Cambodia pulls out of a regional development pact after protests

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet says he’s pulling his country out of a development agreement with neighboring Vietnam and Laos following protests that it was benefiting foreign interests. Critics on social media have focused on land concessions in border areas particularly with Vietnam, a highly sensitive issue because of Cambodia’s historical antagonism toward its larger eastern neighbor. Authorities had arrested at least 66 people ahead of a planned August rally to condemn the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area — or CLV-DTA. The agreement, formalized in 2004, intended to facilitate cooperation on trade and migration in four northeastern provinces of Cambodia and border areas in Laos and Vietnam.