A Cambodian army press release said the country's military chief Gen. Mao Sophan in his meeting with Clark discussed cooperation in defense, trade, tourism, culture, counterterrorism, peacekeeping and demining as well as the recovery of missing American military personnel during the Vietnam War.
The two-day visit by a delegation led by Gen. Ronald P. Clark, commanding general of the United States Army Pacific, comes against a background of rocky relations with Cambodia, whose government Washington has long criticized for political repression and human rights violations.
The United States and others fear that China’s navy may have been given exclusive access to a base at Ream on the Gulf of Thailand, which would allow it to more easily project its power from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean.
The top U.S. Army officer for the Asia-Pacific region was in Cambodia on Monday in the latest visit by U.S. officials aimed at improving estranged ties between the two nations and their militaries.
A statement issued by Prime Minister Hun Manet said the U.S. general expressed his interest and appreciation for Cambodia sending U.N. peacekeepers to several countries around the world.
