Cambodia and China strengthen ties as the United States requires prices

Boulevard Xi Jinping manages a loop around the rapid growth capital of Cambodia, where signs in Chinese quickly exceed those in English. The ring road around Phnom Penh, which was officially appointed according to the Chinese chief last year, will soon connect to a Chinese construction airport which is presented as one of the 10 largest in the world.

Thursday, Mr. XI, of Boulevard Renown, landed in Phnom Penh, where there is not one, but two, of the major arteries named according to the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. (The other Mao Zedong honors.) Giant red banners welcomed Mr. XI, as well as oversized portraits of him to cope with new government ministries also built by China. Cambodians who had been paid $ 2.50 bordered the streets, waving the Chinese flags.

Mr. Xi’s state visit intervenes while the United States threaten a rate of 49% on Cambodian exports – such as clothing for Nike and Lululemon – and abandoning dozens of assistance projects here. Armed with airy investment promises, Mr. XI underlines with his tour in Southeast Asia, which included stops in Vietnam and Malaysia, a clear geopolitical reality. In the superpower competition which takes place in this part of the world, a competitor takes one step ahead: China.

China is by far the largest trading partner and foreign investor in Cambodia, as is the case for many other developing countries. Mr. Xi Lance Beijing as the largest champion of these countries, in an implicit contrast with an United States which, under the president, Trump seems determined to withdraw from a position of world leadership.

“This is the classic geopolitical theater, and Xi timing is not an accident,” said Sophal Ear, a political scientist born in Cambodia on Arizona State University. “While the United States reduces its imprint in Cambodia, China is involved not only to fill the void, but to present itself as a reliable and lasting partner.”