RFA
PHNOM PENH - China, hungry for strategic influence and natural resources, is asserting itself as a major investor in Cambodia, sparking concerns that a huge inflow of Chinese cash will fuel existing corruption and exploitation in one of the world's poorest countries.
The relationship between the two countries is long and mixed, given Maoist China's unflagging support for the late supreme Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, whose Marxist faction is blamed for the deaths of more than a million Cambodians from 1975-79.
But in recent years, ethnic Chinese families close to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen have played a key role in putting Chinese companies, often with the backing of the Chinese state, in touch with top Cambodian officials, economists and activists said.
"China needs Cambodia," US-based Cambodian economist Tith Naranhkiri said. "If a security problem occurs, for example, a war with Taiwan, China may need Cambodia ... Secondly, for economic reasons, it needs gas and oil."
According to the official China News Agency, China has become one of the biggest investors in Cambodia, with 3,016 Chinese companies making cumulative investments of US$1.58 billion to the end of 2007. Bilateral trade last year rose by 30% from 2006, to $730 million.
Since the signing of an investment protection agreement in July 1996, a further $350 million has been pledged, mostly in the forestry sector, power, textiles, construction materials, and agricultural development.
Major role for China
"China now plays a crucial role in our economy. It is both an important donor and an investor, and it's also a big market for Cambodian products," Khmer Economists' Association president Chan Sophal said. "Our agricultural products are exported to China but through Thailand and Vietnam. We are also a market for Chinese products. China’s role in the Cambodian economy is growing," he said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visited Cambodia in February, pledging a further $55 million in aid and investments of $1 billion in the country's power industry. He also waived import tariffs on 400 Cambodian products.
Besides investment and assistance, China has also granted military assistance to Cambodia, providing the country’s dilapidated navy with nine patrol boats in November 2007 and five warships in 2005.
But rights activists and anti-corruption campaigners point to a huge increase in illegal logging, land-grabbing, and worker exploitation as a secondary consequence of Chinese money.
"The effect of lots of money coming in with few strings attached, going to a lot of people in the government, is generally exacerbating corruption," Simon Taylor, director of the international anti-corruption group Global Witness, said.
Land grabs, illegal logging
"This manifests itself as land-grabbing, massive plantations and illegal logging, unregulated mining, the building of dams, and so on," Taylor said.
Meanwhile, workers' rights are often sidestepped in Chinese-invested factories, especially in the textile industry, activists said.
"The Chinese companies, especially garment factories, today have a lot of problems with Cambodian workers," Chan Saveth, of the rights advocacy group Adhoc, said. "Today, we see that China dominates garment factories in Cambodia. Workers suffer a lot, and the Chinese garment factories have mostly restricted workers' freedom."
Hundreds of thousands of workers - the majority of whom are women - are employed in Cambodia’s textile industry, which generates annual revenue of more than US$1 billion.
They have described an atmosphere in which they are constantly pressed into unpaid overtime, with too many financial worries and too little spare time to cause trouble for management. Unauthorized deductions from pay-packets are common, and paid sick leave is rare.
Protests in the forest
Chinese money has been tied up with massive agricultural and forestry exploitation projects, which are destroying traditional ways of life such as bamboo-harvesting and resin-tapping, activists said.
The Cambodian government granted a Mondulkiri forest concession of 200,000 hectares - 20 times the legal limit - acquired secretly by Pheapimex, an ethnic-Chinese owned Cambodian conglomerate with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Pheapimex formed a joint venture with China's Wuzhishan plantation firm to exploit the region, displacing indigenous minority people who rely on the forests for their traditional livelihoods.
Global Witness said bigger deals involving Chinese state-backed companies were likely the least transparent and the most strongly defended by government security forces, who responded with military force to anti-logging protests by villagers in Mondulkiri.
"From the perspective of people in Cambodia who might want to ask questions about the process ... it's even more difficult with some of these recent deals that have totally been brokered behind closed doors," Taylor said.
He said the outcome of such deals for people living in rural areas was disastrous. "They know nothing until the moment that the bulldozers turn up and start pushing down their houses."
Loans, grants from Beijing
"If they protest, they get the full force of the state mechanism ... suppressing their efforts to get their voices heard," he added.
Hun Sen has banned illegal logging and called anarchic logging "the biggest mistake" of his political career, and his views have been backed up by anti-logging speeches by ministers, but with little apparent effect.
Chan Sophal said China's interests in Cambodia were clear. "They help us, but they also look into the resources we have, such as mines, oil, gold, iron, and land. They need land to grow agricultural and agro-industrial crops to meet the demands of the [China's] population."
Difficult history
Sino-Khmer relations began in 1958. During the 1970s, Maoist China for Pol Pot gave steadfast support to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, whose faction is blamed for deaths of more than a million people.
Closer ties developed after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 through former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk, who maintained a second home in China and close ties with Beijing.
China wrote off significant loans to the Cambodian government six years ago, making new loans and grants worth $600 million during the visit to Cambodia of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in April 2006.
While no conditions were attached, analysts say Beijing is keen to secure access to the southern port of Sihanoukville for strategic reasons, particularly as a delivery point for imported oil.
Original reporting in Khmer by Mayarith. Translated by Chea Makara. Khmer service director: Kem Sos. Additional research by RFA's Cantonese service. Cantonese service director: Shiny Li. Written and produced for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.
The relationship between the two countries is long and mixed, given Maoist China's unflagging support for the late supreme Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, whose Marxist faction is blamed for the deaths of more than a million Cambodians from 1975-79.
But in recent years, ethnic Chinese families close to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen have played a key role in putting Chinese companies, often with the backing of the Chinese state, in touch with top Cambodian officials, economists and activists said.
"China needs Cambodia," US-based Cambodian economist Tith Naranhkiri said. "If a security problem occurs, for example, a war with Taiwan, China may need Cambodia ... Secondly, for economic reasons, it needs gas and oil."
According to the official China News Agency, China has become one of the biggest investors in Cambodia, with 3,016 Chinese companies making cumulative investments of US$1.58 billion to the end of 2007. Bilateral trade last year rose by 30% from 2006, to $730 million.
Since the signing of an investment protection agreement in July 1996, a further $350 million has been pledged, mostly in the forestry sector, power, textiles, construction materials, and agricultural development.
Major role for China
"China now plays a crucial role in our economy. It is both an important donor and an investor, and it's also a big market for Cambodian products," Khmer Economists' Association president Chan Sophal said. "Our agricultural products are exported to China but through Thailand and Vietnam. We are also a market for Chinese products. China’s role in the Cambodian economy is growing," he said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visited Cambodia in February, pledging a further $55 million in aid and investments of $1 billion in the country's power industry. He also waived import tariffs on 400 Cambodian products.
Besides investment and assistance, China has also granted military assistance to Cambodia, providing the country’s dilapidated navy with nine patrol boats in November 2007 and five warships in 2005.
But rights activists and anti-corruption campaigners point to a huge increase in illegal logging, land-grabbing, and worker exploitation as a secondary consequence of Chinese money.
"The effect of lots of money coming in with few strings attached, going to a lot of people in the government, is generally exacerbating corruption," Simon Taylor, director of the international anti-corruption group Global Witness, said.
Land grabs, illegal logging
"This manifests itself as land-grabbing, massive plantations and illegal logging, unregulated mining, the building of dams, and so on," Taylor said.
Meanwhile, workers' rights are often sidestepped in Chinese-invested factories, especially in the textile industry, activists said.
"The Chinese companies, especially garment factories, today have a lot of problems with Cambodian workers," Chan Saveth, of the rights advocacy group Adhoc, said. "Today, we see that China dominates garment factories in Cambodia. Workers suffer a lot, and the Chinese garment factories have mostly restricted workers' freedom."
Hundreds of thousands of workers - the majority of whom are women - are employed in Cambodia’s textile industry, which generates annual revenue of more than US$1 billion.
They have described an atmosphere in which they are constantly pressed into unpaid overtime, with too many financial worries and too little spare time to cause trouble for management. Unauthorized deductions from pay-packets are common, and paid sick leave is rare.
Protests in the forest
Chinese money has been tied up with massive agricultural and forestry exploitation projects, which are destroying traditional ways of life such as bamboo-harvesting and resin-tapping, activists said.
The Cambodian government granted a Mondulkiri forest concession of 200,000 hectares - 20 times the legal limit - acquired secretly by Pheapimex, an ethnic-Chinese owned Cambodian conglomerate with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Pheapimex formed a joint venture with China's Wuzhishan plantation firm to exploit the region, displacing indigenous minority people who rely on the forests for their traditional livelihoods.
Global Witness said bigger deals involving Chinese state-backed companies were likely the least transparent and the most strongly defended by government security forces, who responded with military force to anti-logging protests by villagers in Mondulkiri.
"From the perspective of people in Cambodia who might want to ask questions about the process ... it's even more difficult with some of these recent deals that have totally been brokered behind closed doors," Taylor said.
He said the outcome of such deals for people living in rural areas was disastrous. "They know nothing until the moment that the bulldozers turn up and start pushing down their houses."
Loans, grants from Beijing
"If they protest, they get the full force of the state mechanism ... suppressing their efforts to get their voices heard," he added.
Hun Sen has banned illegal logging and called anarchic logging "the biggest mistake" of his political career, and his views have been backed up by anti-logging speeches by ministers, but with little apparent effect.
Chan Sophal said China's interests in Cambodia were clear. "They help us, but they also look into the resources we have, such as mines, oil, gold, iron, and land. They need land to grow agricultural and agro-industrial crops to meet the demands of the [China's] population."
Difficult history
Sino-Khmer relations began in 1958. During the 1970s, Maoist China for Pol Pot gave steadfast support to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, whose faction is blamed for deaths of more than a million people.
Closer ties developed after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 through former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk, who maintained a second home in China and close ties with Beijing.
China wrote off significant loans to the Cambodian government six years ago, making new loans and grants worth $600 million during the visit to Cambodia of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in April 2006.
While no conditions were attached, analysts say Beijing is keen to secure access to the southern port of Sihanoukville for strategic reasons, particularly as a delivery point for imported oil.
Original reporting in Khmer by Mayarith. Translated by Chea Makara. Khmer service director: Kem Sos. Additional research by RFA's Cantonese service. Cantonese service director: Shiny Li. Written and produced for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.
15 comments:
This is the curse of a poor country. It wants to catch up as quickly as possible with its richer and more developed neighbors. They take it from whomever they can. The West is too wary so China is the alternative source with deep pockets. Cambodia doesn't care whether or not geo-strategic issues play a role. They most likely honestly believe they do good for their country (with a few 'crumbs' falling their way as well).
our country used to be live with peace and comfort with what we called rich resource in king power .after king spoiled and corpperated with China and viet cong ,he leaved all khmer suffering and poorest and will be homeless as soon in coming day .
recently Hun Sen steel the country to be Yuon 's controler and govern us .
China influance on economic and bussiness with all resource that khmer had and cover up what killing field that never to be progress to be justice .
khmer people just deserv what we get the presure from them ( china & YUON)
All the broblem because we belive in leaders!
Let go for pure democracy! keep in our mind some day we will have our dreame come true!
well, chinese, american, japanese, korean, etc., can teach cambodians new ways to do business as they seem to know how. cambodia welcomes all good business savvy. i guess it's all about business now. forget polite society anymore. thanks to KR atrocity and suffering cambodians went through, cambodia now changed a lot, especially in way of doing business. who say cambodian people can't learn from others. god bless.
12:08! HOW IT;'S CHANGE?
Do business is know run by Sok, Sao, Mok, or Men? OR still run by KIT MENG MENG, XHOK NGEUNG KONX, PHOU CHING, KOCK SUCKING?
AND THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT KHMERE ANY MORE THAY CAND KICK PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR HOUSES WHENT THEY NEED LAND!
This is the balancing act that Sihanouk believed will save his country from becoming Champa II. This policy will not save Cambodia. Much more it already killed half of the population of Cambodia and pushed the country faster becoming a puppet of the Vietnamese.
While chinese control most of the country economy, the vietnamese control the power.
There is no escape with this policy. Khmer addage says "when elephants fight, ants are killed". The chinese and the vietnamese are fighting to control cambodia. and, cambodians are killed in the process.
Cambodians should try to become independent and rely on its own will to survive and prosper like the jew state of Israel.
Cambodia should treat chinese and vietnamese as friends and not protectors.
The lesson that cambodia had with french protectorate should be learn and avoid if cambodia is to survive as a nation.
WHEN TIME COME!!!
Many of you got a good commant, and analized. 12:31AM your is better I would like to see this kind of autonomy, but who has a magic ingredian to convince Khmer leader(s) get off from this typical protectorat, of course we're all have an animosity objection with Hun Sen's political ego , We knew our territorial soveringty has been violated, our people are becomming slaves and lost their land so on and on. My question is this: are Khmer people wisely aware of these consequences without affiliation with any foreigner protectorat?(at all the mean)especially (Viet GV) is the Khmer leader(s)ready to lead the Cuontry without Chinese or Western GV help?..To this question I have speculated that Khmer leader(s)is subsequently who ever, wether they wanted or not still need inevitably a supper POWER to protected us,(not Yuon& Siamese for sure). We could not be able be as israel state; secondly our Country is indeed need Justice ,and territorial sovereingty. So dear Compatriots our Khmer nation obligated to have one who is not arrogant with us.
May god bless the Khmer nation
PL.K
correction, especially(VietGV)= Not included (VietGV). PL.K
Yay! Cambodia will soon to be filthy rich like Singapore!
Jey Yoh PM Hun Sen!
Jey Yoh PM Hun Sen!
Jey Yoh PM Hun Sen!
Five more years!
Five more years!
Five more years!
I comprehanded that Khmer have to have protector from a Supper Power I thing Chinese GV is more genuine comparable to the Western GV.
1- China had good relation with Cambodian GV for a very longtime, 2- Chinese aids more genuine than Western GV,(only aid & buseness) free of religious spirit that many of Khmer oppinions opposed they did not belived to be the solution for cambodian Unity, 3- China is closer to Cambodia land & sea. It kind of sad to think back then, but if were regard this as our bad lessons from the past, it is the way to solved our differences. We as Khmer should looking forward positively way rather than negative thing in order to solve our commone problem at the present; this way we could stop for sure from (Yuon GV & Siam GV)relentless bullying us.
May Loed Budha blessing Khmer all
Western countries , Japan and the US are helping Vietnam when China is helping Cambodia .
What is the problem?
We also have to study why those so-called civilised countries are helping the agressor and invader.
What is the problem? China is competing with the US.
Vietnam and Japan were China's enemies and always enemies.
Million Chinese were killed by the Japanese and when the Japanese installed Henry Puyi as the emperor of Manchurian after he was asked to leave the forbidden city during Chinese revolution. Japanese killed more Chinese. Not only Chinese Japanese killed, million Korean and took them as slaves and sold as protitutes by Japanese soldiers.
To Vietnam China has never considered the Vietnamese outsiders but one family, that was why Vietnam did reform their languages and cultures.
Vietnamese were under China controled for 1000 years. They free now but how long?
Should China become a vassal of Soviet if she did not become Communist?
-Yes.
Sould Vietnam become a vassal of China if she did not become Communist?
-Yes
If the US didn't help to free China and Korea from Japan, what happen?
-May be China has never reached 1.2billions or may be Manchu became a nation of its own or may be Korea plunged or may be..????
If Soviet and China did not help Vietnam, what'd happen to Vietnam under US invasion?
-????
The boat of politics has more to do with who are in charge who have more money and more power, and the men in charge are China and US.
China is not going to rest while her population increases and she needs spaces. The countries share border with China excpet India and Muslim countries will be infiltrated by Chinese immigrants that includes N. Vietnam.
If we are poor we are more likely be invaded by the others.
Singapore is too if she is weak, Malaysia or Indonesia will take over.
It is up to us to choose to be friend with. I think we should make friend with both China and US and friend with the neighbors.
Cambodia is in the right direction only if Hun Sen can defeat the corruption and abide the law of the land. If not he lies as he has always done in the wrong direction.
Man.. I totally agreed w/ last two comments. We are moving in the right direction as long as we can curbed the lawlessness and corruption and free of rights and such. We need to think as independent nation.. and it's Ok to be help by Chinese or anyone else for that matter (ie US,Japan etc) as long as we dont follow their bad intentions.
All the best to the future of Khmer as a nation.. may be see real progress, peace and prosperity soon!
Cheers!
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