to build a multiparty system following decades of war.

“On current course, next year’s election will not be legitimate, free or fair,” a White House statement said, promising to take “concrete steps”.

The first of those was to end support for the Cambodian National Election Committee ahead of the 2018 election, it said.

In Brussels, an EU spokesman said the election could not be legitimate without the opposition and noted that respect for human rights was a prerequisite for Cambodia’s access to EU trade preferences under its “Everything But Arms scheme.”

That scheme, giving tariff-free access, and similar trade preferences in the United States have helped Cambodia build a garment industry on low-cost labor. Between them, EU and U.S. markets take some 60 percent of Cambodia’s exports.

In a symbolic step, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution calling on the Treasury and State departments to consider placing Cambodian officials implicated in abuses on a watch list for asset freezes and travel bans.

Huy Vannak, undersecretary of state at Cambodia’s Interior Ministry who is close to Hun Sen, said the U.S. position was “made without consideration to the evidence and court hearing”.

“We hope that the U.S. will consider the overall bilateral relations with Cambodia and continue to collaborate with common interests of both countries,” he said.