[W]. Patrick Murphy, a Vermont-raised diplomat with an expertise in Southeast Asia, has been confirmed as the next U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, a country that has retreated from its decades-long experiment with democracy as it sidles up to regional superpower China.
Murphy’s confirmation process began almost a year ago — delayed in part because of the federal government shutdown that began in December — and finally concluded with Senate approval on a voice vote Thursday.
“I benefitted from my upbringing in Vermont, where I was exposed to the value of public service,” Murphy said during his confirmation hearing on Dec. 4. “I have spent much of my career in Southeast Asia and, if confirmed, look forward to further contributions in this critical part of the world.”
Murphy said his priorities as the head of the U.S. mission in Phnom Penh would be increasing trade between the U.S. and Cambodia, strengthening relations between Cambodian-American communities and people in Cambodia, and accounting for U.S. soldiers that died in Cambodia during the Second Indochina War (commonly called the Vietnam war in the U.S.).
“If confirmed, I will work closely with Congress to advance U.S. interests in Cambodia, promoting democracy, human rights, and fundamental freedoms; building on the strong support the United States enjoys among the Cambodian public; and strengthening cooperation on our vision for the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Murphy, who grew up in Brattleboro and received an undergraduate degree at the University of Vermont, also said he would advocate for “reconciliation” between the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was banned from participating in the 2018 election.
U.S. criticism of that election, which coincided with the jailing of opposition leader Kem Sokha, has further frayed relations between the countries. The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh marked a year since that vote with a Facebook post this week saying it “failed to represent the will of the Cambodian people,” according to the news service Reuters.
In response, a senior Cambodian government spokesperson, Phay Siphan, said: “Although we are friends, if these officials don’t like Cambodia, they should pack up and leave. Let me be clear: We don’t welcome you,” Reuters reported.
Siphan cited a similar message President Donald Trump sent to critics of his administration, four Democratic congresswomen of color, when he told them to “go back” to their countries — only one was actually born outside the U.S. — if they didn’t like America.
The appointment of Murphy — one of the most senior U.S. diplomats in Southeast Asia — is seen as a sign of the present importance of his new post in Phnom Penh. He has also been involved in high-level U.S. relations with Thailand, where the military is still in power after a coup in 2014, and Myanmar, where the opening of the country to democracy has been undermined by the alleged genocide of the Rohingya minority.
Acting opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who co-founded the CNRP, said in an email Friday he had met Murphy many times in meetings with the U.S. State Department.
“He seems to be a competent career diplomat who does have in mind the concern for democracy and human rights in line with principles traditionally enshrined in US foreign policy,” Rainsy said.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ranking minority member of the State Department’s budget committee and a leading figure in U.S. humanitarian efforts in Southeast Asia, said he was “very pleased” to support a Vermonter for the position.
“Patrick Murphy is a seasoned diplomat who has the skills we need in an ambassador, especially one posted to a country with such difficult challenges as Cambodia,” Leahy said in an emailed statement Friday.
Cambodia has received more than $20 billion in foreign aid since the early 1990s, when the international community brokered relative peace between warring factions and sent in United Nations peacekeepers.
Despite losing the first democratic elections in 1993, the Cambodia People’s Party — the rebranded Vietnam-backed communist regime of the 1980s — has held onto power since peace returned. Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge fighter, has consolidated immense wealth and power in the ensuing decades — often through violence or jailing. (Hun Sen has denied recent reports of failing health, but has groomed his sons to take power).
Cambodia has been in the news recently for a Wall Street Journal report that the small Southeast Asian country struck a secret deal with China to allow the superpower to build a naval port and military airport on the Cambodian coast. Cambodia’s government led journalists on a tour of the Ream Naval base in an effort to counter that report, however the U.S. and other critics remain concerned.
“In recent years, regrettably, there has been backsliding in governance, rule of law, and corruption,” Murphy said during his December confirmation hearing. “If confirmed, I will advocate for reconciliation, adherence to the principles enshrined in Cambodia’s constitution, and efforts to protect the country’s sovereignty.”
However, as China ramps up investment in Cambodia, the U.S. has lost significant leverage over the government, which was previously willing to go through the democratic motions in exchange for western aid and trade. Yet the U.S. and Europe continue to be the major buyers of garments in Cambodia, the country’s dominant manufacturing sector, and the E.U. has threatened to cancel Cambodia’s tariff-free access to its market if it does not reverse its democratic course.
Murphy said he would seek to increase $3.5 billion dollars in annual trade between Cambodia and the U.S. “by promoting U.S. business interests, Cambodian adherence to international labor standards, and leveling the field for U.S. investors and workers.”
