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Bloomberg

The US and Cambodia will revive flagship military exercises for the first time in eight years, the latest sign of warming ties following a flurry of deals between the two sides including a Trump-backed peace accord with Thailand.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the return of the Angkor Sentinel drills after a meeting with his Cambodian counterpart on the sidelines of a security summit in Malaysia on Friday.
The defence exercises were suspended in 2017, at a time when Washington criticised Phnom Penh for worsening human rights problems and a deterioration of democracy.
The announcement caps off a milestone week for US relations with Cambodia, including securing a coveted trade deal during US President Donald Trump’s three-nation Asian tour.

Trump also oversaw the signing of a peace accord to ease a border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand that killed dozens earlier this year.
The defence chiefs also discussed Hegseth joining a future US naval ship visit to Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, according to a readout.
Washington has long worried that China would be given exclusive military access to the naval base in the Gulf of Thailand as part of a secret deal signed six years ago, and has claimed it will eventually become Beijing’s first outpost in the Indo-Pacific region.
Separately, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said that he and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel pledged to boost cooperation during a phone call.

Cambodia, along with Myanmar and Laos, is home to transnational criminal networks that siphon billions from victims across the world.
Cambodian officials have said the country has tightened anti-money-laundering rules and is ready to clamp down on scam centres as it seeks to be a credible member of the international financial industry.
“As a next step, we have agreed to continue strengthening cooperation between the Cambodian Security Agency and the FBI to maintain safety and security for our people and our country,” Hun Manet wrote in a social media post on Friday.


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Cambodia

US-Cambodia military drills return after 8-year hiatus amid warming ties

Cambodian soldiers stand atop a tank loaded on a truck along a street in Preah Vihear province on Sunday. Photo: Agence Kampuchea Press/AFP

US President Donald Trump holds a signed document during the ceremonial signing of a ceasefire agreement between Cambodia and Thailand on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Computers and equipment are seen at an online scam centre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on October 22. Photo: Agence Kampuchea Presse/EPA

Asean summit: Thailand, Cambodia sign ceasefire pact as Trump hails own role

US President Donald Trump joins performers for a dance during a welcome ceremony next to Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday. Photo: AP

(From left) Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Thai leader Anutin Charnvirakul, Cambodia’s Hun Manet and US President Donald Trump hold up documents after the signing of a ceasefire pact between Bangkok and Phnom Penh at the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Trump joins performers for a dance during a welcome ceremony next to Anwar (left) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday. Photo: AP

East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao attends the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

A child holds a sign during a demonstration against Trump’s attendance at the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Photo: AP

Thailand chases ‘better’ trade deal with Trump after signing Cambodia ceasefire

Activists wear masks of Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul (left) and US President Donald Trump during a protest against an MOU between the two sides outside the US embassy in Bangkok on Thursday. Photo: AP


Did Asean members get short-changed by Trump on trade deals with ‘strings attached’?

US President Donald Trump and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hold signed documents during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Photo: AFP

US President Donald Trump signed deals on rare earths with Thailand and Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Photo: Shutterstock

US President Donald Trump reacts to dancing performers during a welcoming ceremony after arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to attend the Asean summit on Sunday. Photo: AP

America’s lust for rare earths rocks Southeast Asia: ‘it’s extremely concerning’

Thai demonstrators step on a mock memorandum of understanding during a protest outside the US embassy in Bangkok on Thursday against a Thai-US agreement on rare earth cooperation. Photo: EPA

US President Donald Trump at the ceremonial ceasefire signing between Cambodia and Thailand on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday. Photo: AFP

Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz speaks at a meeting of Asean foreign and economic ministers in Kuala Lumpur on October 25. Photo: AP

Thai demonstrators wearing masks of Trump and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul hold placards during a protest on Thursday against the MOU on rare earths. Photo: EPA

A rare earth mine is seen being dug into the side of a mountain in Myanmar’s Kachin state, bordering China, in 2022. Photo: Global Witness/AP

Officials from Thailand’s Pollution Control Department take samples to monitor water quality in the Kok, Sai and Mekong rivers earlier this year. Photo: Handout 

A nickel processing plant and mine are seen in Sorowako, Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province. Photo: AP 

The Lynas rare earth processing plant in Pahang, Malaysia. Photo: Handout

A Malaysian flag flies near a bauxite mine in Pahang state in 2015. Photo: AFP

Ahead of Asean summit, scam crackdown in Myanmar dismissed as ‘not serious’

A soldier stands guard as people from various countries, who were working in the KK Park compound in Myanmar and crossed to Thailand via the Moei river, sit in Mae Sot District, Tak province on Friday.   Photo: AFP

Smoke rises following an explosion in the KK Park compound in eastern Myanmar, as seen from Mae Sot district in Thailand’s Tak province on Friday. Photo: AFP

The KK Park complex in Myanmar’s eastern Myawaddy township along the Moei River facing Mae Sot district (top and right) in Thailand’s border province of Tak. Photo: 2025 Planet Labs PBC/AFP

Members of Myanmar’s military standing next to Starlink devices seized during a raid on the KK Park online scam centre in Myawaddy, Myanmar’s Kayin State. Photo: Myanmar Military Information Team/AFP

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the return of the Angkor Sentinel drills, paused in 2017, after meeting his Cambodian counterpart


Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the return of the Angkor Sentinel drills, paused in 2017, after meeting his Cambodian counterpart.


US-Cambodia military drills return after 8-year hiatus amid warming ties

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the return of the Angkor Sentinel drills, paused in 2017, after meeting his Cambodian counterpart

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the return of the Angkor Sentinel drills, paused in 2017, after meeting his Cambodian counterpart