Treasury hits Cambodia defense officials with sanctions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department has announced it’s levying sanctions against two senior Cambodian military officials for corruption. The move Wednesday comes as the Biden administration has expressed increasing concern about China’s influence in the Southeast Asia nation. The sanctions target the director general of the defense ministry’s material and technical services department and a commander in the Royal Cambodian Navy. Treasury in a statement alleged that in 2020 and 2021, the two conspired with other Cambodian officials to inflate costs of a construction project at Ream Naval Base and then planned to use the funds for their own benefit.