May 2, 2023
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia and China have signed a working plan for the continued implementation of law enforcement cooperation between the Kingdom’s Ministry of Interior and China’s Ministry of Public Security to continue to combat transnational crime and illegal gambling.
The signing ceremony, held in Beijing on April 29, was witnessed by interior minister Sar Kheng and his Chinese counterpart Wang Xiaohong, during the former’s April 28-30 visit to strengthen cooperation and exchange security experiences.
According to Sar Kheng’s April 30 social media post, at the event, Chinese public security deputy minister Xu Datong and Cambodian National Police chief Neth Savoeun shared their appreciation of the results of law enforcement cooperation between the two sides.
Wang thanked the Kingdom for close cooperation, saying he is convinced that through the meeting, it would improve further.
Sar Kheng echoed the sentiment, saying the outcome of the meeting would be deepening bilateral relations and cooperation.
Yang Peou, secretary-general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said the two nations have jointly developed a “diamond cooperation framework” with six priority areas: Political cooperation, production capacity and quality, agriculture, energy, security, and people-to people exchanges.
On security, he said the signing of the working plan will further strengthen cooperation on human trafficking and drug clampdown, among others.
“Unfortunately, these crimes do occur in Cambodia, and sometimes Chinese people are involved,” he said.
Peou said he hopes that the signing would improve the fight against these crimes, particularly as China has recently reopened the country, enabling Chinese investors and tourists to return to Cambodia.
Within the framework of law enforcement cooperation, the two sides noted the significant results that followed the implementation of law enforcement cooperation between the two ministries in April 2019 on the initiative of Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese President Xi Jinping.