SOPHENG CHEANG

FILE - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet poses for photo, along with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, not in photo, in Hanoi, Vietnam on Monday, Dec.11, 2023. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh, File)
Cambodia’s leader says arrested protesters were trying to overthrow the government
Cambodia’s leader has condemned international human rights groups for criticizing his government’s arrests of nearly 100 people for protesting against a decades-old regional development agreement with neighboring countries.
 
FILE - This satellite photo taken by Planet Labs PBC shows two Chinese corvettes docked at the Ream Naval Base, Cambodia, on the Gulf of Thailand, May 8, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP File)
Cambodia says China gifting 2 warships as it finishes work expanding strategically important port
Cambodia’s Defense Ministry says China is giving its navy two warships of the type it has had docked for months at a strategically important base being expanded with Beijing’s funding.
 
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), artifact statues are displayed during a ceremony for the return of artifacts at Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AKP via AP)
Cambodia’s prime minister welcomes artifacts returned by New York’s Met and other collections
Cambodia’s prime minister has led a celebration of the return of dozens of precious centuries-old artifacts from museums and private collectors abroad, and said his government will continue working with others to bring home more such cultural treasures.
 
In this photo released by Cambodian Defense Ministry, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, left, shakes with his Cambodian counterpart Tea Seiha at the Defense Ministry in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Cambodian Defense Ministry via AP)
Japan’s defense minister begins visits to Cambodia and Vietnam, both under Beijing’s shadow
 
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, front left, accompanied by his wife Pich Chanmony, presses the button during a groundbreaking ceremony of China-funded Funan Techo canal that will connect the country’s capital Phnom Penh with Kep province on the country's south coast, Prek Takeo village, Kendal province, Cambodia, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodia breaks ground on a China-funded canal and says it will be built ‘no matter the cost’
Cambodia on Monday broke ground to build a controversial, China-funded canal to link the capital Phnom Penh to the sea despite environmental concerns and the risk of straining ties with neighboring Vietnam.
 
Opposition party leader Teav Vannol, speaks at a ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 3, 2018. A Cambodian court on Thursday found the president of the country’s main opposition party guilty of defamation and ordered him to pay $1.5 million in damages to the government, his lawyer and legal observers said. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Head of Cambodia’s top opposition party hit with $1.5 million judgement for defaming government
The lawyer for the president of Cambodia’s main opposition party says his client has been found guilty of of defamation and has been ordered to pay $1.5 million in damages to the government.
 
FILE - A dog sniffs Covid19 scents during a demonstration while Ukrainian deminers tour the Peace Museum Mine Action in Siem Reap province, northwestern Cambodia, Jan. 20, 2023. Japan’s foreign minister, on a visit to Cambodia, has announced a joint project with her hosts to share knowledge and technology on land mine removal with countries around the world, including Ukraine. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Japan partners with Cambodia to share demining knowledge with Ukraine, other countries
Japan’s foreign minister has announced a joint project with Cambodia to share knowledge and technology on land mine removal with countries around the world, including Ukraine.
 
Cambodian museum staff members prepare an artifact statue as it returned from U.S to Cambodia, before an official ceremony at the Cambodian National Museum in Phnom Penh Cambodia, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Cambodia on Thursday officially organized a welcome ceremony for the arrival of more than a dozen rare Angkor era sculptures from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art that were tied to an art dealer and collector accused of running a huge antiquities trafficking network out of Southeast Asia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodia welcomes the Met’s repatriation of centuries-old statues looted during past turmoil
Cambodia’s culture minister says the return to Cambodia this week of 14 sculptures that had been looted from the country during a period of war and unrest is like welcoming home the souls of ancestors.
 
An environmental activist, center, is escorted by polices personnel near Phnom Penh Municipality Court, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Ten members of a nonviolent environmental activist group in Cambodia were convicted on Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime, receiving prison sentences of six years each. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Ten Cambodian environmental activists receive prison sentences of 6-8 years each
Ten members of a Cambodian environmental activist group that campaigned against destructive infrastructure projects and alleged corruption have been sentenced to six years in prison on charges of conspiring against the state.
 
FILE - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet poses for photo, in Hanoi, Vietnam on Dec.11, 2023. A court in Cambodia has formally charged a real estate entrepreneur holding a royally bestowed title with the premeditated murder of a young couple in the capital Phnom Penh, a case that has sparked widespread public outrage. The case attracted massive attention largely because the suspect held the title of Oknha, an honorific bestowed on business people who donate large sums of money to the government. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh, File)
Killing of young Cambodian couple by businessman with honorary title revives concerns about impunity
A court in Cambodia has formally charged a real estate entrepreneur who held a royally bestowed title with the premeditated murder of a young couple in the capital Phnom Penh.
 
Cambodian officers burn drugs inside a brick kiln during a drug destruction ceremony to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, June 14, 2024. Cambodian authorities on Friday destroyed more than 7 tons of illicit drugs and ingredients. Those drugs included heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, ecstasy, cathinone, ketamine and nimetazepam. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodia burns $70 million of seized illegal drugs while urging public education about their danger
Cambodian authorities have destroyed more than seven tons of illicit drugs and the ingredients for them, as a drug-fighting official said educating people about their danger is the best way of combating the illegal trade.
 
A man, his face painted in the likeness of a spirit, participates in the He Neak Ta rituals in Phum Boeung village, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. Cambodian villagers on Tuesday took part in a rare traditional guardian spirit ceremony praying for good fortune, rain and prosperity, as they aimed to preserve this ancient tradition. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
AP PHOTOS: Cambodian village prays for good fortune, prosperity, and rain in ‘He Neak Ta’ ritual
Known in Khmer as “He Neak Ta,” the ritual was held in Phum Boeung village some 25 kilometers (16 miles) northwest of the national capital, Phnom Penh. Young men painted scenes from folklore on their faces and bodies, dressed up as spirits and donned grass skirts while the young women donned traditi
 
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, shakes hands with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Austin traveled to Cambodia on Tuesday to push for stronger military ties with China’s closest ally in Southeast Asia. (AKP via AP)
US defense secretary meets Cambodian officials to push for stronger ties with Chinese ally
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has met with Cambodian officials to discuss a possible resumption of joint military exercises, suggesting the beginning of a thaw in relations between the countries that have been strained over Cambodia’s growing closeness with China.
 
FILE - U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, center, Vietnam Minister of Defense Phan Van Giang, right, and Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, left, listen to a speech by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, during the 9th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus in Siem Reap, Cambodia, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to make an official visit to Cambodia, one of China's closest allies in Southeast Asia, after holding talks with his Chinese counterpart at an annual security conference in Singapore, officials said in a statement issued Friday, May 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)
The US defense secretary will visit Cambodia, one of China’s closest allies, after regional talks
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to make an official visit to Cambodia, one of China’s closest allies in Southeast Asia, after holding talks with his Chinese counterpart at an annual security conference in Singapore. The U.S.
 
Chinese military personnel head to a field to participate in the Golden Dragon military exercise in Svay Chok village, Kampong Chhnang province, north of Phnom Penh Cambodia, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Cambodia and China on Thursday kicked off their annual Golden Dragon military exercise to strengthen cooperation and exchange military experiences. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
China and Cambodia begin 15-day military exercises as questions grow about Beijing’s influence
Cambodia and China have begun 15-day military exercises as questions grow about Beijing’s increasing influence in the Southeast Asian nation.
 
China and Cambodia to begin annual military exercise to strengthen cooperation, fight terrorism
Cambodia and China will begin their annual Golden Dragon military exercise this week to strengthen cooperation and exchange military experiences.
 
FILE - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet attends an inauguration ceremony of Cambodia's newest and biggest airport, Siem Reap Angkor International Airport in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. The leader of a recently formed Cambodian political party opposed to the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party has been charged with inciting social disorder in the third major legal action this month targeting critics of the government of Prime Minister Hun Manet. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)
A top Cambodian opposition politician is charged with inciting disorder for criticizing government
The leader of a recently formed Cambodian opposition party has been charged with inciting social disorder in the third major legal action this month targeting critics of the government of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
 
This satellite photo taken by Planet Labs PBC shows two Chinese corvettes docked at the Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Cambodia's Defense Ministry insisted Wednesday that the monthslong presence of two Chinese warships at a strategically important naval base that has been newly expanded with funding from Beijing does not constitute a permanent deployment of the Chinese military in the country. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
Chinese warships have been docked in Cambodia for 5 months, but government says it’s not permanent
Cambodia’s Defense Ministry is insisting that the months-long presence of two Chinese warships at a strategically important naval base that is being expanded with funding from Beijing does not constitute a permanent deployment of the Chinese military in the country.
 
FILE - Supporters of NagaWorld's union leader Chhim Sithar hold a protest in front of Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 25, 2023. Cambodia’s Supreme Court on Friday May 3, 2024 upheld the two-year prison sentence of a labor union leader who led a long-running strike against the country’s biggest casino. Chhim Sithar, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld, had originally been convicted in May 2023 of incitement to commit a felony. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)
Cambodia’s Supreme Court upholds the 2-year prison sentence of a casino strike leader
Cambodia’s Supreme Court has upheld the two-year prison sentence of a labor union leader who led a long-running strike against the country’s biggest casino.
 
FILE - In this image from a video, smoke rises above a distant base, seen from Chbar Mon district in Kompong Speu province, Cambodia on April 27, 2024. A huge explosion in southwestern Cambodia over the weekend that killed 20 soldiers at an army base appears to have been an accident caused by mishandling of ammunition by troops, a senior military official said Tuesday, April 30. (Chim Sothea via AP, File)
A funeral is held for 20 Cambodian soldiers killed in an arms depot explosion at an army base
Cambodia has held a funeral for 20 soldiers who died at an army base in a huge explosion of stored munitions that also wounded several others and damaged nearby houses.
 
FILE - Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet attends the East Asia Summit at the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Cambodia’s prime minister says 20 soldiers have been killed and several others injured in an ammunition explosion at a base in the southwest of the country. Hun Manet said in a Facebook post that he was “deeply shocked” when he received the news of the explosion Saturday afternoon at the base in Kampong Speu province. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/Pool Photo via AP, File)
20 Cambodian soldiers killed in an ammunition explosion at a military base
Cambodia’s prime minister says 20 soldiers have been killed and several others wounded in an ammunition explosion at a base in the southwest of the country.
 
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, greets with Cambodia's Foreign Minister, SOK Chenda Sophea, right, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, April 21, 2024. Wang Yi, arrived Cambodia to mark his 3 days official visit (21-23 April) Cambodia to reaffirm his country's commitment and to boost the already firmly tied to southeast Asian country, twice visited in the last eight months. (AKP via AP)
Chinese foreign minister arrives in Cambodia, Beijing’s closest Southeast Asian ally
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has arrived in Cambodia for a three-day official visit to reaffirm ties with Beijing’s closest ally in Southeast Asia.
 
Cambodian villagers race their oxcarts at Romdoul village, Kampong Speu province, southwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, April 7, 2024. Hundreds of Cambodian villagers on Sunday held a rare oxcart racing ceremony in aims of reviving the country's centuries-old tradition and to celebrate the arrival of their lunar new year. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
AP PHOTOS: Cambodian villagers hold rare oxcart race, seeking to revive a centuries-old tradition
Under a hot sun and amid clouds of dust, they gathered in Romduol village in Kampong Speu province, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the capital, Phnom Penh. The race marked Khmer Lunar New Year, celebrated from April 13 to 16, and the end of the rice harvest.
 
Chin Choeun, 54, climbs down a palm tree at Trapang Ampel village, outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 15, 2024. Choeun spends nearly 12 hours a day collecting sap from palm trees that he and his wife turn into palm sugar. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
AP PHOTOS: Collecting sap to make palm sugar is an arduous, and less appealing, job for Cambodians
The 54-year-old boasts of being one of Cambodia’s most skilful palm tree climbers, having learned the skill from his father.
 
Local newspapers the Phnom Penh Post, left, and Khmer Times, right, are for sale at a newspaper's stand on a sidewalk near Monument Independence in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Mach 1, 2024. The Phnom Penh Post, a newspaper founded in 1992 as Cambodia sought to re-establish stability and democracy after decades of war and unrest, announced Friday that it will cease publishing a print edition this month, the latest blow to the country's dwindling independent media. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodia’s pioneering post-Khmer Rouge era Phnom Penh Post newspaper will stop print publication
The Phnom Penh Post, a newspaper founded in 1992 as Cambodia sought to re-establish stability and democracy after decades of war and unrest, says it will stop publishing a print edition this month, the latest blow to the country’s dwindling independent media.
 
A camera trap hangs on a tree at Khnorng Phsar, a national park of Cardamom Mountain in western Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. As part of a plan to restore Cambodia's population of tigers, the country's Environment Ministry this weekend will start installing a network of camera traps in the country's Cardamom Mountains and soon import four tigers from India to jumpstart the repopulating process. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodia to install hundreds of wildlife cameras in an effort to restore its tiger population
Cambodia will begin installing hundreds of monitoring cameras and import four tigers from India as part of a plan to restore its tiger population.
 
Local boys drive a motorcycle passing a grilled chickens are on sale in a shop outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Cambodia reports a new bird flu case, the brother of a 9-year-old who died of the virus last week. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodia reports a new bird flu case, the brother of a 9-year-old who died of the virus
Cambodia’s Health Ministry says the brother of a boy who died last week from bird flu has tested positive for the virus. The 9-year-old’s death in the northeastern province of Kratie was the first from bird flu in Cambodia this year.
 
A Cambodian court convicts activists for teaching about class differences, suspends their jail terms
A court in Cambodia has convicted four land rights activists of plotting to provoke a peasant revolution by teaching farmers about class divisions and has given them five-year suspended prison terms.
 
A Cambodian critic is charged with defamation over comments on Facebook
An outspoken critic of Cambodia’s government who was badly hurt by assailants four months ago has been arrested on a defamation complaint brought by a Cabinet member for comments he posted on Facebook.
 
This March 2007 photo shows a bronze sculpture titled "Standing Shiva" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The sculpture is one of 16 pieces of artwork that the museum said it will return to Cambodia and Thailand that federal prosecutors say were tied to an art dealer and collector accused of running a huge antiquities trafficking network out of Southeast Asia. (Metropolitan Museum of Art via AP)
Cambodia welcomes the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s plan to return looted antiquities
Cambodia has welcomed the announcement that New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will return more than a dozen pieces of ancient artwork to Cambodia and Thailand.
 
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