Cambodia-China Relations Based on the Mutually Beneficial Interests: China, the ‘Most Trusted Friend’ beyond Doubt (original) (raw)

China was recently described by the Prime Minister Hun Sen as Cambodia‟s “most trusted friend”. This claim might be proved by a flood of China‟s aid as well as her sharp growing trade and investments in the last decade, which put China the biggest donor and the largest investor. However, Cambodia-China relations stretch much longer than what we see at the present and might be even more complex in the old days. Hence, I begin to examine how their connections have developed over time, especially at each cross section of the Cold War and the post-Cold War periods. Then, I will study closely what made these two countries approach each other and became the strategic partners in Southeast Asia by classifying each party‟s interests into economic and strategic characteristics. This classification might, on one hand, project a clear picture of Cambodia‟s unequal status in the relations, and, on the other hand, illustrate its growing independence from China‟s influence. After all, the paper discusses how this bilateral relationship might have the implication on Cambodia‟s domestic politics and vice versa .From Cambodia‟s perspectives, I argues that their current relations might widen the economic inequality and make the situations of human rights worse in Cambodia so this pair of consequences would, in turn, have domino effects on their future relations through the declining strategic interests of Cambodia‟s government, particularly from the post-national election 2013 onwards.

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact