Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Hun Xen may not need "the king's and the west cool shadow" anymore since he now lives under China's shadow
Chinese premier Mao Tse Tung and then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk survey a mass gathering in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square following Sihanouk’s overthrow in March 1970 (Photo by: AFP)
Hun Xen shaking hands with Wen JiabaoAdjusting to life in China’s shadow
Tuesday, 06 October 2009
Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post
"CHINESE AID OFFERS AN ESCAPE HATCH FOR COUNTRIES UNDER PRESSURE FROM THE WEST..."As the government accepts millions of Chinese aid and investment dollars, observers remain divided on whether Beijing’s meteoric rise will help or hinder the country over the long term.
AT a September 14 ceremony marking the construction of the US$128 million Cambodia-China Prek Kdam Friendship Bridge in Kandal province, Prime Minister Hun Sen hailed the recent growth in aid and investment from China, saying it was helping to strengthen the country’s “political independence”.
“China respects the political decisions of Cambodia,” he told his audience. “They are quiet, but at the same time they build bridges and roads, and there are no complicated conditions.”
With a flourishing economy and a new-found international confidence, China is on the rise in Southeast Asia, and Cambodia – a small but important corner of Beijing’s regional backyard – has been one of the key beneficiaries
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