Author: Battle Flash
According to a recent report by reference news, in the recent Cambodia-US relations, there is no problem more intractable than the problem of the Yunnan Naval Base. This strategic facility in the Gulf of Thailand has been at the center of the dispute. Cambodia demolished U.S.-funded buildings in Yunnan— the Cambodian Naval Tactical Headquarters facility and the inflatable boat maintenance facility. As Washington stepped up its support for the Indo-Pacific security program, U.S. attention to cloud soil continued unabated. In November 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on Cambodian Navy Commander Ong Sam Khan and senior defense ministry officials on suspicion of conspiring to profit from construction work at the Yun loam facility. In December 2021, the United States announced an arms embargo on Cambodia and restricted the export of sensitive materials to Cambodia. While Washington attributes these actions to cambodian official corruption, among other things, it is clear that the United States is more worried about China's presence.
The United States continues to attack Cambodia for the obvious purpose of using such sanctions to force Cambodia to fall to the United States and then draw a clear line with China. But what the United States did not expect was that this means of interfering in the internal affairs and diplomacy of other countries at every turn was not easy to use in Cambodia. Cambodia not only did not succumb to the obscenity of the United States, but on the contrary, it continued to strengthen cooperation with China, and its relations with the United States can be said to have fallen into a downward spiral. Moreover, when China and Cambodia use "as strong as steel" to describe the relations between the two countries, they are speaking to the United States. Let them stop those unseemly small moves, Sino-Cambodian relations are as stable as a rock, and it is not something that the United States can sabotage by waving the stick of sanctions.
Such a situation makes the United States very anxious, because Southeast Asian countries have always been the main target of the United States' co-optation, and they want them to turn to the United States and carry out "anti-China." At present, most southeast Asian countries maintain a neutral and wait-and-see attitude, but Cambodia is different, it is actively developing friendly relations with China, and its relations with the United States are somewhat turbulent. This is extremely dangerous for the United States, because once Sino-Cambodian relations continue to deepen, Cambodia continues to gain various opportunities for mutual benefit and win-win results in its exchanges with China, which is bound to provide a model case for other countries in Southeast Asia. That is, to make good friends with China, in order to eat delicious and spicy, so that it is likely that Southeast Asian countries will compete to fall to China. Therefore, the United States has been trying to undermine China-Cambodia relations, and even resorted to sanctions and suppression.
The reason why China-Cambodia relations can not be affected by US sanctions is that on the one hand, the two countries have always maintained good diplomatic relations, and the two sides have "friendship" in them. Cambodia has always supported China's position on the South China Sea issue, and Cambodia has also expressed its opposition to the original farce "South China Sea arbitration". Since 1956, China has been providing long-term material and technical free aid to Cambodia, and China is the country that has given the most aid to Cambodia. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen even publicly stated that "who can rely on without China" On the other hand, there is the contact and cooperation between the two sides in all walks of life. In 2020, China accounted for 51% of Cambodia's total foreign investment. It can be seen how big China's investment in Cambodia is, which the United States cannot give.
In the military field, the weapons in the hands of the Cambodian army are almost all made in China, and it cooperates closely with China in national defense. Coupled with China's vaccine support for Cambodia after the outbreak. These various things already have the basis for making the two countries a "country of brothers", which is also one of the origins of the so-called "Cambodian iron". Moreover, although China has provided a lot of aid to Cambodia, it has never interfered in its domestic affairs and diplomacy, which is essentially different from the assistance and support of Western countries. Whoever takes the aid of the United States and Western countries will not die and shed their skin. You will not stop without cutting your leeks, and may even threaten you to follow the Western route. In contrast, cambodia and China are naturally a wise choice to develop friendly relations.
Although Sino-Cambodian relations are close, they have to guard against the united states all the time. In the future, the United States will most likely continue to exert pressure on Cambodia, after all, China-Cambodia relations are close, which is extremely unfavorable to its so-called Indo-Pacific strategy. In the face of possible sanctions and suppression by the United States, China can continue to strengthen relevant cooperation with Cambodia, so that all countries in the world can see that if it is good relations with China, even if the United States suppresses, we will not let you suffer. This will not only break the damage of the United States to sabotage Sino-Cambodian relations, but also make cambodia and China more closely linked. It can also establish a good image in the international community, and even give people the illusion that the United States cannot fight us in the struggle in Southeast Asia. As the sino-US struggle intensifies, this feeling is likely to expand, and the potential prestige it will bring to China is immeasurable, and even helps China resolve disputes and problems in the South China Sea.