Cambodia withdrew from the two-decade-old Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle (CLV-DTA), a regional cooperation initiative that had faced protests and online criticism just months earlier. The decision comes after the government arrested nearly 100 would-be protestors, including minors.
Citing “people’s concern over land issues” and the need to “take weapons from extremists”, Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father and longtime primer, Hun Sen, both took to Facebook on September 20 to announce Cambodia’s exit from the regional development agreement.
Despite the apparent concessions to protestors, there is no indication that those still in custody for planning demonstrations against the agreement in Phnom Penh will no longer face persecution.
While the decision from Manet’s government to depart from the development pact has been championed by opposition parties and activists, many are still advocating clemency for those who remain in jail. Meanwhile, political analysts see the decision to pull out from the CLV-DTA as complicating Cambodia’s relations and future cooperation with its neighbors.
“I, as the Chairman of the Cambodian People’s Party, have discussed with Prime Minister Hun Manet and several other leaders and we have decided that Cambodia ends joining the CLV-DTA from [effective] September 20,” Hun Sen wrote in a Facebook post late in the evening of September 20.
Hun Sen, who currently serves as Senate President, added that, despite the withdrawal, Cambodia will continue to develop border regions through regular cooperation with neighboring countries and bilateral frameworks, as well as with other global development partners.
In light of these developments, the families of those arrested for anti-CLV-DTA dissent have urged the government to free their relatives. However, in response to comments on his Facebook page, Sen stated that the detainees would not be released.
Phin Sovanny, the mother of Sak Kanika, a member of the Youth Resource Development Program (YRDP) who was arrested on August 18 for her involvement in organizing demonstrations, told CamboJA News that while she was elated to learn that Cambodia decided to withdraw from the CLV-DTA, she hopes that her daughter will be released soon.
“I want to ask the government to release my daughter and other young people [arrested for attempting to protest],” she said.
Secretary-General Ly Sothearayuth of the Candlelight Party —the opposition to Cambodia’s ruling party which was disqualified from the 2023 election—expressed support for the decision to pull out of the agreement.
“However, we [the Candlelight Party] urge the government to reconsider the release of those who have been accused and imprisoned in connection with their objections to the CLV-DTA,” Sothearayuth said.
Similarly, the Grassroots Democratic Party, another opposition to Cambodia’s ruling party, issued a statement on September 23 in support of the government’s decision to leave the pact. Additionally, the statement also called on the government to release people detained for “expressing their views on this issue”.
According to the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), over 100 people have been arrested since late July, with more than 60 charged and imprisoned for posting on social media, planning to assemble, or expressing opinions about the CLV-DTA.
Around 30 individuals remain in jail on charges ranging from incitement to plotting to overthrow the government, including opposition party members, staff for civil society organizations, and even a civil servant, per a report from LICADHO.
However, Agence France-Presse reported that of the roughly 100 people arrested, nine are still facing prosecution, while the rest have been released.
CamboJA News was unable to independently verify the remaining number of detainees still facing prosecution.
The government spokesperson, Pen Bona, told CamboJA News that Cambodia’s exit from the CLV-DTA is not relevant to the legal action being taken against the individuals who are currently in custody.
As many supporters of the accused continue to urge for their release, analysts are eyeing the greater political maneuvering at play in the government’s decision.
Sophal Ear, a Cambodian political commentator and associate professor at Arizona State University, said that the government’s decision to pull out of the development deal appears largely motivated by domestic political pressures, particularly to appease nationalist sentiments and opposition claims about sovereignty issues.
But the arrests of activists – despite the government’s decision to withdraw – seem contradictory, in Sophal’s view.
The contradiction may simply be political gamesmanship.
By exiting the regional development agreement while keeping activists imprisoned, the ruling party can assert that it has responded to nationalist concerns, while also sending a clear message that, even if demands are addressed, the government will not permit dissent or challenges to its authority, Sophal said.
“This allows the ruling party to demonstrate responsiveness to public sentiment, while also reinforcing its dominance and control,” he added.
Regarding the bureaucratic steps of the withdrawal, Hun Sen said in his Facebook post that the government has officially notified Vietnam and Laos.
Sok Chenda Sophea, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, sent an official letter to the Foreign Ministers of Laos and Vietnam declaring Cambodia’s decision to exit the agreement.
While Cambodia seems to be exercising diplomatic channels, Sophal believes that the withdrawal could impact its relations with both Vietnam and Laos.
He argues that the CLV-DTA has served as a framework for regional cooperation, and Cambodia’s sudden exit may raise concerns in Hanoi and Vientiane about the future of multilateral efforts in the region.
“Vietnam might interpret this move as a reaction to anti-Vietnamese sentiments within Cambodia, potentially straining bilateral relations,” Sophal said.
Recently, relations between Phnom Penh and Hanoi have also been complicated by Cambodia’s development of the China-backed Funan Techo Canal, which Vietnam fears could threaten its water security and economic interests.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Chum Sounry did not respond when asked about the reactions from Vietnam and Laos following Cambodia’s announcement of its withdrawal.
The spokesperson for Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Laos embassy in Phnom Penh also did not respond to CamboJA News’s request for comments on Cambodia’s exit from the development agreement.
(Additional reporting by Khuon Narim)
