US sanctions Cambodian officials over alleged corruption at Ream Naval Base

Two Cambodian officials ‘likely conspired to inflate the cost of facilities at [the base] and personally benefit from the proceeds’, says US Treasury Department

The US deputy secretary of state raised ‘serious concerns’ during a June trip to the country about a Chinese military presence and construction at the Ream base

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Sailors stand guard at the Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville, Cambodia in July 2019. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:31am, 11 Nov 2021Updated: 10:21pm, 11 Nov 2021

The US government on Wednesday sanctioned Cambodian officials for alleged graft at the Southeast Asian nation’s largest naval base, where the demolition of structures funded by Washington has drawn criticism from US officials concerned about China’s access to the facility.

Chau Phirun, director general of the defence ministry’s material and technical services department, “conspired to profit from activities regarding the construction and updating of Ream Naval Base facilities”, the US Treasury Department said.

Chau Phirun, Royal Cambodian Navy Commander Tea Vinh and other government officials “likely conspired to inflate the cost of facilities at [the base] and personally benefit from the proceeds”, it added.

The new sanctions, which will bar the two and immediate family members from entering the US, are authorised by a clause in the US government’s appropriations law that targets officials of foreign governments who “have been involved, directly or indirectly, in significant corruption, including corruption related to the extraction of natural resources, or a gross violation of human rights”.

Cambodian soldiers stand at Ream Naval Base in Cambodia in July 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE

The US Treasury Department will freeze any assets held by the two officials and their immediate family members under the authority of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which has been invoked against Chinese government officials and organisations accused of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

The move escalates a point of friction between the US and Cambodia that recently came into sharper focus. US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman raised “serious concerns” during a trip to the country in June about a Chinese military presence and construction of facilities at the Ream base, according to the department.