In English and Chinese but no Khmer...

Spigzy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2019 11:04 am it should come as no surprise to anyone.

I don't think anyone is expressing surprise, it is just the cheek of it, given the current level of absolute obscene wealth percolating within the upper echelons of the Khmer sociopolitical populous.

In many ways I think Cambodia is ready to put on it's big boy pants and start taking care of many of it's own affairs. But that might mean less money in the cookie jar.

Ordinary Cambodians Can Only Look On, As Cambodia Ranks Among Most Indebted Countries to China
20 December 2019
Sun Narin
VOA Khmer

KDOL LEU VILLAGE, TBONG KHMUM PROVINCE — Until two years ago, the lives of Paong Lat’s family revolved mostly around their small farm, daily fish catch, their sales at the local market, and some occasional day labor.

Separated from the more populous Kampong Cham Province by the Mekong River, life in Kdol Leu Village on the eastern riverbank in Tbong Khmum Province in central Cambodia was quiet and livelihoods depended on ferries and other boat transport.

This all changed when the area became the site for a $57-million, 1-kilometre-long bridge, which was part of a Chinese $2-billion loan package for roads and bridges agreed upon during President Xi Jinping’s 2016 visit to Cambodia.

Soon after, authorities claimed large swathes of village lands on each riverbank for the project and in 2017 hundreds of Chinese workers moved in with heavy machinery. They set up living quarters and began large construction works in the river.

Paong Lat, 66, a father of six, said the once-rustic life of his family was quickly transformed by the impacts and opportunities of the project.

He was forced to accept $20,000 in compensation for his farmland. His daughter became a cook for the Chinese company for $200 per month, while his son-in-law stopped fishing to become a construction worker, earning $12 per day.

Paong Lat and his family told VOA Khmer they had mixed feelings about the changes brought on by the project, over which local communities were never consulted—as is common in Cambodia, where dissent against well-connected companies is often suppressed by authorities.

“The bridge will help my family and other villagers travel without taking the ferry, it is faster to go to the markets and hospital at the other side,” said Paong Lat. He added that though he welcomed the job opportunities, the compensation offered for his land was “very little” and below market value.

His daughter Lat Seangly, 32, said the influx of Chinese workers was changing the area and she worried about its future. “If too many [Chinese] come to Cambodia, in the future, Cambodians may not have a place to settle on,” she said.

In the past decade, as Prime Minister HE’s government grew ever closer to Beijing, dozens of similar large-scale infrastructure projects were built across rural Cambodia with Chinese loans, while massive Chinese investment flowed into real estate in urban and coastal areas.

By April 2019, 31 highways and 8 bridges, totalling 3,000 kilometers, were Chinese-built and funded, according to a Chinese Embassy statement, which did not detail the total debt accrued for the projects.

Like in Kdol Leu Village, tens of thousands of local Cambodians have had to accept the projects’ impacts with little or no consultation—nor has the public had any influence over the government’s decision to take on billions of dollars in debt to China to finance the projects.

One project alone will cost a staggering $1.9 billion in loans; an expressway between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, a port town that Chinese investment has turned the port town into a high-rise studded, rowdy casino town for Chinese tourists. Dozens of families whose homes had to make way for the projects have protested to demand better compensation.
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/ordinary- ... 12914.html

Cambodian PM says ties with China closer after Beijing visit
(Xinhua) 14:47, February 08, 2020

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo HE has said that the kingdom's relations with China have become closer after his visit to Beijing earlier this week.

"It's very clear that Cambodia is staying closer with China, especially in this difficult moment, because a friend in need is a friend indeed," he wrote on Friday on his official Facebook page.

HE paid a visit to China on Wednesday. When meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, HE said that he had decided to make a special visit to China to showcase Cambodia's support to China in fighting the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic.

He said at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing that when China was in a difficult time, the Cambodian people stood firmly with the Chinese people to overcome common difficulties, adding that the two countries are truly "steadfast friends."

The Cambodian government chief spokesman, Phay Siphan, said Thursday that as some countries have adopted extreme restrictive measures to curb the virus, HE's Beijing visit told the world there was no need to be "extremely scared and panicked."

"The prime minister's special visit shows Cambodia's strong support to China in fighting the outbreak of the coronavirus," Phay Siphan told Xinhua.
http://en.people.cn/n3/2020/0208/c90000-9655575.html
(Chinese government news)

Death toll now over 900 and more than 40000 confirmed cases.

Major Achievements Made at Fifth Meeting of China-Cambodia Inter-governmental Coordination Committee
2020/06/16

On 16 June, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong co-chaired the fifth meeting of the China-Cambodia Inter-governmental Coordination Committee via video link. It was the first meeting China held with a neighboring country under high-level mechanisms for bilateral cooperation since the start of COVID-19. A number of achievements were made at the meeting.

Both sides agreed to further harness the Committee's coordinating functions, get more agencies involved, and designate it as the main implementation mechanism for building the China-Cambodia community with a shared future.

The two sides also reached agreement on the following: stepping up cooperation against COVID-19; opening a "fast lane" for personnel exchanges and a "green lane" for supplies; concluding the bilateral FTA negotiations at an early date; holding an economic and trade forum in due course; cracking down on online gambling and cross-border crime; setting up consular agencies in Sihanoukville Province and Jinan; and officially starting Cambodian mango exports to China.
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zgyw/t1789526.htm

Chinese Foreign Minister to Pay Official Visit to Cambodia Tomorrow

Wang Yi’s Visit to Cambodia to Strengthen Traditional Friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation
11/09/21 15:55

Phnom Penh (FN), Sep. 11 – At the invitation of Cambodian foreign minister Prak Sokhonn, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will pay an official visit to the Kingdom of Cambodia on 12-13 September 2021.

During the visit, Wang Yi will pay a courtesy call on Cambodian prime minister HE and have a working breakfast with Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, according to the foreign ministry’s press release dated 10 September 2021.

Wang Yi will hold a bilateral meeting with minister Prak Sokhonn, during which various aspects of bilateral cooperation such as the fight against COVID19, trade and investment, education, security and national defense, as well as regional and international issues of common interest and concern will be discussed.

Prime minister HE and minister Wang Yi, with the participation of chairman of Cambodian SEA Games Organizing Committee (CAMSOC) Tea Banh, and vice chairman of CAMSOC Thong Khon, will preside over the handover ceremony of the Morodok Techo National Stadium which will be the centerpiece venue for Cambodia’s 2023 SEA Games.
http://en.freshnewsasia.com/index.php/e ... 00-50.html