Cambodia critic ends congressional career

ONE of the loudest voices in Washington condemning Cambodia’s recent political crackdown has announced his intention not to seek re-election to the US House of Representatives.

Thirteen-term Republican Representative Ed Royce of California, who also serves as the chairman for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced his decision yesterday.

“In this final year of my Foreign Affairs Committee chairmanship, I want to focus fully on urgent threats . . . including: the brutal, corrupt and dangerous regimes in Pyongyang and Tehran, and . . . Putin’s continued efforts to weaponize information to fracture . . . democracies,” Royce said in his statement.

Royce has also been an outspoken critic of Hun Sen’s government, warning in August that there has been an “alarming degradation of democracy in Cambodia”. Following the November dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, Royce wrote that “Hun Sen and his thuggish regime have sadly achieved their goal of a one-party dictatorship”.

In December, Royce and his committee heard testimony from witnesses to Cambodia’s democratic backslide.

During that hearing, Royce applauded the decision of US President Donald Trump’s administration to issue visa restrictions against high-ranking ruling-party officials.

“I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on what additional measures we should take,” he said at the time.