China and Cambodia are wrapping up 15 days of military drills on Thursday, involving more than 2,000 military personnel from both countries, both on land and at sea.
This year’s annual Golden Dragon exercise comes after China has helped Cambodia upgrade its military facilities, including Ream Naval Base, while providing new equipment.
As the exercises got underway at a Cambodian military base northwest of Phnom Penh on May 16, Cambodian Armed Forces Commander Gen. Vong Pisen publicly thanked China for upgrading and equipping the military.
Mark S. Kogan, an associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Kansai Gaidai University, told DW that the exercise “reinforces existing perceptions of growing Chinese influence, particularly on the security front.”
The Golden Dragon military exercises also symbolize Cambodia’s growing closer ties with China at the expense of its strategic ties with the United States.
The annual exercise has been held regularly since 2016, just before Phnom Penh suspended military drills with the United States in 2017.
The United States has previously expressed concerns that Ream Naval Base could become a Chinese naval outpost due to its strategic location near Cambodia’s southern tip in the Gulf of Thailand, close to the South China Sea.
A Chinese naval vessel visited the base for the first time in December 2023. The wharf had been upgraded to accommodate larger vessels. The Chinese corvette has been at the base for five months, but the Cambodian Ministry of Defense said it is not a permanent deployment.
The Cambodian government also argues that the country’s constitution prohibits the deployment of foreign troops on its territory.
China overtakes US in Cambodia
In recent years, Cambodia has transformed into Beijing’s closest partner in Southeast Asia, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet visited Beijing in September, just weeks after taking office as the country’s new prime minister.
At the same time, relations between the United States and Cambodia continue to deteriorate, with Washington accusing Cambodia of having a poor human rights record and cracking down on political parties and dissidents.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will visit Cambodia on June 4 after attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore to try to smooth ties. Austin is also scheduled to meet with Chinese officials as part of the talks.
“US Secretary of Defense Austin will be visiting Cambodia shortly to host Hun Manet, but like much of Biden’s foreign policy in Southeast Asia, he will be on the back foot,” Kogan said.
“Austin’s visit must be a mix of practical and normative, as a tough stance on human rights will bring Cambodia closer to China and be seen as a win-win for Beijing across the country,” he added.
China is already Cambodia’s largest trading partner and largest foreign investor, as evidenced by new public and private infrastructure funded by Beijing, including roads, airports, hotels and high-rise buildings.
Cambodia is also participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure financing project.
Oren Samet, a doctoral student studying authoritarianism in Southeast Asia at the University of California, said Beijing’s support has not been accompanied by the same scrutiny or criticism of Cambodian governance seen in Western countries.
“The closer ties with Beijing are the product of a long-term change that has seen China solidify its position as the Cambodian People’s Party’s (CPP) main international backer,” Samet said.
“In contrast to traditional Western donors, Beijing doesn’t care at all about Cambodia’s human rights violations and lack of democracy, which suits the Cambodian government, which has freer powers to suppress opposition and avoid difficult reforms,” he told DW.
Samet said the challenge for Washington and Phnom Penh would be to “repair frayed relations and strengthen strategic ties after several difficult years.”
“Lack of democracy and human rights issues will remain obstacles. Cambodia has not improved in this regard at all over the past decade and is unlikely to improve in the near future,” he added.
Authoritarian peers
Critics have labelled Cambodia’s leadership a “Hun dynasty” and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party has faced few challenges to its power in recent years as opposition parties have been suppressed.
Critics say Prime Minister Hun Sen, who led Cambodia for nearly four decades from 1985 to 2023, ran the country like a dictatorship, cracking down on political opponents and a free, independent media and opposing free and fair elections.
The World Justice Project’s 2023 global rankings place Cambodia second-lowest, at 141st out of 142 countries. The ranking is based on several indicators, including human rights, social justice and the economy.
Cambodia and China describe their relations as “ironclad”, with official ties dating back to 1958.
In September, during his first foreign trip as prime minister, Manet pledged to strengthen ties with Beijing and said he looked forward to greater cooperation with China on international and regional issues.
“I don’t see much difference under Hun Manet. On the surface he is more pro-Western than his father, but essentially he is heading the same government as before,” Samet said.
China’s voice in ASEAN?
China’s influence in Cambodia is also evident in forums such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a 10-nation political and economic alliance in which China is not a member but is a “comprehensive” strategic partner.
Cambodia often takes a stance that supports China’s regional objectives, including its political ambitions such as claiming sovereignty over much of the South China Sea.
ASEAN member states the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam strongly contest the maritime claims, but Cambodia’s siding with Beijing has made it a source of influence for China.
“Competition and conflict over the South China Sea is leading to further rigidity within ASEAN,” Samed said.
“Beijing exerts influence throughout the region, but Cambodia is particularly affected,” Samet added.
Editor: Wesley Rahn
