Cambodia Postpones First ASEAN Meeting Amid Differences Among Members

Cambodia on Wednesday postponed the first Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting under its 2022 chairmanship, the government said, amid reports of differences among the bloc's members over Prime Minister Hun Sen's visit to Myanmar last week, during which he did not meet with democracy leaders.

An in-person foreign ministers retreat, scheduled for next week in Siem Reap, was postponed indefinitely, according to an announcement by Khieu Kanharith, the host country's information minister.

'The ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat (AMM Retreat) initially scheduled on Jan. 18-19, 2022, in Siem Reap province has been postponed,' he said in a statement on Facebook, without announcing a new date for the meeting.

FILE - Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin welcomes Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Jan. 7, 2022. FILE - Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin welcomes Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Jan. 7, 2022.

The reason for the postponement, he added, is that many ASEAN foreign ministers 'have difficulties traveling to attend the meeting.'

The postponement effectively delays the official endorsement of Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn as ASEAN's new special envoy for Myanmar.

Radio Free Asia, with which BenarNews is affiliated, tried to contact Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan and Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Koung but did not immediately hear back from them Wednesday.

Divisions within ASEAN over Hun Sen's trip to Naypyidaw and a potential invitation to the Myanmar junta's foreign minister to attend the ASEAN diplomats retreat might be why some diplomats chose not to attend next week's meeting, analysts said.