It has long been feared that Cambodia’s growing dependence on China – its largest aid donor, investor, and creditor – would lead to a Chinese military presence in the country. According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, those fears are now coming true.Like a gambler reliant on a loan shark, Cambodia has, in recent years, racked up massive, opaque debts to China, which it cannot repay.
Major dam construction projects have become a favourite pastime of some autocratic governments, with China leading the way. But, far from protecting against water shortages, as supporters promise, large dams are contributing to river depletion and severely exacerbating parched conditions.
The construction industry in Cambodia is booming due to rising foreign investments. In 2019, the country’s construction sector attracted a total investment of US$3.39 billion, which is an increase of 57.5 percent over the same period last year.
While Cambodia might be pulling out all the stops to develop its smart cities, the lack of an integrated master plan is hampering these efforts.The ASEAN Smart Cities Framework defines a smart city as one that harnesses technological, digital solutions and innovative, non-technological means to address urban challenges – continuously improving people’s lives and creating new opportunities.Envisioned in April 2018 as a platform to support the creation of technologically advanced urban areas&am
Cambodia has purchased "tens of thousands" of weapons from China, premier Hun Sen said Monday, providing rare details of arms deals with Beijing just days after denying a secret agreement to allow Chinese warships to use a local naval base.The Wall Street Journal last week reported on a draft deal letting China access Ream base near Sihanoukville to dock warships and store weapons, apparently confirming months of rumours.Cambodia tried to knock down the report on Friday by taking do
Cambodia gave an unprecedented media tour of a strategically crucial naval base on Friday as authorities try to knock down a report of a secret deal allowing Chinese warships to dock at the facility.The Ream naval base, near Sihanoukville, is on the Gulf of Thailand with easy access to the fiercely contested South China Sea.The Wall Street Journal this week reported a deal had been struck allowing China to dock its warships and store weapons at the base, apparently confirming months of rumour
The trial of two former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists in Cambodia on charges of espionage tomorrow promises to be a closely-watched affair.RFA’s former Phnom Penh bureau office manager Yeang Sothearin and former videographer Uon Chhin were arrested in November 2017 after Cambodian police found recording and broadcasting equipment in a hotel room they raided, this coming two months after the United States (US)-based RFA shut down its Phnom Penh office citing government pressure on independ
Ministries and child protection non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Cambodia recently established a joint-committee for the implementation of the Action Plan to Prevent and Respond to Violence Against Children. According to Touch Channy, a Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation spokesperson, the committee is headed by its minister, Vong Soth, and comprises 22 members – 15 from various ministries and institutions and seven from NGOs.While Cambodia has certa
In a previous article, The ASEAN Post highlighted the fact that today, in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Chinese mainlanders own more than 90 percent of all businesses. While this has increased land prices in the once sleepy-coastal town, the fact that the Chinese are willing to pay millions of dollars to buy land there only serves to heighten worries that Sihanoukville is becoming a small Chinese colony.
Following the growing number of foreigners who come to invest and work in Cambodia, the country’s Ministry of Labour said that it will make an announcement soon to ban foreigners from self-employment on 10 types of jobs including driving a taxi, tuk-tuk, or motor taxi; or being a street vendor, barber, delivery man, or other small occupations.
The youth have often been pitted as Cambodia’s greatest asset especially in the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) World Factbook, 30.8 percent of Cambodia’s population is made up of people between the ages of zero to 14 years, 17.8 percent is made up of those between 15 to 24 years, and 41.1 percent is made up of those between the ages of 25 to 54 years.
Some Cambodians are blaming domestic abuse on the victims. At least this is what the findings from several studies suggested, including a recent joint study conducted by three NGOs (Non-governmental organisations) – Klahaan, Urban Poor Women Development, and People in Need.
