The all-carrot, no-stick approach, particularly towards the Hun Manet regime - which has historically attempted to gain backdoor access to EU citizenship and offshore its ill-gotten assets to the bloc - is harming both the people of Cambodia and Europe’s own values and standing on the world stage. Holding the likes of Manet to account, and insisting on his regime safeguarding social, civil and human rights should be part and parcel of the bloc’s China strategy.