A new Chinese-built bridge, on the right, spans the Tonle Sap River in Phnom Penh, running parallel to the bridge Japan helped construct in the 1960s. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)

The 'Chinazation' of Cambodia

China's deepening economic presence is bringing progress -- but at what cost?

| 16 March 2017

HONG KONG/PHNOM PENH Just a few blocks from the Royal Palace, in the traditional heart of downtown Phnom Penh, sits one of Cambodia's most renowned Chinese schools. Over the past century, the Tuan Hoa School has witnessed the many ups and downs of the capital. Today, it has front-row seats to an unprecedented boom.

Run by a local ethnic Chinese organization, the school is one of the largest Mandarin-speaking elementary and junior high schools outside China and Taiwan. It currently has more than 11,000 students, including those at its branch campus. For Loeung Sokmenh, headmaster of the main campus, things have improved to an astonishing degree. She has been a faculty member there since the school reopened in 1992 after being forced to close in 1970. Those intervening years saw the tumult that accompanied a U.S.-supported coup headed by Marshal Lon Nol, the devastating rule of the China-backed Pol Pot regime and the subsequent invasion by Vietnam.

"The good relationship between Cambodia and China is definitely helping," Loeung told the Nikkei Asian Review, recalling harder times 25 years ago, when the school reopened its doors with 1,700 students. "More and more local parents feel that learning Mandarin will help their kids find jobs." She added that "even parents with no Chinese background are sending their kids here, including government officials."

 

Chinese investment in Cambodia has created a lot of employment opportunities. The Council for the Development of Cambodia says China has been the biggest source of foreign direct investment since 2011, with the cumulative total during the period until early December reaching $4.9 billion. New buildings are going up seemingly everywhere, and the bulk are being funded with Chinese money.

One of the most notable projects is One Park, or Phnom Penh No. 1, as the commercial and residential complex is called in Chinese. Heading the undertaking is Graticity Real Estate Development, a lesser-known developer based in Beijing. The first phase is being built on 7.9 hectares of reclaimed land once covered by Boeung Kak Lake. The total cost of the project is unknown, but the construction fees alone will amount to $130 million, according to the state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corp., who won the contract. Another 11.1 hectares of reclaimed land has been set aside for further development.

One of the sales staff for the property is a 23-year-old female graduate of Tuan Hoa. The woman, who requested anonymity, is a third-generation Chinese-Cambodian and said her Mandarin skills "helped me get this job," where she deals with supervisors and clients from China.

BRIDGES AND ROADS The changing skyline may draw the most attention, but Chinese investment in Cambodia goes far beyond real estate.

On March 6, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Xiong Bo sat on separate construction vehicles in Phnom Penh. The officials, along with about 600 locals, were at the groundbreaking ceremony for the western portion of the No. 2 ring road project. This scene has played out countless times across the country, with the prime minister and Chinese ambassador on hand to celebrate the completion of new roads, bridges and other projects supported by Beijing.

"Thanks for all the assistance," Hun Sen told a business delegation from China on Dec. 1. "I can say that fraternal friend China has helped build the longest road, approximately 1,500km long, and seven bridges totaling approximately 3,104 meters long," he said.

As bridges go, the New Chroy Changvar Bridge, completed in 2015 with a concessional loan from China, is packed with symbolism. The 719-meter bridge, which spans the Tonle Sap River in the capital, was built by the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corp. and runs alongside the Chroy Changvar Bridge, also called the Cambodia-Japan Friendship Bridge, built with Japanese assistance in 1966 and rebuilt with Japanese donations in 1994. Tokyo used to be a major donor to Cambodia, but it now pales in comparison to Beijing. According to Moody's Investors Service, China has since 2012 surpassed all multilateral organizations combined and the European Union in annual aid to the Southeast Asian country.