On February 23, The Diplomat published an article written by David Whitehouse titled “Australia Gets Tough on Foreign Government Intimidation of Cambodian, Rwandan Diasporas.”
The article accused the Cambodian government of intimidating members of the Cambodian diaspora to stifle dissenting voices and fundraising.
However, the argument lacks a fair and objective assessment of Cambodian politics.
The author identified himself as co-author of the autobiography of Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is a very controversial political figure.
Sam Rainsy exploits the borderline of freedom and democracy as means for his political style and self-expression. Just recently, he added up his multiple accounts of verbal assaults against the Cambodian king, who is an inviolable public figure under the constitution. This is akin to an Australian politician making a public attack against the dignity of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
He made several accusations that Prime Minister Hun Sen is behind various assassination cases. This is again like an Australian politician accusing Queen Elizabeth of masterminding an assassination of Diana, Princess of Wales.
This is how problematic his political style is under the guise of freedom of expression.
Therefore, Whitehouse’s association with such a controversial and extremist political figure should be enough to arouse caution when evaluating the objectivity of his article.
Second, the article encourages an extremist political culture that could be harmful to democratic principles and inter-state relations.
According to democratic principles, if it is a recognizable right of the Cambodian diaspora to support an opposition group, it is also right and fair for anyone to support the elected government of Cambodia.
Accusing the government of intimidating and harassing diaspora communities is erroneous.
In fact, it is members of the diaspora who support the Cambodian government and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) who have been suppressed, humiliated and discriminated.
The latest threats made in the United States are that those who support the CPP could have their American citizenship and resident rights revoked, and may be repatriated back to Cambodia.
The landscape has changed. Recently, members of the diaspora gained enough confidence to join public events and express their support for Cambodian government, and it has become commonplace for Hun Sen to conduct meetings with thousands of Cambodians overseas, such as in Geneva in July 2019, Washington and Zurich in May 2022, and the latest one in Brussels in December.
The increase of public expression of support from the Cambodian diaspora toward the government speaks to the practice of democracy in which people can exercise political freedom.
Claiming that the whole Cambodian diaspora supports the opposition is far-fetched and lacks objectivity.
On inter-state relations, encouraging anti-government political movements against another state is politically sensitive. This allows intrusion and meddling in the internal affairs of another state under the guise of democracy, human rights and political freedom.
Stories abound that the US has suspected Russian influence in its highest form of politics, the presidential election. Australia also took actions to prevent Chinese influence within its domestic politics.
According to the Westphalia Treaty, which is the cornerstone for customary practice and norms of international relations, states shall abide by four important principles, namely national self-determination, the resort to diplomacy in resolving conflicts, peaceful coexistence among sovereign states, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other sovereign states.
But the real practice is rather different. To borrow George Orwell’s quote, it seems that “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
There are multiple occurrences of extrajudicial and extraterritorial practice of some states that intrude the internal affairs of other states. Some states use their parliamentary and executive powers to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions to meddle in domestic politics of other states, mostly weaker ones.
All states should be cautious in differentiating between the encouragement of political freedom and democracy, and the encouragement of extreme political culture.
No politicians of any country, no matter how good they perceive themselves to be, can totally exempt themselves from hatred by people who have different political opinions. Nonetheless, all expression of political freedom should be made in accordance with the law and with respect for the dignity of the person.
No one can stop the opposition diaspora from having unfavorable views against Cambodian leaders. Likewise, no Cambodian diaspora should be prevented from expressing different political opinions from the opposition groups.
This is the core principle of democracy, which should be observed and applied fairly and equally without discrimination.