The country asserts its neutrality as it strengthens tensions between the US and China. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has sent his staff to Washington to seek relief from the tariffs, but at the same time he has brought his deeper ties to Beijing to the court.
Cambodia’s final stop represents XI’s safest port. Prime Minister Hun Mane’s government has inherited his father’s pro-China stance and is heavily dependent on China’s investment in ambitious infrastructure projects, including Phnom Penh’s new international airport and the strategic Hwang Techno Canal, which is scheduled to open in June.
Chheng Kimlong, chairman of the Institute for Asia Vision at Phnom Penh, said that when it comes to the US and China, Cambodia’s biggest concern is the intensifying competition between the superpower and the fallout from retaliation.
“Cambodia and China are closely linked economies,” he said on a sideliner at the Boao Forum on Hainan Island in southern China in March. “If the US continues to view China and other trading partners as competitors, it could have a cascade effect on Cambodia’s export sector, including manufacturing.”
As Beijing is unlikely to compromise on territorial issues, the promise of greater investment and trade cooperation is likely to be an incentive for it to reinforce the bond.
Last August, XI promised to expand its Chinese belt and road initiative in a meeting with Vietnam’s Communist Party leader in Lam, Beijing. Ram asked XI for technical support and investment in transportation infrastructure.
