Name? Hun Sen
Westphalian identity? Khmer/Cambodian
Age? 69
Why is he in the news? The Cambodian Prime Minister hosted Myanmar’s military-appointed Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin only a day after a court in Myanmar sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi to detention for politically-motivated charges.
Why do we care? Not only did Hun Sen host a member of Myanmar’s military junta, but he also agreed to travel to Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw in January to continue talks with the military. Should he follow through on this commitment, Hun Sen would be the first international leader to visit Myanmar since the fated February 1st coup.
Why should you care? Because Cambodia, aka Hun Sen, is taking over from Brunei as chair of ASEAN for 2022. Considering the Cambodian leader believes that the Myanmar military should be invited to ASEAN meetings, it is clear that Hun Sen’s ascent to ASEAN’s chairmanship will likely dilute the regional bloc’s approach to Myanmar even further. You should care 4/10 about Hun heightening divisions in the region.
Who else cares? Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Indonesia has been one of the most vocal opponents of the military coup in Myanmar since February 1st. With Cambodia seemingly accepting the junta with open arms, President Widodo will face even greater obstacles in passing any resolutions in ASEAN; unfortunately evoking a deja vu moment from Cambodia’s last controversial chairmanship of ASEAN in 2012.
Any further comments? Hun Sen’s cooperation with the Myanmar junta should come as no surprise given that he himself, the longest-serving nonroyal ruler in Asia, is cracking down harder on political opposition and civil society in Cambodia. As Hun Sen moves to solidify a political dynasty in Cambodia, it’s understandable that he wouldn’t want to isolate another Southeast Asian authoritarian. Hun Sen is a seasoned peacemaker having helped engineer the final collapse of the Khmer Rouge in the late 1990s so perhaps there is hope for progress through Hun as mediator.
