Beijing is spreading its influence by stumping up the cash to build desperately needed infrastructure throughout Asia, but with little consideration for communities or the level of corruption. Simon Denyer reports from Phluk in Cambodia.
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In lush, north-eastern Cambodia, the £530m  Lower Sesan 2 Dam stands as a potent symbol of China’s growing reach, and Beijing’s ambitious plans to expand its influence throughout Asia by building some desperately needed infrastructure...
The majority investor in the project is China’s state-owned HydroLancang, in partnership with Cambodia’s Royal Group, whose owner, Kith Meng, was once described in a leaked US embassy cable as a “ruthless gangster”.

But the dam is far from the only Chinese project in Cambodia to generate a backlash. Cambodian civil society groups cite a 90,000-acre land concession to China’s Union Development Group to build an international trade and eco-tourism centre on Cambodia’s south-western coast...

“There is a bridge here, and a road now, and they are two very important things,” said Dy Polen, a restaurant owner. “Yes, the bridge is cracking, and I do care about quality, but it is better than before.”