CAMBODIAN Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sok Chenda Sophea will visit the Philippines to attend the Philippines-Cambodia Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation from August 27 to 28, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
It would be his first official visit to an Asean Member State and the first by a Cambodian foreign minister since 2017.
Sok Chenda Sophea will co-chair the event with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo to discuss important areas of cooperation, including defense and security, trade and investments, agriculture, as well as people-to-people exchanges.
The Philippines and Cambodia have maintained cordial ties since the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two nations in 1995. Cambodia maintains an embassy in Manila, while the Philippines maintains an embassy in Phnom Penh.
During Cambodia’s chairmanship of Asean in 2012, the regional bloc failed to issue a unanimous statement regarding the South China Sea issue because of Cambodia’s pro-China stance.
This was the first time Asean could not issue such a statement, resulting in numerous Asean nations accusing Cambodia of siding with China, its close ally.
Cambodia’s pro-Chinese position extensively damaged its international image. To ensure that diplomatic channels remained open, the ambassadors of the Philippines and Cambodia issued separate statements, saying the diplomatic relations between the two countries were still strong.
Cambodia, at one point, recalled its ambassador to the Philippines after the envoy verbally attacked the Philippines and Vietnam while praising China.
In 2016, Cambodia again opposed Asean’s unified stance on the South China Sea issue. It negated any mention of the South China Sea Arbitration case won by the Philippines against China.
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