Former Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong,
right, meets with Sun Guoxiang, China’s special rapporteur in charge of Asian
affairs, in Phnom Penh in 2015. (Siv Channa/The Cambodia Daily)
Cambodia’s
development “could not be detached” from Chinese aid, Deputy Prime Minister Hor
Namhong said on Monday, joining a chorus of officials from both parties
praising a relationship that appears to be deepening over similar stances on
the South China Sea.
The
comments came after Cambodia angered Asean neighbors and Western allies for
refusing to join them in rebuking China’s vast territorial claims in the sea.
Cambodia
characterizes its South China Sea position as neutral and declined to join
other Asean members in a joint statement praising a July 12 ruling by a
U.N.-backed tribunal that invalidated China’s claims, which are contested by
the Philippines, Vietnam and others.
However,
Asean diplomats have grumbled that Cambodia is merely serving as Beijing’s
lackey in return for more than half a billion dollars in aid it received from
China days after the verdict. The government has repeatedly downplayed Chinese
influence on its foreign policy.
“It’s two
different issues,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said last week.
In a
Monday meeting with China’s outgoing ambassador to Cambodia, Bu Jianguo, Mr.
Namhong—who served for years as foreign minister before stepping down in
April—emphasized the importance of Chinese aid in Cambodia’s development.
“Cambodia’s
progress today could not be detached from China’s aid,” Mr. Namhong told the
ambassador, according to Chinese state news service Xinhua. Cooperation between
the countries had been “further strengthened and expanded” during Ms. Bu’s
three- year tenure, Mr. Namhong added.
Mr.
Sounry referred questions about the meeting to Mr. Namhong, who could not be
reached.
Council
of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan agreed with Mr. Namhong, saying that Chinese
direct investment, as well as infrastructure projects such as bridges and
roads, were crucial to maintaining regional links.
“Without
Chinese aid, we go nowhere,” he said.
Political
analyst Ou Virak disputed the notion that China deserved so much credit for
developing the country.
“I think
that it would be a bit unfair to credit China with development in Cambodia,” he
said. “Most of the credit should go to the people. It has nothing to do with
Cambodia or China.”
China has
steadily increased its aid to Cambodia. In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping
promised Cambodia between $500 and $700 million in annual grants and loans—up
from roughly $92 million in 2007. Critics say there is little oversight of how
the aid is spent, but Mr. Hun Sen has praised China’s hands-off approach.
Speaking
during a ceremony inaugurating a Chinese-funded road project in Kompong Speu
province on Tuesday, Ambassador Bu said the deepening ties between Cambodia and
China actually benefited Asean as a whole.
“Cambodia’s
neutral and fair stance over the South China Sea issue has importantly
contributed to protecting China-Asean good cooperation and to maintaining peace
and stability in the region,” she said, according to Xinhua.
Mr. Hun
Sen used the ceremony to announce that he would accept what the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs described as the “very special and significant” Asean Lifetime
Achievement Award at the 13th Asean Leadership Forum in Vientiane this weekend.
Past recipients include the former heads of state of Malaysia and Singapore, as
well as a Malaysian monarch.
In a
speech, the prime minister credited his fans in Cambodia for the award.
“It’s the
result of the efforts of our compatriots who voted for and supported the
Cambodian People’s Party and voted for me to be prime minister,” he said.
“I thank
the citizens of Kompong Speu province, people who are here, as well as citizens
across the Kingdom of Cambodia who voted again and again for the CPP and for me
to lead the country.”
(Additional
reporting by Kuch Naren)
Ben
Paviour
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