Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida must see an opportunity. In his visits, first to India and later to Cambodia, Kishida has played the role of relationship builder and norm enforcer, asking both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to heel on both demanding an end to Russian aggression in Ukraine, and asking Cambodia to support Ukrainian sovereignty as well.<\/p>\n
Tokyo\u2019s diplomacy over the past week has put Cambodia, which holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN this year, center stage. And it worked. Japan\u2019s pleas to Cambodia resulted in a joint statement condemning Russian aggression, calling for \u201can immediate stop of the use of force and the withdrawal of the military forces from the territory of Ukraine.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n But Ukraine, arguably, wasn\u2019t Kishida\u2019s biggest concern. It\u2019s always been about China for Japan, whose aggression in the Indo-Pacific region has rattled Quad allies and regional partners. Japan and the United States have worried about the ongoing construction at Ream Naval Base at Sihanoukville. Concerns center around the construction of facilities that aid a permanent Chinese military presence in Cambodia. In 2019, Cambodia allegedly signed a secret treaty<\/a> that granted the Chinese navy the use of the Ream base for as long as 30 years. The United States last year imposed sanctions on Cambodian senior military officials<\/a> for supposed corruption involving Chinese companies, claiming they conspired to \u201cinflate the cost of facilities [at Ream Naval Base] and personally benefit from the proceeds.\u201d Washington has raised alarms about Chinese activities at Ream<\/a> for many months.<\/p>\n In the past, Cambodia has acted as a proxy for China within ASEAN, blocking agreements on maritime disputes<\/a> in the South China Sea, and defending Beijing as a reliable regional partner<\/a>. Japanese concerns, however, seem to have been heard. In a joint statement after the two-day meeting<\/a>, Kishida and Hun Sen reaffirmed \u201cthe importance of sustaining peace, security, safety, freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea, self-restraint, non-militarization and peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).\u201d The language also urged the avoidance of action that would \u201cincrease tensions or complicate the situation in the South China Sea.\u201d Hun Sen\u2019s acknowledgement of UNCLOS is an area where Japan and Cambodia have differing views than Beijing. While China has scoffed at Western notions of complete freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, Cambodia in 2018 joined India<\/a> in seeking complete navigational rights.<\/p>\n It was no surprise that Kishida\u2019s Cambodia visit followed Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF) demining training with the Cambodian military<\/a> at Ream. Two Japanese naval vessels, the JS Uraga and the JS Hirado were a part of a mission to Cambodia to \u201cstrengthen cooperation\u201d between the Japanese and Cambodian navies. Part of the success of Japanese diplomacy is its consistency. Japan has been active in demining activities, donating $1.7 million recently<\/a>, as well as its past cooperation with the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC). Cambodia began demining operations in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge genocide that killed 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.<\/p>\n Cambodia faces a kind of reckoning with Beijing. Chinese investments in Cambodia haven\u2019t had the transformational effect Hun Sen wanted. Instead of giving him the luxury of domestic legitimacy, it has cooled public sentiment. While the port city of Sihanoukville has now seen its share of casinos, hotels and Chinese factories, the influx of Chinese money has not trickled down to the vast majority of Cambodians, and is instead benefiting wealthy landowners or enterprises<\/a> that cater to Chinese nationals living in Cambodia. While Cambodia is important geographically to Xi Jinping\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative, many have feared that the glut of cheap Chinese loans would lead to further economic leverage over Phnom Penh, furthering Xi\u2019s economic leverage over the country.\u00a0 Opposition leaders like Sam Rainsy have called Cambodia a \u201cde facto Chinese colony.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s soft power in Cambodia is also making a difference. Tokyo remains the top bilateral donor over the past decade, distributing $720 million<\/a> through international organizations like JICA and through bilateral means. Japan\u2019s aid accounts for 25 percent of assistance to Cambodia. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan donated 1.3 million doses of vaccines<\/a> as well as $428 million in aid. Japan has also funded vital infrastructure, from the construction of bridges across the Mekong River, to upgrading clean water and sewage systems in Phnom Penh.<\/p>\n This year, as well as that of India, marks the 70th year of Japan\u2019s bilateral relations with Cambodia. During his visit, Kishida visited the memorial to the late police superintendent Takada Haruyuki, who died serving with the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia, or UNTAC in the mid-1990s. The Japanese Prime Minister also paid tribute at the royal Memorial Statue to King Norodom Sihanouk.<\/p>\n Japan has leverage on Cambodia, in addition to the abundance of soft power. Hun Sen wants to export more agricultural products to Japan, preferably through a free trade agreement, and for more Japanese companies to build factories in Cambodia. Cambodia\u2019s young labor force, especially those with a higher level of education<\/a>, make it an attractive place to do business. Hun Sen also has asked Japan to open the door for more Cambodian skilled workers<\/a>. Cambodia\u2019s dream of reaching middle-income country status by 2030 gives Tokyo even more power.<\/p>\n To improve its standing with the West however, Cambodia will have to do more internally to change hearts and minds in Tokyo and Washington. Cambodia\u2019s human rights record is abysmal and it recently convicted several opposition figures in a sham trial<\/a>, including Sam Rainsy and Mu Sochua and other members of the now-defunct Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). These moves, although they shore up Hun Sen\u2019s chances of carrying on a dominant Cambodian People\u2019s Party (CPP) legacy, channeled directly through his son Hun Manet<\/a>.<\/p>\n To move away from further complicated economic and political entanglements with China, Japan knows that Cambodia will have to make choices that will cause consternation with its largest investor. If growth and autonomy are indeed Hun Sen\u2019s near-term goals, Japan will continue to ask for more\u2014including calls for more free and fair elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Geopoliticalmonitor.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Japan\u2019s long-standing and close relationship with Cambodia has paid dividends recently, specifically on the Ukraine crisis and the South China Sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1921,"featured_media":41354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":""},"categories":[1,29],"tags":[1637,1330],"series":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/www.geopoliticalmonitor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/20220225_kaiken_07.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.geopoliticalmonitor.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":false,"audio_player":false,"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n