Hun Sen Visits the U.S. Embassy for First Time, Discusses Ties with the Ambassador
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Dec. 23 made his first official visit to the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh and met with U.S. Ambassador Patrick Murphy to discuss ways to improve relations between the two countries in the coming years. Photo: US Embassy in Phnom Penh
- By Torn Chanritheara
- December 24, 2022 1:31 PM
PHNOM PENH – Prime Minister Hun Sen on Dec. 23 made his first official visit to the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh and met with U.S. Ambassador Patrick Murphy to discuss ways to improve relations between the two countries in the coming years.
“We hosted Prime Minister Hun Sen and his delegation today @USEmbPhnomPenh to mark the end of the year and discuss efforts to improve bilateral relations,” Murphy wrote on his official Twitter account.
In a Facebook post on Dec. 24, the U.S. Embassy said that the United States “appreciates Cambodia’s leadership of ASEAN during a year of global and regional challenges, support for the historic U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington D.C., hospitality for President Biden’s participation in the November Summits in Phnom Penh, and advocacy for the newly elevated U.S.-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”
The embassy added that the United States welcomed Cambodia’s stance to uphold the U.N. Charter, defend territorial integrity, and co-sponsor U.N. resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Accompanying Hun Sen to the U.S. Embassy were Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and Minister of Culture Phoeurng Sackona. The prime minister’s sons, Member of Parliament Hun Mani and Hun Manith who is head of military intelligence were also part of the delegation along with Kao Kim Hourn, the incoming ASEAN secretary general.
Mani wrote in a Facebook post that the visit had been “[a] reminder of the good relationship as well as close cooperation between the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia and the United States of America, both at bilateral and regional cooperation [levels] such as ASEAN-U.S.”
While Hun Sen’s visit focused on the bilateral ties between the two countries at the political level, the presence of Minister of Culture Sackona underscored the cooperation between the two countries that has led to the repatriation of pre-Angkorian and Angkorian artifacts, which had been looted and were identified in museums, art-dealer shops and private collections in the United States.
Through the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries on “the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Categories of Archeological Material of Cambodia” in effect until Sept. 19, 2023, numerous pre-Angkorian and Angkorian artworks acquired illegally have been seized by the U.S. authorities and returned to Cambodia. A ceremony covered by the media was held in New York City on Aug. 8, 2022, to mark the imminent return of 30 of these Khmer artworks to the country.
