While Prime Minister Hun Sen often portrays himself as sole protector of Cambodia’s sovereignty, China is at work building a port, airport and virtual city on 45,000 hectares of Cambodian land with the premier’s express permission.In 2008, China’s Tianjin Union Development Group (UDG) was granted a 99-year lease to around 20% of the kingdom’s total coastline at the modest price of US$30 per hectare.
Cambodia’s Constructors Association has estimated the so-called “Pilot Zone” project’s total cost at US$3.8 billion and that a yet-to-be-built airport will be designed to handle 10 million visitors per year.
Ostensibly a tourism venture known as Dara Sakor Beachside Resort, the project in many aspects already resembles a Chinese colony. Portrayed by the government as an economic boon for Cambodians, critics say the project is shaping into a closed economy exclusively for Chinese workers, capitalists and visitors.
The amount of land leased is more than three times the legal limit under Cambodian land law, which caps land concessions at 10,000 hectares. The concession also includes land that was previously protected from development within the Botum Sakor National Park but was made available for private purchase by a royal decree.
Local villagers and environmental activists have come into frequent dispute with the Chinese company, claiming UDG has made use of Cambodian military police to enforce its claim. Some locals say they have been violently forced off their land by security forces, with homes dismantled and burned to the ground, according to a report by Licadho, a local human rights group. UDG did not respond to Asia Times’ requests for comment on the project and nongovernmental organizations’ (NGOs) allegations of abuses. Hun Sen often touts Chinese investment as key to Cambodia’s development. His recent crackdown on political dissidents, culminating with the dissolution of the main opposition party, led many Western nations to either withdraw or threaten to withhold aid that previously contributed the lion’s share of Cambodia’s national budget.
As much of the international community condemns his lurch towards full-blown authoritarianism, Hun Sen has countered that he can always rely on China’s financial support even if the West imposes sanctions or withdraws its aid and investments.
But if the Koh Kong project is a model, Cambodia could be sacrificing its long-term economic interests – and perhaps even its sovereignty – while Beijing leverages its strong influence to use Cambodia as a base for its wider strategic objectives in Southeast Asia and beyond.