Cambodia is far from an ordinary country.
It went through such a bad period that this place became one of the poorest countries
with the bleakest prospects in Southeast Asia.
You see, sandwiched between two more populous and emerging economic powers, Vietnam and
Thailand, this small country of fewer than 16 million inhabitants has one of the most
horrendous, cruel and ruthless histories of the entire continent and, perhaps, the entire
planet.
In 1975 the Cambodian Communist Party took control of the country.
For the next four years, until its downfall in 1979, the Khmer Rouge – as the party
members were known – perpetrated one of the worst genocides humanity has ever known.
During the existence of the Democratic Kampuchea, the name of the state ruled by the Khmer Rouge,
between one and a half million and three million people lost their lives due to their policies.
That’s a quarter of the population of the entire country.
Wiped out in just four years!
The execution of political dissidents and racial and religious minorities made up most
of this chilling figure.
Because nobody was safe there.
Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, people of one ethnic group or another, whomever the
government considered as an enemy of the revolution was targeted by this “purge”.
Yes, the Khmer Rouge was crazy.
And of course, all this crippled Cambodia's development prospects for many years because...
How can you recover from something so horrendous?
As you can imagine, it was no easy task.
And yes, that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about today in this video, about how
Cambodia has changed since the fall of communism, both in the economic and political fields,
And about what we can expect from this small Asian country in the future, which is located
in one of the areas of the world that has the most potential.
Listen up.
(A 100% DEPENDENT ECONOMY)
Cambodia has experienced impressive, exponential economic growth in recent years.
Between 1997 and 2017, its GDP has grown every year at an average of 7.7%.
Its GDP per capita has multiplied by more than three.
These are excellent numbers, but...
What exactly has such development translated into?
Well, for example, this huge economic growth has meant that the population living below
the poverty line has decreased from approximately 50 to just over 13%.
And of course, with this data you may think...
Wow!
Things seem to be going very well in Cambodia…
Right?
Well, yes… and no.
The truth is that right now the country is experiencing – what you could call– a
great uncertainty.
It sits between China and the western actors – the United States and the European Union.
But, let's look at this step by step.
We’ve already seen the Cambodian economy’s enormous growth in the last two decades, so
that raises the question,
What exactly does Cambodia offer?
What is their economic model based on?
Well, the answer here is simple: the textile industry and tourism.
The powerful Cambodian textile industry accounts for approximately 80% of the country's exports
and employs more than 700,000 people.
This industry is by far the country’s driving force and the main source of income for many
Cambodian families.
By the way, Cambodia has a feature that is seriously harming its development, and it
could also be a huge problem for its future.
Cambodia is still a mostly rural country.
Less than 25% of the population lives in cities, which places it as one of the least urbanized
countries on the planet.
To give you an idea of ​​what this figure means, its neighbor Laos is nearing 40%.
Under these conditions, access and provision of educational services are very expensive
and difficult to manage.
Most rural schools don’t have books or internet connection, and people continue to look to
the countryside as a way of life.
This explains why approximately 20% of the adult population is illiterate.
But, let’s not get off topic.
The fact is that a large part of Cambodia’s economic takeoff was due to another character,
a protagonist who arrived with a huge wad of bills and stacks of bricks under his arm.
Do you want to know who’s hiding behind this sudden deluge
of investment?
China, China has spent years investing hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure and
in the construction sector, in real estate development.
In Cambodia, it’s currently very common to see landscapes full of cranes, and imposing
buildings and skyscrapers under construction.
In the last two years alone, about 6,000 construction projects valued at more than 11 billion dollars
have been approved.
And yes, most of the buyers in this promising new real estate market come from China.
Typically between 50 and 80% of the properties of the most luxurious real estate developments
in the capital, Phnom Penh, are acquired by Chinese.
But, just a second, what has triggered such fervor?
Are the Chinese crazy about Cambodia?
Well... maybe, but there’s another compelling reason:
The poor supervision that Cambodia implements on the source of money invested as well as
its lax regulations has led many Chinese millionaires to use Cambodia as a refuge for their money.
You know, in case things go pear-shaped in China.
But of course, there’s two sides to every coin, and in this story, it’s no different.
So far, we’ve seen the attractive face, but what about the other one?
(HUN SEN, CHINA AND THE DEATH OF DEMOCRACY)
We already told you what’s happening in the Cambodian economy, but we cannot forget
Hun Sen, the country’s prime minister and major player in Cambodian news.
You see, Hun Sen was one of the main opponents of the Khmer Rouge’s Maoist regime and reached
power in 1979 with the Vietnamese invasion that put an end to the Democratic Kampuchea
and the horrors of the Khmer, led by Pol Pot.
Since then, Hun Sen has ruled the country, becoming second on the list of longest ruling
leaders, second only to the Equatorial Guinean leader, Teodoro Obiang.
And, what can I say?...
At first glance, the fact that a ruler has been in power for so long doesn’t look good,
right?
The fact is that in 1993 Hun Sen approved a new Constitution that, at least on paper,
would democratize the country by turning it into a constitutional monarchy with a multi-party
system that could allow for a democratically elected Prime Minister.
However, 26 years have passed and there’s still no trace of democracy.
The Constitution exists, but there’s no opposition because the regime itself doesn’t
allow it.
And in recent years things have got worse.
In the local elections of June 2017, the opposition party National Rescue of Cambodia achieved
significant popular support.
However, their joy didn’t last long.
The Supreme Court, controlled by the Prime Minister, ordered the dissolution of the opposition
party and the imprisonment of its leader, Kem Sokha, in November.
The reason?
As is often the case…
The opposition was accused of planning an uprising.
After the illegalization of the opposition and the imprisonment of Sokha, which led to
other opposition leaders going into exile, the Hun Sen regime demonstrated that the political
freedoms promulgated by the 1993 Constitution were, when it came down to it, merely cosmetic.
But such a disregard for democracy and political freedoms would have consequences.
US House Passes Bill to Sanction Cambodia’s Top Officials.
Voice of America
EU begins process to hit Cambodia with trade sanctions.
Reuters
And it’s precisely this that can hurt Cambodia the most: the European Union’s trade sanctions.
Although in reality, it’s not about sanctions, but about Cambodia’s withdrawal from the
European “All but Arms” program, a program that benefits the poorest countries by giving
them access to the European market through tariff exemptions, which has greatly helped
the Cambodian textile industry to develop.
But of course, in order to profit from these commercial advantages, certain conditions
have to be met, and one of them is securing human rights and political and democratic
freedoms.
And it’s precisely because of Hun Sen's violation of these principles that the EU
is immersed in the process of expelling Cambodia from this initiative.
THis expulsion may jeopardize a good part of Cambodia’s textile production, whose
Exports to the European Union account for about 6 billion dollars, which, in turn equates
to 40% of the country's total exports.
And of course, in the face of such a threat, the logical thing is for Hun Sen to take a
step back, don't you think?
Well... no, nothing could be further from the truth.
Hun Sen not only reaffirms his position, but blames the European Union for meddling in
internal affairs.
But... just a second.
Because if Hun Sen really doesn’t care about the sanctions and this check on the Cambodian
economy, is the Prime Minister condemning the country to disaster?
Well... perhaps, but the truth is somewhat more complicated.
What Hun Sen really has in mind is decreasing their dependence on the West by turning to
China.
Moreover, relations with Beijing are so good that the support is mutual.
See, while China floods the Cambodian regime with aid and investments, Cambodia supports
China in the ASEAN resolutions, which condemn Beijing's military and territorial expansion
in the South China Sea.
And just a second because that’s not all.
Listen up.
China reportedly signs secret deal to station troops in Cambodia.
The Guardian
Yes, you heard that right.
There are significant indications that China could end up opening a military base in Cambodia.
A new Chinese military base abroad.
We’ll see how this ends up.
With all this, one thing is very clear...
Hun Sen has become a Beijing man, and is turning his back on the West, he’s the latest player
to do so.
But now it's your turn…
What do you think about China wielding its power in Southeast Asia by flashing its checkbook
even at the cost of harming political freedoms?
Should Hun Sen retract and remain more neutral towards the West and China?
Leave your answer in the comments.
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