Cambodia’s decision to nix military exercises with US leaves many scratching their heads
Defence ministry officials have cited the country’s current ‘war on drugs’ and its upcoming commune elections as reasons for diverting resources from the annual Angkor Sentinel exercises. Earlier this week, Cambodia informed the US it would postpone their annual joint military exercises for the next two years, leading to speculation that the Southeast Asian country was putting more of its stock in regional hegemon China. Cambodian Ministry of National Defence spokesman Chhum Socheath said the Angkor Sentinel exercises would be cancelled in order to allocate troops and resources toward the country’s six-month ‘war on drugs’ and its upcoming commune elections. “We postponed because we are busy with a six-month national anti-drug campaign. So our forces must go to join with the National Police in order to crack down against drug crime around the country,” Socheath told The Cambodia Daily.
