By WILLIAM BOOT / BANGKOK
The Irrawady
“What the Chinese really want out of Cambodia is the oil and gas, just like in Burma. Nothing else really matters” - Collin Reynolds, energy industries analyst-consultant based in BangkokForced evictions from settled land; government collusion with commercial interests; a failed legal system; large untapped gas and oil reserves—and increasing Chinese influence.
Sound familiar?
It could be Burma, but it describes Cambodia today as the country awakens from its Khmer Rouge nightmare.
A new Amnesty International report says the Cambodian government involvement in land grabs for business merely underlines a process that has been underway for some time.
The report comes as evidence also emerges of China’s growing “fraternal” relations with the Phnom Penh government.
The closer ties aren’t because Beijing is keen to help the Cambodian people, say observers, but because of the insatiable Chinese appetite for oil and gas resources under the sea in Cambodian territorial waters, as well as the potential of the country’s rivers for Chinese state hydroelectric enterprises.
Cambodians might be sitting on as much as two billion barrels of oil and 10 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to recent reports by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
But both organizations have voiced concern that unless these resources are handled well, Cambodia could become the Nigeria of Southeast Asia.
Nigeria has netted US $450 billion from its oil during the last 35 years, but more than half the population still earns less than $1 a day, and there is a national debt of $30 billion.
About one-third of Cambodia’s 14 million people live on much less than $1 a day, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in 2007.
The Amnesty report warns that 150,000 Cambodians are at risk of losing their home and land as vested government-business interests push self-enriching developments.
“Depending upon the world price of oil, Cambodian reserves may be contributing annual revenues of $2 billion, several times the current level of domestic revenue and ODA (overseas development aid) combined—within perhaps five to ten years,” says a World Bank report.
But the bank adds: “International experience suggests that such petrochemical wealth may equally well result in a ‘resource curse’ that actually retards development and poverty reduction.”
That curse is the corruption which often ensues from sudden large wealth. Cambodia may be stable and improving after the years of Khmer Rouge chaos, but there is little sign of progress toward accountable and transparent government.
Prime Minister Hun Sen and his cronies maintain a tight grip on power.
Much of Cambodia’s potential is under the Gulf of Thailand, less than 200 kilometers from the sleepy port of Sihanoukville that is set to become a black-gold boom town—again with Chinese involvement.
Cambodia has six potential offshore hydrocarbon fields in its territorial waters, plus several sea areas disputed with neighbor Thailand. Only one of them has so far been explored.
The US oil company Chevron currently has the lead in undersea exploration work, with France’s Total, South Korea’s GS Caltex and Japan’s Mitsui Oil bidding for a slice of the action. But analysts say Chinese influence over the Hun Sen government could beat most of them to the big prize.
Two Chinese state enterprises, the China National Offshore Oil Company and China National Petroleum Corporation—which are also exerting influence in Burma in the offshore Shwe gas field and a planned oil transshipment land pipeline—are also studying the fields.
The China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation is set to build an oil refinery in Sihanoukville capable of processing 40,000 barrels a day. The refinery will likely cost more than $400 million.
The Cambodian NGO Center for Social Development estimates that, aside from international donor agencies, China has become the biggest commercial investor in the country, ranging from timber to textiles.
“What the Chinese really want out of Cambodia is the oil and gas, just like in Burma. Nothing else really matters,” said energy industries analyst-consultant Collin Reynolds in Bangkok.
“China is becoming increasingly dependent on importing both, and the closer to home they can get them the more they will seek to exert their influence to achieve that.”
4 comments:
i think china is no different than the other bigger countries out there like the US,etc., in that they have their own national interest. and that national interest is no other than to get more oil and gas from any country they have influence on for their growing economy. you know, it all boils down to the energy supply which is a major concern for the whole world in general as the oil and gas supplies are twindling down more and more as the world energy demand is high. this is what the whole world is paying for as we are demanded a higher standard of living. it comes with a price tag, and that price tag do not have to be about the money, though; it can come in many forms like global warming is just one of them, not to mention air pollution and health repercussion, etc, etc...
comment on the "hun sen administration maintained a tight grip on power": i wonder why? but i think i know the answer to some extent. i think the name-calling, the swearing and cursing did not help any, especially coming from all the political parties. think about it. hun sen and his admin have the upper hand, one has to be careful how they approach. instilling fear and the culture of fear such as threatens, etc, only make the situation worse with any one group. dialogue, debate, or consolidation is better. i think, now i might be wrong though, hun sen and his admin see the opposition group more as outsiders, meaning people who work from outside the country. also, to them (hun sen's group), people in the srp party and mostly exiled cambodians or overseas cambodia or even those cambodians ( now don't get me wrong, i think all cambodians, regardless of political affiliation are very nationalistic and patriotic and love cambodia very much and want things to be better for cambodia in general) who actually never experience hardship or never even know the meaning of struggling and suffering, either under the KR rule or the vietnam invasion or any kind of suffering along enough like most cambodian people in cambodia. so, i think the hun sen people think they entitled to their position because no know really come to their assistance at the time when they had to struggle with their lives. i mean it take some analysis to understand why people do thing the way they do.
the way, i see the srp people or the so-called opposition party is that these people want very much for cambodia to advance like the rest of the ASEAN nations, not to mention the rest of the developed world. now, that's not such a bad idea,though; however, a small problem with that, in hun sen's people's view, is that, they think that is too fast or too soon, given the ability of the cambodian nation, which according to them, just awaken from the KR nightmares and will take some time for it to be with the standard of other ASEAN nations who never have war and atrocity like cambodia. according to hun sen' group, they compared this hasty development to like a small child. for instance, a small baby first has to learn to crawl, then walk, then run; and they pointed out further that the oppositon group want very much for a child to run really fast before it can even walk. i mean, i just use this metaphor to illustrate both sides so people can understand where each group of people is coming from. i hope this help a bit for those of us those, like myself, can not understand all the bickering problem going on between the two major politcal parties that are vying for the nomination for the position of premiership of cambodia. i wish that reports are unbias to both side so people can understand the real meaning of their infighting. i think someone better should step in to tell them that they have to stop already, enough is enough. cambodian people don't need leader like them fighting to long for no good reason. these parties need to stop thinking that they can eliminate the other party totally. so, it is better for them to work together for national interest of cambodia. i bet you, most cambodian people, like myself, feel this way about their leader. they have not learn from the post mistakes and destructions they cause as a result of them not getting along well. enough arlready, people. i hope the international community would tell these people this that not only cambodian people are sick and tired of them fighting, but the whole world community as well are so sick and tired of this nonsense. thank you.
the way i see it, opposition party of cambodia will have a better chance to integrate into the larger cambodian gov't body, slowly with time, let me emphasize, slowly with time. i mean, it is good to have an opposition group for cambodia like th srp party, etc., because it work like a check and balance of power. i like that. i guess it's democracy in the work. but please keep in mind, though, that it's better to integrate gradually, though. i mean don't create fear and chaos because, although it is good for the political party, but it's not good to the eyes of the public eg. cambodian people in general or internation community alike. it will takes and make a good strategist to do this. be patience, it will take a little time; just don't rush too soon. win trust and confidence in the cambodian people, that party will win the election. as simple as that. thanks
“What the Chinese really want out of Cambodia is the oil and gas, just like in Burma. Nothing else really matters,” said energy industries analyst-consultant Collin Reynolds.
Well! If nothing really matter to Red China but if the stupid fuck Cambodian officials use a fraction of the oil wealth to build Cambodia up into a new Dubai of South East Asia and I wouldn't mind and I don't have to give a fuck about what the world have say! But the fucken problem is the stupid fuck Cambodian leaders kept hording and hording Cambodian people wealth none stop! There must be a law to curb such excess committed by corrupted Cambodian leaders!
To 2:29AM
By the way it is bull fuck to say that most exiled or oversea Cambodian people never experience any hardship "or never even know the meaning of struggling and suffering, either under the Khmer Rouge rule or the Vietname invasion or any kind of suffering along enough like most Cambodian people in Cambodia." It is a fact that most exiled or oversea Cambodian people are remnants of the Khmer Rouge genocide and the Vietcong invasion and occupation! They have tasted the bitterness, the sorrow, and the hopelessness and that is why they are willing to risk their life to live outside Cambodia and they are willing to fight AH HUN SEN Vietcong slave dictator government to the end of the world! It is very fortunate for exiled or oversea Cambodian people to have lived outside Cambodia and from the outside the exiled or the oversea Cambodian people have a worldly view of what Cambodia should be! This is what you called thinking outside the box!
No leaders on Earth compare the progress of their country to a little baby or a little child who still haven't learned how to walk! What if the baby or a child born with disability who would never learn how to walk? So it is more logical to use time to measure progress and everywhere you look, the world leaders, the CEO of major companies, factory workers, and government officials always use time to measure how much they have done or when their deadline to complete the project! It is time that uses the most to compare the progress of any country in this world! Cambodia is racing against time in trying to catch up with the rest of the world and if Cambodia fail to catch up and Cambodia will fall into prey and will be looking down by other countries in the world which will have economic and political impact for the next Cambodian generation! Only weak countries are more likely to have corruption, injustice, endless war, instability, and famine just like the African continent!
AH HUN SEN Vietcong slave had been in power for too long since 1979 and he became entrench and taking ownership of his political position and using Cambodia as his personal property to commit corruption at the highest level! Cambodia can't afford such behavior from AH HUN SEN dictator and with or without AH HUN SEN Cambodia must continue to progress to protect the well being of Cambodian people!
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