China rescues Cambodia

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, October 8,  2021: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday pledged $270 million in aid and three million more COVID-19 vaccine doses to Cambodia, one of Beijing's closest allies in Southeast Asia.

State Councilor Wang flew in from Vietnam on a week-long tour that will also take in Singapore and South Korea, two weeks after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the region. 

Ostensibly, China is keen to build on its relations with Cambodia, which will chair the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year.

Cambodia sits on the Gulf of Thailand which leads into the contested waters of the South China Sea.

China's Wang Yi officially also handed over a new national stadium, built with a $150 million grant from Beijing.

Hun Sen said that without Beijing, Cambodia would not be able to upgrade infrastructure or vaccinate millions of people against COVID-19.

"If I don't rely on China, who do I rely on?" Hun Sen asked,

Harris did not visit Phnom Penh on her tour. But In June, Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Wendy Sherman - the most senior U.S. official to visit Cambodia in years.