04 November 2016•Update: 04 November 2016
By Lauren Crothers
PHNOM PENH
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has pledged his support for Republican Party candidate Donald Trump in the United States presidential election.
In doing so, Asia’s longest-serving autocrat has joined the likes of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, Zimbabwean despot Robert Mugabe, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Phnom Penh Post reported Friday that Hun Sen had given a talk to police officials the day before, in which he endorsed Trump, who faces off against Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8.
“For me, frankly, I want Trump to win the election. If Trump wins, the world might change and it might be better, because Trump is a businessman and a businessman does not want war,” the premier told those present.
He added that a Trump win would signify a change in tides with regard to U.S.-Russian relations and the possibility of brokering peace in the restive Middle East.
“But if Trump wins, Trump and Putin might become friends,” the PM said, adding that his opinion was based on Hillary Clinton’s autobiography, in which Hillary -- who he referred to as “Clinton’s wife” -- said she had pushed present U.S. President Barack Obama to arm rebels in Syria.
Since the start of the Syrian War, Russia has thrown its weight behind Syrian President Bashar Assad, while the U.S. has supported the armed opposition.
“It is a complicated thing, but we will know in a few days,” he said.
Trump’s Los Angeles headquarters are located in Cambodia Town in Long Beach, California, home to one of the largest Cambodian diaspora communities in the world.
On Friday, political analyst Ou Virak, who recently spent time in the U.S., said he met a number of Cambodian opposition members who are also happily supporting the Republican candidate.
“The CNRP [Cambodia National Rescue Party] supporters in the U.S. support building the wall and kicking out immigrants," he told Anadolu Agency.
"Bigotry is not one-sided."
Trump has built his campaign on promises to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and make the U.S. “great again”.
“Many Cambodian people from the so-called young democratic movement are supporting the extrajudicial killings of drug users in the Philippines, so in a sense Cambodian politicians, as well as the population, likes tangible, strong-armed policies that they are drawn to.”
Hun Sen’s remarks come as “no surprise,” he said.
