Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, this morning expressed his concerns over the uncertainty of geopolitical situation in the region, including the US-China tension, the Trilateral Australia-UK-US Partnership on Nuclear-Powered Submarines, and NATO’s trend to Asia and the Pacific region.

At the graduation ceremony of nearly 6,000 students of the Royal University of Law and Economics at Koh Pich Convention and Exhibition Centre in Phnom Penh, Samdech Techo Hun Sen said some countries are now declaring to dispatch their warships deeper into Southeast Asia and toward the South China Sea.

In addition, he continued, the Trilateral Australia-UK-US Partnership on Nuclear-Powered Submarines is also becoming a concern for ASEAN and other countries in the region because ASEAN has a unique point of being a nuclear weapon-free zone and countering the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

“Even though they (above-said concerns) do not pose any high risk in the region, it is the beginning of a dangerous arms race, and if this situation continues, the world will face a greater danger. Anyway, we remain optimistic that the world will find a compromise to manage relations, especially the tensions between the US and China to avoid the risk of Cold War recurrence,” he said.

The Cambodian Premier also shared his concern over the NATO’s new trend to Asia and the Pacific. “NATO is generally in the west, but now it seems to be heading towards our Asia-Pacific under this or that image,” he underlined.

Despite the geopolitical uncertainty, pandemic and climate change, Samdech Techo Hun Sen remains confident that Cambodia will exit the least developed countries (LDCs) status by 2027 and definitely achieve its goal of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse