By Lauren Crothers
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
If the friendship and trust between China and Cambodia is a “luxuriant” tree, as Chinese president Xi Jinping wrote in a local Cambodian newspaper, then he may as well have been carrying a large watering can upon his arrival to the Southeast Asian country for his first state visit there Thursday.
“King Father Sihanouk once fondly said that China-Cambodia friendship is like a flower that never withers and will always blossom under the bright sky,” Xi wrote Wednesday in reference to Cambodia’s late monarch, adding that the ties that bind the two countries now continue to flourish.
Metaphors aside, there’s no mistaking how close China and Cambodia -- which cemented their diplomatic ties in 1958 -- have become over the past few decades.
The Asian behemoth is Cambodia’s most generous benefactor, having lavished billions of dollars in infrastructure, dam, factory, tourism and other projects, not to mention providing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military equipment and weapons to its troops.
This is being bolstered further during Xi’s visit, with nearly 30 economic and trade agreements to be signed by him and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and comes just three months after China pledged another $600 million to Cambodia over the next three years.
In return for all these treats, Cambodia’s loyalty to China has been unwavering.
In 2009, it deported a group of ethnic Uighur asylum seekers to China at gunpoint and received millions of dollars worth of military equipment a few days later.
During the 2012 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Phnom Penh, when Cambodia was chair of the bloc, the group failed to issue a joint communique for the first time because of Cambodia’s unwillingness to include a maritime dispute issue.
In July, ASEAN foreign ministers finally released a joint communique that included concerns about the South China Sea issue, after Cambodia initially blocked mention of the topic in a first draft.
The document failed, however, to mention a recent ruling by an arbitration court that rejected Chinese claims to the maritime area. Days later, China announced a $600-million aid package for Cambodia.
Unlike the United States and European Union, for example, which will, on occasion, bear down on Cambodia for its human rights issues, China looks the other way.
That doesn’t, however, mean it’s a completely no-strings arrangement.
Sophal Ear, associate professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College in California, told Anadolu Agency this week that China still has Cambodia “jumping through hoops and bringing back bones like the South China Sea on a silver platter during ASEAN meetings and Uighurs whenever they have the misfortune of entering Cambodian soil”.
“This is all to make sure Cambodia does what China wants,” said Ear, the author of Aid Dependence in Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy.
In the end, money talks, Ear underlined.
“[Pl]aying spoiler has its rewards,” he wrote. “The crumbs from China’s table can easily feed Cambodia’s elites. A few hundred million here, and a few hundred million there, and soon enough you’re talking about real money!”
And it’s because of this that the leveraging power of other countries like the U.S. is practically non-existent.
“The U.S. lost Cambodia decades ago, circa 1975,” when the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge came to power after heavy U.S. bombing of the country. “China’s always been around, especially circa 1975-1979, with a Vietnamese interlude until the 1990s, but it’s pretty clear the golden rule applies: whoever has the gold, makes the rules.”
Professor Carlyle Thayer, a South China Sea expert from the University of New South Wales, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that Hun Sen’s movements after his close call in the 2013 national elections -- which resulted in mass protests against his rule -- were very telling in terms of just how important China is to Cambodia.
“[H]is first visit was to Chinese embassy. To summarize… he sought reassurance, and China said they were willing to support Hun Sen or someone who could guarantee the safety of Chinese investments and businesses. China needs to protect its interests. The message was: ‘Put your house in order and stop this’,” Thayer said.
On the surface, Hun Sen’s house looked in order on Thursday.
Xi landed to fanfare and flag-waving from students assembled on the tarmac at Phnom Penh International Airport, who held portraits of the Chinese leader aloft to greet him.
The center of the city was meticulously prepared in advance of his arrival; sidewalks and the bases of trees were topped up with fresh coats of white paint; Chinese flags raised in parks, around the Independence Monument and in front of the Royal Palace, where Xi met King Norodom Sihamoni after his arrival.
Their portraits, flanked by images of the Forbidden City and Angkor Wat, have been erected in the shadow of a mammoth Sino Great Wall development project; one of many symbols of China’s footprint in the heart of the rapidly developing capital.
The mood in the park near the Royal Palace was jubilant, with lion dances and thousands more students and scouts having been bussed in to wave yet more flags, hold up more pictures and cheer when the premier drove past.
“It’s really great for Cambodia to welcome the presidency,” Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan told Anadolu Agency on Thursday. “It’s proven that between the two countries, we have a great coalition and cooperation. There is a deep friendship and it proves no matter how big or small, China and the Chinese see us as a very good friend.”
As for having to toe a line in exchange for all the investment China sends Cambodia’s way, Siphan was blunt.
“There’s no catch at all,” he said.
