Cambodian PM Embarks on Three-Day State Visit to China

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet departed today on a three-day state visit to China, aimed at consolidating relations with his government's closest political and economic partner. The trip to China is Hun Manet's first bilateral state visit since taking the reins of power from his father, long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, which took place last month as part of a larger generational transfer of power within the ruling Cambodian People's Party. The new Cambodian leader is no stranger to the country, having accompanied his father on a number of recent state visits to Beijing, including one at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when China was under a heavy lockdown. Chinese businesspeople of varying degrees of probity have also invested heavily in the country, lubricated by close relations with Cambodian political and business elites. Hun Manet's visit comes shortly after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Phnom Penh last month, when Wang pledged that his country would work to build a "High-quality" relationship with the new-look Cambodian leadership and "Conveyed China's resounding support for the Kingdom's emerging government leadership and development path," according to a readout from the Cambodian Foreign Ministry. Manet's choice of China as the destination of his first bilateral state visit underscores what a number of writers, including this one, have argued in recent weeks: that the leadership transition in Phnom Penh will likely do little to disturb the upward trajectory of China-Cambodia relations. As long as Western governments apply pressure on Phnom Penh to introduce political reforms and cease its nearly unending crackdowns on the political opposition and civil society, China will continue to loom as perhaps the perfect diplomatic partner: distant, deep-pocketed, and "Non-judgemental."