Arrr! Austin be makin' friends with Cambodia's crew to get in good favor with China's mateys. Aye, matey!
2024-06-04
Arr, the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set sail for Cambodia to tighten the ol' military bonds with China's mate in Southeast Asia. After many a year of chillin' relations, it be time to make amends and hoist the Jolly Roger together!
In a jolly and jesting manner, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set sail for Cambodia on Tuesday to parley for a stronger kinship with China's closest mate in Southeast Asia. Austin met with Tea Seiha, his Cambodian counterpart, and Prime Minister Hun Manet during his brief sojourn to Phnom Penh. The Cambodian Defense Ministry hailed Austin's visit as a means to bolster the longstanding camaraderie between the two nations that has endured for over 70 moons.Austin, fresh from Singapore where he partook in the Shangri-La defense confab and bantered with his Chinese counterpart, Adm. Dong Jun, sought to mend the frayed ties between their navies amidst mounting tensions in the Indo-Pacific expanse. The icy relations between the U.S. and Cambodia have thawed little over the years due in no small part to Phnom Penh's chummy rapport with China, especially their martial presence at a naval station in the Gulf of Thailand bolstered by Beijing's largesse.Despite Washington's consternation over Cambodia's human rights track record, Cambodian officials assure that China shan't enjoy any special lodestar privileges and maintain a neutral stance on defense matters. Austin's visit marked his maiden voyage to Cambodia under the leadership of Hun Manet, who succeeded his sire Hun Sen, the erstwhile prime minister of 38 years. Rumors of a reset in U.S.-Cambodia relations have yet to bear fruit as Hun Manet has clung to his father's decrees thus far.Both Austin and Hun Manet, erstwhile comrades at West Point, engaged in tête-à-tête on Tuesday, with Austin also conferring with Hun Sen, now the president of the Senate. Post his Cambodian escapade, Austin shall sail forth to France for the festivities commemorating the 80th anniversary of the World War II D-Day landing, as per dispatches from the U.S. Defense Department.