Last month, Cambodia just started a visa-free trial for China, and everyone believed it was a new beginning in Sino-Cambodian relations. However, in the past two days, a statement from Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister has caused quite an unexpected reaction. What's going on here?

1. Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Speaks Out: It Is Necessary to Reduce Reliance on China!

On January 14th local time, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Son Chhay gave an interview with the UK's Financial Times. During the interview, he made some surprising remarks, emphasizing the following three points:

First, he said, "Trump's tariff policy hit us hard, making us realize that we cannot rely solely on one country; small countries cannot afford the consequences of taking sides between China and the US!"

We all remember that in April last year, Trump launched a global trade war. At that time, the countries with the highest tariffs were several ASEAN nations, including Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Cambodia was subjected to a high tariff of 49%. Clearly, Trump targeted these ASEAN countries to force them to reduce cooperation with China. Eventually, Cambodia negotiated with the US and yielded to American pressure, reducing the tax rate to 19%. This negotiation was led by Deputy Prime Minister Son Chhay.

Secondly, Son Chhay pointed out: The US may take further actions against China, including strict regulations on the origin countries of products entering the US, to restrict Chinese products being transshipped through third countries into the US.

The reason why Son Chhay believes it is necessary to reduce reliance on China is that he does not want Cambodia to become a transshipment country subject to US sanctions. Data shows that the US is Cambodia's largest export market, and its dependence on the US market is very significant.

Finally, Son Chhay talked about the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia, saying, "This is not a Chinese naval base, and the rumors have already been refuted." At the same time, he expressed his welcome for the visit of an American warship to the Ream base this year.

Regarding the issue of the Ream Naval Base, Western countries have been hyping up for years, claiming it is a Chinese overseas base. However, both China and Cambodia immediately denied this claim. Since then, Cambodia allowed Japanese and Vietnamese warships to visit the Ream base to prove its innocence. Now, Cambodia is welcoming the US military, which is another clear signal to the US and also a gesture of goodwill towards the US.

From Son Chhay's statements, it is clear that there are indeed some people in Cambodia's senior leadership who are trying to curry favor with the US. Early this month, several media outlets reported that Cambodia named a highway within its territory as "Trump Highway" to show its favor to Trump. When this news came out, it was quickly picked up by a large number of US media outlets, and it was seen as one of the strongest signals of Cambodia moving closer to the US.

2. China's Position Is Very Important!

As for Son Chhay's statements, the Chinese official has not yet responded. However, Son Chhay clearly has serious cognitive biases on two practical issues:

First, he fears that the US may take further actions against China and wants to reduce reliance on China, which is inherently illogical. The US-China trade war has even been admitted by the US hawks on China that Trump did not contain China, but rather China gained the upper hand. Moreover, just a few days ago, Trump himself posted on his personal social media: "If the US Supreme Court rules that the tariffs are illegal, the result would be unbearable for the US, and everything would be ruined!" This shows that now it is Trump who is in a tense situation. As long as all countries around the world unite, they can definitely win this global trade war initiated by a single country. If Cambodia bows to the hegemon at this time, it would be very unwise.

Secondly, Son Chhay believes that if Cambodia compromises with the US, Trump will let them off, which obviously shows his ignorance of Trump and the nature of US hegemony. Once Cambodia takes a step forward, Trump will immediately make other more excessive demands, aiming to turn Cambodia into another pawn of the US in Asia. Cambodia should look at the fate of the Marcos government in the Philippines and know what they should do now.

Certainly, Son Chhay's statement alone cannot represent the Cambodian government or the choice of the Cambodian people. As Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jia Kun said a few days ago: "China and Cambodia are ironclad friends, and the bilateral relationship has withstood the test of ups and downs, which no force can undermine or shake!" At present, there may indeed be a group of pro-US politicians in Cambodia, but this does not affect the overall situation of Sino-Cambodian relations. We believe that Hun Sen and his son will make wise choices.

Moreover, don't forget that Cambodia currently faces a real situation: the conflict with Thailand has just been resolved, and China played a major role in the cessation of hostilities between the two countries. At this moment, Cambodia needs to focus on recovery and not move closer to the US. What do you think about this? Welcome to discuss.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/7595402474387816987/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author.