A high-ranking Cambodian official said on Wednesday that China’s Belt and Road Initiative – an infrastructure-focused strategy to accelerate regional trade – has, contrary to claims that the plan creates a “debt trap” for struggling nations, supported his country’s economic development.
In a keynote speech delivered to an audience of hundreds at the Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong, Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol said the roads, airport, expressway and a future canal – projects funded by China under the auspices of the initiative – have been a boon to the people of Cambodia.
“The Belt and Road Initiative is not a debt trap. I repeat, it’s not a debt trap,” Chanthol said. “On the contrary, it is a lifeline for [our] social and economic development. It is a strategic investment towards Cambodia’s long-term future.”
In a similar vein, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to work with all parties and continue to build an “open world economy” in a letter to this year’s China International Fair for Trade in Services.
“The global economic landscape is undergoing profound changes, with both challenges and opportunities facing global development,” he said in the letter, according to a Wednesday report from state news agency Xinhua.
“China will remain steadfast in expanding high-level opening-up, actively align with international economic and trade rules and steadily advance the opening of its service market to promote high-quality growth in the services trade.”
The phrase “debt-trap diplomacy”, coined in 2017 and eventually getting a mention in a speech by then-US vice-president Mike Pence, entered the public consciousness after Western media outlets reported on Sri Lanka’s difficulties repaying loans disbursed for the construction of a seaport. To settle the debt, the port was leased for 99 years to a state-affiliated Chinese company.
Detractors of the initiative – and China’s development finance in general – began using the term to deter countries from entering into infrastructure agreements with Chinese firms, prompting rebukes from Beijing.
While the government appeared to scale back its ambitions for the initiative in 2023, stating a preference for “small but beautiful” projects, recent data suggests more resources have been allocated under the plan, particularly in Central Asia.
Cambodia’s partnership with China over the past decade has led to improvements for 3,000km (1,864 miles) of national roads, the building of 16 major bridges and a modern airport serving the millions who visit the landmark Angkor Wat temple every year, Chanthol said.
Farmers and students in the relatively impoverished country have also benefited, he added, particularly from new or renovated roads.
A 187km (116.2 miles) expressway from the capital of Phnom Penh to the coastal city of Sihanoukville has cut travel time from five to two hours since it opened in 2022, said Chanthol, also a former minister of public works and transport.
The deputy prime minister added that the US$1.7 billion, 180km (112 miles) Funan Techo Canal from Phnom Penh to the Gulf of Thailand will reduce shipping costs and distances. After its opening, the canal is expected to ease Cambodia’s reliance on Vietnamese seaports for trade.
Both the expressway and the canal were projects undertaken within the initiative’s framework.
“These are not abstract terms,” Chanthol said. “They touch the lives of ordinary Cambodians every day.”
In addition to their links under the initiative, China is Cambodia’s top foreign investor and a major trading partner following decades of close diplomatic relations. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
