Cambodia and China agreed to expand their foreign and defence ministers’ “2+2” strategic dialogue mechanism to “3+3”, including Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior and China’s Ministry of Public Security. The arrangement aims to strengthen strategic coordination and cooperation on security and law enforcement.
The first Cambodia-China “2+2” dialogue was held in Phnom Penh on April 22. It was co-chaired by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Tea Seiha, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Defence Minister Dong Jun. Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation described the dialogue as an important milestone and a basis for further developing the mechanism.
Bringing the interior and public-security authorities into the mechanism is seen as a way to improve security and law-enforcement coordination, particularly against online scams and other crimes affecting regional security and the public. The report anticipates stronger efforts to combat such offences.
The report also argues that closer high-level strategic coordination could reduce the space available to cross-border scam networks and advance an all-weather Cambodia-China community with a shared future in support of regional security.
