Advertisement
China-Asean relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China and Cambodia gun for ‘harder than steel’ ties to fend off foreign forces

  • China delivers its neighbour pandemic aid and the handover of a new stadium as well as promises to buy more Cambodian agricultural goods
  • Wang Yi tells Hun Sen China hopes to conclude negotiations of the South China Sea code of conduct with Asean during Cambodia‘s rotating presidency next year

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
33
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (right) and visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (second from left) attend the handover ceremony of the China-funded national stadium in Phnom Penh on Sunday. Photo: Xinhua
Rachel Zhangin Shanghai
China and Cambodia have vowed to resist pressure from outside their relationship, with Beijing calling for ties that are “harder than steel” amid tension with some Asean nations over the South China Sea.
Advertisement

“Cambodia is willing to strengthen communication with China to prevent extraterritorial forces from disrupting regional affairs, and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability,” Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said during his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday.

He said Cambodia would continue to “firmly support China’s legitimate position” on issues regarding its core interests, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang, according to China’s foreign ministry.
Wang visited Cambodia on Sunday and Monday, part of a six-day trip that includes stops in Vietnam, Singapore and South Korea.

During a meeting with his Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn on Sunday, Wang said China would continue to provide vaccines and other material support to help Cambodia fight the pandemic. China would also import more of the Southeast Asian nation’s agricultural products and promote the “sustainable development of its industrialisation”, adding that China was willing to make ties between the two nations “harder than steel”.

In July, China’s defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian used “steel like” to describe relations between China and Cambodia for the first time in a press conference, signalling increasingly cosy ties between the two.

Advertisement
Associated Press reported Hun Sen saying on Sunday that China had pledged more than US$270 million in aid to his country. On the same day, Wang officially handed a new stadium over to Cambodia. Beijing provided a US$160 million grant to build the Morodok Techo National Stadium, which has a capacity of 60,000 people.

Advertisement