China's Backyard: Cambodia

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Simon Denyer, The Push and Pull of China’s Orbit; A rush to invest in Cambodia’s infrastructure is part of a larger quest to expand regional influence. Washington Post, Sept 6, 2015 (under the heading "China's Backyard[:] Cambodia"); photo album to the right of text).
www.washingtonpost.com/sf/world/ ... ll-of-chinas-orbit/

Quote:

(a) "Although the United States remains Cambodia’s largest trading partner, and a large importer of garments, China has emerged in the past decade as the country’s largest donor and largest source of foreign investment.

(b) "Mey Kalyan, a senior adviser to the Supreme National Economic Council, says China enjoys a 'special kind of relationship with Cambodia.'  

"Many Cambodians have some Chinese ancestry, even if few speak Mandarin; many shops and houses display Chinese-style Buddhist shrines and have Chinese characters pasted on their walls wishing happiness and health to their residents.

" 'China’s influence is growing, very much to the anger of the United States,' Mey said. 'In terms of the investment, so far so good, although there is always room to improve.'

"But even Mey admits that China needs to recognize that Cambodia is a democracy, with an emerging and increasingly demanding middle class, and a vibrant civil society, not a Communist one-party state.

" 'In China, when the party decides to do something, they do it — and the same mentality comes here,' he said. 'But the Cambodian system is very different from the Chinese system. We need more dialogue, more sensitivity.'

(c) "Hun Sen, who once described China as 'the root of everything that is evil,' because of its support for the Khmer Rouge, these days calls it Cambodia’s 'most trustworthy friend.'

(d) "While many Cambodians complain that Chinese roads [in Cambodia] are poorly built and prone to potholes, they serve a purpose. Two decades ago, the journey from Phnom Penh to the northeastern town of Stung Treng took four days: now, thanks to a Chinese road, it takes about seven hours.

" 'There is a bridge here, and a road now, and they are two very important things,' said Dy Polen, a restaurant owner. 'Yes, the bridge is cracking, and I do care about quality, but it is better than before.'

(e) "Even opposition leader Sam Rainsy said he considers China to be an important counterbalance to larger neighbors Thailand and Vietnam.

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Note:
(a) "Here, in lush northeastern Cambodia, the $800 million Lower Sesan 2 Dam"  柬埔寨桑河二级水电项目

(b) "The majority investor in the project is China’s state-owned HydroLancang, in partnership with Cambodia’s Royal Group, whose owner, prominent local tycoon Kith Meng, was once described in a leaked U.S. Embassy cable as a 'ruthless gangster” nicknamed 'Mr Rough and Tough.' "
(i) HydroLancang's full name: 华能澜沧江水电有限公司 Huaneng Lancang River Hydropower Co, Ltd (based in 云南昆明; a subsidiary of China Huaneng Group 中国华能集团公司, a state-owned enterprise based in Beijing).
(ii) China's media describes Kith Meng (in Romanization, not Chinese) as 柬埔寨皇家集团主席 or 董事长.

(c) "But it [the dam under construction] is far from the only Chinese project in Cambodia to generate a popular backlash. Cambodian civil society groups cite a 90,000-acre land concession to China’s Union Development Group (UDG) to build an international trade and eco-tourism center on Cambodia’s southwestern coast.

Tianjin Union Development Group Co, Ltd  天津优联投资发展集团有限公司 ("母公司[:]万隆集团")
(d) "During the Vietnam War, the United States supported a corrupt military regime here while simultaneously dropping 2.8 million tons of bombs on Cambodia, significantly more than the Allies dropped during the entire Second World War"

Lon Nol (1913-1985; prime minister 1969-1971; president 1972-1975; fled to US).
(e) " 'I prefer to die in my village and remain with my ancestors,' said 62-year-old La Thoeu as she spun cotton from a kapok tree to make wicks for candles."

kapok tree
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapok_tree
(may refer to: Ceiba pentandra, a tree of the tropical Americas with white flowers, cultivated particularly in south-east Asia for its seed fibre)
(f) Regarding quotation (5). Cambodia: population 15.7m; GDP (PPP): $50b, GDP (exchange rate) $16.6b, GDP per capita (PPP): $3,300 -- all 2014 est.  CIA World Factbook.