Over the past several weeks, the U.S.-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia (RFA) has published a three-part investigative report into the clandestine dealings of the Prince Group, a multi-billion-dollar Cambodian conglomerate. Over the past decade, Prince and its enigmatic chief executive, the Chinese national Chen Zhi, have risen from obscurity to the top echelon of Cambodia’s … Read more
Around twelve months ago, the U.S. Defense Department was confident enough in its intelligence to state in its annual “Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China” that the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia “will be the PRC’s first overseas base in the Indo-Pacific.” But give an eye to the Pentagon’s … Read more
Advertisement Amid the decline of global democracy over the past two decades, one country that hasn’t received much attention from geopolitical observers is Cambodia, which has suffered under the rule of political strongman Hun Sen and, more recently, his son Hun Manet, who took over as the country’s prime minister in August. This Southeast Asian … Read more
Advertisement In discussions about the significance of the Chinese-funded modernization of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand, which lies some 200 kilometers off Thailand’s east coast, the Thai perspective is very much overlooked. Ream is, after all, popularly theorized as a potential second overseas outpost of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy … Read more
Cambodia’s incoming Prime Minister Hun Sen Manet during talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, August 13, 2023. Credit: Facebook/Hun Manet Advertisement Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has pledged that his country will work to build a “high-quality” relationship with the new-look Cambodian leadership that is scheduled to take office next … Read more
Advertisement Cambodian-U.S. relations have steadily eroded ever since Phnom Penh went public in its support for Beijing and its foreign policy ambitions while hosting the ASEAN foreign ministers summit in 2012. This is one of the main issues that incoming Prime Minister Hun Manet will have to deal with. Sore points have been many: a … Read more