The embassies of the United States and China have recently exchanged jibes over what their aid and investment strategies in Cambodia have achieved. The sparring on social media platform Facebook went viral, sparking a debate among Cambodians over the superpowers’ influence in the country.
TBOUNG KHMUM AND PHNOM PENH -- In this district you could easily miss the influence of the United States, but evidence of Chinese investment is all around.
China has granted Cambodia $50 million to build the largest hospital in Tboung Khmum province, in the Cambodia’s central lowlands, to help fulfill the health care needs of area residents and those from neighboring provinces.
The ongoing construction, which started in early March, has provided Cambodian laborers with jobs paying about 20 percent more than their usual income.
The construction site of the new Cambodia-China Friendship Tboung Khmum Hospital in Cambodia's eastern Tboung Khmum province, in March 2019 (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer)
At the construction site, Nan Sina, a villager who recently started working on the project, said the facility will be more convenient for locals to seek treatment than going to the town or the capital, Phnom Penh.
“This is good. My mother is sick so she can come for treatment here,” said 23-year-old Sina, who lives near the hospital. “But I am afraid that it will be expensive,” he added.
The embassies of the United States and China have recently exchanged jibes over what their aid and investment strategies in Cambodia have achieved. The sparring on social media platform Facebook went viral, sparking a debate among Cambodians over the superpowers’ influence in the country.
Despite seeing infrastructure funded and built by China, Sina said China has also benefited from exploiting Cambodia’s natural resources.
“China helped but there are benefits in return, including exploiting gold mining and others,” he said.
The construction material at a new Cambodian-China friendship hospital in Cambodia's eastern Tboung Khmum province, in March 2019 (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer)
The influx of Chinese nationals and investment in Sihanoukville also has drawn concerns from Sina.
“Some are good [Chinese immigrants], but some are bad since they fired guns a lot in our country,” he said, referring to allegations spread online.
What do Cambodians Say?
Among the numerous comments on social media following the US-China spat, user Vann Saray said: “Khmer [Cambodia] has never banned the US manufacturing process in Cambodia. The US should bring factories to Cambodia rather than being jealous with China.”
Another Facebook user named Yon Nhean responded to Saray, saying: “Our country doesn’t agree with their [US] proposals.”
“The EU and US don’t like doing business with those who take money under the table,” said another user named Kong Sokthin.
China has built 31 highways and eight major bridges in Cambodia in recent years, according to the embassy.
A few hundred meters from the US embassy in Phnom Penh, Chea Phana, a street vendor selling fried meatballs and bread, said as more Chinese come to Cambodia to invest, do business and work in the country, more jobs will be created for Cambodians.
“They invest a lot in Cambodia, but there are also benefits,” he said.
Seeing more Chinese coming to the country, Phana says he wants his three-year-old daughter to learn both English and Chinese in the future so that she can work in Chinese companies or with Chinese people.
“If she knows only English, not Chinese, it is also difficult since there are now more Chinese,” said Phana, 34.
When asked what the US has done for Cambodia, he said: “America has never done anything for us. They just call for this and that.”
But if he had to choose between the two powers, he said he would prefer support from the US. “The United States is better since a free country is better,” he said.
Piseth, who studied IT in China’s southern Guangxi province for five years and speaks Chinese, said: "We see that the factories are built by Chinese, so we do more trade with China and Chinese are the ones creating jobs for us."
“The truth is that the US is also contributing but on a scale that only experts can know. For us ordinary people, with our eyes, we can only see Chinese."
A land transporting truck attached with “China Aid” placard at the the construction site of a new Cambodian-China friendship hospital in Tboung Khmum province, in March 2019 (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer)
According to a March 2017 survey of 500 university students in Phnom Penh, a large majority of respondents preferred the US (72.6 percent) over China (27.4 percent) when asked which country they wanted Cambodia to have closer relations with in the future. This preference comes despite respondents’ “awareness of Chinese financial contributions to the development of Cambodia and long-term nature of Sino-Cambodian relations,” the survey noted.
The Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh did not respond to emailed questions.
While many Cambodians show support for the US over its political system, they broadly agree that the US has not invested enough in Cambodia.
That may be changing.
US Looking More to Cambodia
Emily Zeeberg, U.S. embassy spokeswoman, told VOA Khmer that U.S. companies in ASEAN create significant regional linkages and are beginning to consider Cambodia in their regional planning.
“We expect that the number of U.S. companies investing in Cambodia will continue to increase if the business environment improves,” she said in an email.
“U.S. companies would be far more likely to invest here if there was more transparency, less corruption, and clear rules for bidding out projects. U.S. companies faces stiff criminal penalties if they bribe foreign officials to obtain or retain business,” she added.
Echoing the embassy’s critical Facebook post to contrast with Chinese investments, the US spokesperson explained the benefits that would come from creating an environment conducive to US investment.
“The benefits that U.S. companies bring are significant. U.S. companies hire Cambodians,” she said, adding that, “U.S. companies have strong quality and environmental standards. Environmental stewardship is highly valued among young Cambodians.”
Ou Virak, founding president of Phnom Penh-based think-tank Future Forum, says that neither embassy is completely right about their claims as any increased investment Cambodia is dependent on both China and the US.
“So, if we look closely, it [investment] is all interdependent. If there are no roads, electricity, ports [infrastructure] we will have problems. If there are no Chinese investors coming to build the garment factories, I think the export is not possible even with the import preference because there is no product to export. So they are interrelated,” he said.
He added that Chinese investors would not have come to Cambodia in the first place without US trade preferences.
“If we look at roads, China has built the most and longest roads, but for quality it may degrade quicker. The US has built National Road 4; higher quality but limited quantity.”
A sign in Phnom Penh from the mid 1990s, denoting USAID-funded restoration of the "Khmer-American Friendship Highway" or National Road 4 from Phnom Penh to coastal Sihanoukville, August 3, 2018. The highway remains in good condition but the United States has since not invested directly in other Cambodian infrastructure projects of such scale. (Courtesy of USAID)
The Trump administration last year created a new $60-billion investment fund in response to China’s massive overseas infrastructure investments, particularly the Belt and Road Initiative.
Zeeberg, the US embassy spokeswoman, told VOA Khmer that the new investment fund would help increase US investment capacity in Cambodia, but fell short of suggesting a timeline for such investment, adding that the "Embassy will continue to work with the American private sector, and relevant U.S. government agencies, to identify genuine, market-based opportunities in Cambodia."
Virak, however, believes the United States, coming from a position of leading a developed rules-based international order yet entering a “game” to try to match China as a global builder is unnecessary and counter-productive.
A construction worker drives a truck at the construction site of the new Cambodia-China Friendship Tboung Khmum Hospital in Cambodia's eastern Tboung Khmum province, in March 2019 (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer)
Sophal Ear, associate professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College in Los Angeles, said the relationship between Cambodia and China “is more intertwined than ever before.”
“People feel they are not the masters of their own country. Only their leaders still think they are in control, but they don't even know that Beijing is in charge. The more Phnom Penh screams not to worry, the more the people should worry,” he said in an email.
“This is because China is helping the leadership a lot but not so much the people. The negative effects of Chinese presence are what the people see, while Phnom Penh only enjoys more money and more benefits for themselves,” he added.
In March, Hun Sen defended his embrace of China, saying he “understands China very well,” and Beijing has no intention of “taking over other nations,” in in contrast to Western foreign adventurism and politically motivated aid.
“I say this in front of the Chinese ambassador: Cambodia will never allow China to occupy it, but China also has no intention to occupy Cambodia,” he said.
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping before their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China April 29, 2019.
A New Geopolitical Struggle?
Paul Chambers, lecturer and special advisor on international affairs at Naresuan University, said: “These dueling statements by China and the US show that Cambodia increasingly fits into a geopolitical struggle between the two superpowers.”
“On both sides, propaganda is being utilized to win the hearts and minds of the Khmer people.”
Virak is similarly worried, adding that a more offensive US strategy against China may increase the tensions to Cold War-like levels.
The US embassy confirmed that the criticism of China on the embassy’s Facebook page was part of Mr. Trump’s broader effort to highlight “longstanding concerns about China’s unfair trade policies and practices.”
Specific to Cambodia, the embassy suggested “Cambodia should be aware and evaluate both the positive and negative consequences of Chinese investment."
Virak, however, believes this stronger US approach is counter-productive for the US image as Cambodians already have a favorable perception of the US brands and the quality of investment.
He adds that China's surprising response was equally counter-productive for the emerging power and the two embassies openly sparring online is “immature” and will only serve to lower trust among Cambodians, while heightening their fear of their country's return to becoming a proxy in a new geo-political conflict.
A placard at the construction site of the new Cambodia-China Friendship Tboung Khmum Hospital in Cambodia's eastern Tboung Khmum province, in March 2019 (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer)
At the hospital construction site, Soth Ratha, a villager, sells sugarcane from his motorbike to the workers.
“I am also concerned that today is good, but in the future it will not be. We can’t see the future,” he said.