On June 7, 2024, a foreign media published a report on Southeast Asian countries attending the upcoming Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland. They try to blame China if Cambodia does not participate.
Last week in a video meeting with the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, while informing him that Cambodia is considering a peace plan and whether or not to join, I also informed him that the peace summit would not be successful if relevant parties especially Russia were not invited to join. I told him that before, during, and after the summit, Russia would launch strong military attack on the battlefield. I also said this to the CIA director on June 2 and the US Secretary of Defense on June 4 when they came to see me. Does China advise me to speak like this or does Cambodia have the right to speak?
Cambodia is an independent state and I have worked with Chinese leaders for many years and I have never heard any Chinese leaders telling me to do this or that to fulfill the Chinese wishes. On the contrary, those who accuse Cambodia of following China, always come to put pressure on Cambodia to follow themselves, thus often leading to word clashes with me. Cambodia’s decision not to attend the peace summit is Cambodian right, as Cambodia sees it unsuccessful. For other countries to join or not, it is their rights. Please do not try to blame China when Cambodia does not participate in the peace summit and please stop linking Cambodia to the geopolitical game against China.
