Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Hun Sen channels Trump

Hun Sen channels Trump

Prime Minister Hun Sen at an event to celebrate the National Clean City day yesterday in Phnom Penh. Photo supplied
Prime Minister Hun Sen at an event to celebrate the National Clean City day yesterday in Phnom Penh. Photo supplied

Hun Sen channels Trump

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday joined Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan in justifying a hard line against the press by invoking US President Donald Trump’s anti-media stance as an example.

The remarks, which stopped short of Siphan’s calls to shutter outlets deemed problematic, nonetheless seemed to suggest that a free press was tantamount to “anarchy”, and suggested the right to a free press – enshrined in the Kingdom’s Constitution – could not come at the expense of “stability”.

“We respect rights, but not the rights of anarchy, [but rather] the rights of the rule of law. I hope our foreign friends understand this. Now, in the United Sates itself, CNN and some others could not get into the White House because Donald Trump sees them as causing anarchy,” Hun Sen said during a speech in Phnom Penh commemorating National Clean City Day.

Hun Sen’s comments referred to the White House’s controversial decision to exclude certain media outlets, including CNN and the New York Times, from attending a meeting in press secretary Sean Spicer’s office on Thursday.

“They do not condemn Trump as a dictator. Ah! Or is it true, the United States has a dictator? Please make clear on this,” he added.

On Sunday, the Times did run an article on what experts and academics characterised as Trump’s embrace of authoritarian, Stalinist rhetoric in his labelling of the press as “the enemy of the people”.

As he often does, Hun Sen went on to refer to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, seeming to suggest that the abridgement of certain rights was warranted to prevent instability.

“Some just talk about rights but never talk about stability and peace. During Pol Pot’s regime, were there rights? If they were already dead, would they be able to write news?” he said.

In a quote in the Times’s story, Pol Pot biographer Philip Short appears to contradict Hun Sen’s assertion that Trump’s authoritarian tendencies created stability. “I don’t know if Trump has ever read Stalin, but if he wants to destabilise people, he is doing it perfectly,” Short said.

On Saturday, government spokesman Siphan had threatened to shut down any news sources that threaten peace and stability, specifically naming US government-funded “foreign agents” Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, as well as local outlet Voice of Democracy.

Yesterday, representatives from RFA and VOD said they would not be intimidated.

“At this time, I have nothing further to say except to reaffirm RFA’s commitment to bringing the Cambodian people credible, honest and independent journalism,” said RFA director of public affairs Rohit Mahajan.

Pa Nguon Teang, director of the Cambodia Centre for Independent Media, which oversees VOD, said that far from promoting stability, the destruction of a free press can itself cause chaos.

“The government has a fear of the opinions of the people . . . they don’t want to see people with a space to express ideas,” he said, claiming VOD was one such space.

Teang said the comments should be taken seriously, because “in this country anything can happen that the government wants”, but vowed to stick to his principles of sound journalism.

Political analysts also expressed concern that Trump could be encouraging authoritarian leaders around the world, while undermining America’s position as a world leader.

London-based rights consultant Billy Tai said that while attacks on the media in Cambodia have often come in “sporadic bursts” without serious consequences, Trump may embolden Hun Sen to actually take action.

“In this case, Hun Sen has been able to leech on to Trump’s behaviours . . . and would feel like he now has the licence to behave the same way,” said Tai.

“I do find it difficult to reconcile the rhetoric from the US Embassy with regards to Cambodia’s democratic space given what’s going on back in their home turf,” Tai added.

Dr Paul Chambers, with the Institute of South East Asian Affairs, echoed Tai’s comments.

“Hun Sen and Phay Siphan are conveniently using the anti-media standpoint of Trump to try to justify quashing media freedoms in Cambodia, a ploy which cuts against the previous pro-human rights comments of the US embassy. Trump’s tactics are becoming the legitimizer of authoritarianism in Cambodia for Hun Sen,” Chambers said via email.

The US Embassy, meanwhile, cautioned that Trump’s ongoing feud with the media should not be construed as an American abandonment of the principle of a free press.

“The United States is not immune from tensions between elected officials and the media, but the freedom and independence of the press is firmly entrenched in our laws and culture,” said embassy spokesman Jay Raman.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Cambodia returns 15M Covid jabs to China

    Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia will return 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to China for donation to other countries. The vaccines in question were ordered but had not yet arrived in Cambodia. While presiding over the Ministry of Health’s annual meeting held on

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide