中文
By Hannan Hussain
On February 9, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen begins a three-day visit to China, during which he will hold talks with senior Chinese leaders and deepen engagement in areas of bilateral and regional interest. Hun Sen is the first foreign leader to visit China after the Spring Festival, cementing the visit's symbolism in the year of "China-Cambodia Friendship." In recent periods, the time-tested bilateral ties have maintained an upward trajectory through burgeoning trade and development partnerships. Going forward, the relationship's value to Southeast Asia's development aspirations makes the promotion of a shared China-Cambodia community all the more important.
One of the hallmarks of Sino-Cambodia ties is the extension of tangible trade and economic benefits for their people. Their landmark free trade agreement took effect last year, establishing a tariff-free status for over 90 percent of two-way trade in goods. The arrangement has delivered a positive signal to Cambodia's economy, and is fast emerging as a model to promote greater market access with shared partners. During Hun Sen's visit, prospects for win-win cooperation will be manifold. He expressed a welcome desire to attract new infrastructure projects with Beijing, and is supportive of opportunities that deepen wide-ranging development cooperation in the long run.
Cambodia's land connectivity infrastructure under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including bridges and roads, will serve as a powerful testament to the Cambodian-Chinese "ironclad" friendship. It is here that expanding BRI opportunities for investment and local development gains could score more wins for fraternal ties and their people.
Interestingly, joint efforts to champion multilateralism have also reflected positively on Cambodia's economy and China's all-round development assistance. From the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and their free-trade arrangement to swift development assistance, the promotion of trade access and crisis support has drawn communities closer together. Now in the 65th year of China-Cambodia diplomatic relations, both sides have ample incentive to build on the strategic comprehensive vision of their partnership, first cemented in 2010. Productive measures to drive-up business and enterprise operations in each other's markets, and expand the comprehensive strategic partnership's regional focus, can encourage both sides to play an exemplary role in Southeast Asia's prosperity.
The BRI-backed Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway project in Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia, June 24, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]
It is worth noting that a wealth of diplomatic symbolism marks the lead-up to Hun Sen's current visit. February 2020 is a case in point, when he became the first foreign leader to visit China since the COVID-19 outbreak, describing it as a "message of solidarity between the Cambodian people and the Chinese people." Both communities are set to converge even further as the trip focuses on investing in the "community of common destiny" initiative, complete with a range of cooperation accords on the horizon. From supporting regional stability to boosting development opportunities and economic security, progress in Sino-Cambodian friendship should be considered a multigenerational pursuit – carried forward from one generation to the other.
Phnom Penh appreciates China's new and unprecedented development pattern, while Beijing continues to support an independent development path that is suited to Cambodia's national context. Firm emphasis on owning each other's transformative choices makes the pivot towards a "community of common destiny" ever more certain.
"The China-Cambodia friendship, forged by the older generation of the leaders of the two countries, has stood the test of time and grown from strength to strength," said the Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier this week.
Plenty speaks to the evolution of Sino-Cambodia cooperation in recent years: Anti-pandemic partnerships stand bolstered, key Belt and Road projects clock steady progress, and Beijing continues to serve as one of Cambodia's largest foreign investors through thick and thin. On the regional front, championing free market principles, improved access and peacebuilding has rendered ties enduring in the face of retreating globalism. Hun Sen's visit after three years is set to consolidate that resolve even further.
In short, the continued success of Sino-Cambodia cooperation is as much a win for their people, as it is a win for the overall prosperity of Southeast Asia.
Hannan Hussain is a foreign affairs commentator and author. He is a Fulbright recipient at the University of Maryland and a former assistant researcher at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute.
