Cambodian PM’s visit to Myanmar sets tone of upcoming ASEAN retreat

As the Myanmar crisis continues to loom large, ASEAN foreign ministers are slated to meet for their annual retreat next week in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in a potential setup for a heated discussion following Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s widely criticized visit to Myanmar over the weekend.

Cambodia, as the current ASEAN chair, has the complicated task of handling the protracted humanitarian, political and economic crises in an ASEAN member state, nearly a year after the Myanmar military ousted its democratically elected government on Feb. 1, 2021.

Myanmar’s military regime, which the international community does not recognize as the country’s legitimate government, was excluded from last year’s ASEAN Summit due to the grouping’s lack of progress in implementing the Five-Point Consensus.

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