Wasington, DC — Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement criticizing the Trump administration for removing an arms embargo on Cambodia without notifying or consulting Congress:
“The Trump administration has completely upended U.S. policy toward Cambodia with no regard for U.S. national security or our values. There has been broad bipartisan concern about the Cambodian government’s human rights abuses and its deepening ties to Beijing.
“It is no surprise that this administration would turn a blind eye to rampant corruption and repression, but lifting an arms embargo simply because the Cambodian government placated Trump in his campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize is beyond reckless. That’s not how American foreign policy or our arms sales process is meant to work.”
Additional background: In 2021, President Biden imposed an arms embargo and export restrictions on Cambodia due to significant concerns around the Cambodian military’s cooperation and connections with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The State Department’s 2024 Human Rights report found credible evidence of “torture, or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest or detention,” as well as “transnational repression…serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom…trafficking in persons, including forced labor,” and more.
