PHNOM PENH – China announced a major infrastructure project in Cambodia midway through its election campaign and denounced proposed economic sanctions by the European…
PHNOM PENH – China announced a major infrastructure project in Cambodia midway through its election campaign and denounced proposed economic sanctions by the European Union on the Southeast Asian nation. China's ambassador in Phnom Penh also attended a ruling party rally in the Cambodian capital, according to a media report. The flurry of moves during the three-week campaign shows China is leaving nothing to chance to ensure its most loyal ally in Southeast Asia, Cambodia's long-time ruler Hun Sen, comfortably wins Sunday's poll, political analysts said. "This is a bold step for China," said Chheang Vannarith, from the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. "In the past, China kept a very low profile when it came to elections and domestic politics in Cambodia. This time, China is being very assertive." China has had a long and volatile relationship with its southern neighbor. After backing the Khmer Rouge, it fell out of favor when the murderous communist regime was deposed. Ties have become stronger in the past decade with the government of Hun Sen, who has been in power for 33 years. "China sees Cambodia as a strategic state, one that is very important to China," said Chheang, adding Beijing had "learned the lesson" from the surprise election defeat of Malaysia's long-ruling coalition in May. Malaysia's new prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has suspended more than $20 billion of China-backed projects and been highly critical of some of its investment. Cambodia has supported China's island-building and militarization in the contested South China Sea, and shielded Beijing from criticism by ASEAN, Southeast Asia's 10-member forum of nations. ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei are in disputes with China over rival claims to the waters. For Cambodia, China is its closest economic and political ally. Chinese capital investment into Cambodia increased from $600 million in 2012 to $1.
