PHNOM PENH – Chinese President Xi Jinping capped a three-nation Southeast Asia tour in Cambodia on Friday, promoting Beijing's reliability as the region faces economic uncertainty due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff proposals.
China has been strongly increasing its influence in the region over the past decade, largely by exercising its substantial economic leverage. Beijing is now presenting itself as a source of stability and certainty as Trump’s tariffs threaten the region’s export-oriented economies whose largest market is generally the United States.
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Cambodia faces among the highest reciprocal tariff rates proposed by Washington. In addition to Trump’s universal 10% tariff, it faces the threat of a 49% tariff on exports to the U.S. once his 90-day pause expires. For the other nations visited by Xi, Vietnam 's tariff would be 46%, and Malaysia 's 24%.
Xi's trip gained impact from reaction to US tariff proposals
“The timing of the visit is extraordinarily auspicious for China, falling just in the wake of the announcement of Trump’s tariffs that have caused managed consternation in Cambodia and Vietnam ... and upset in Malaysia," Astrid Norén-Nilsson, a senior lecturer in the Study of Contemporary South-East Asia at Sweden’s Lund University, said in an email interview on Thursday.
“Xi Jinping can now carry out the tour equipped with the moral authority and goodwill of a singularly constant friend and reliable trading partner.”
In Vietnam and Malaysia, Xi emphasized strengthening ties, particularly in trade and investment, and underscored the need to oppose unilateralism and protectionism and uphold the multilateral trading system.
A summary of the visit issued Friday by Cambodia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry barely mentioned the trade crisis, focusing instead on bilateral relations, though China's state Xinhua news agency said Xi had discussed the same trade issues as on his previous stops.
Cambodia-China relations already on a firm footing
“This milestone visit not only reaffirmed the unwavering commitment to the ironclad friendship between Cambodia and China, but also further strengthened and deepened the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and win-win cooperation between the two countries,” said the Cambodian statement.
During his stay, Xi was granted a royal audience by King Norodom Sihamoni and held meetings with Prime Minister Hun Manet and Senate President Hun Sen, who is Hun Manet’s father and predecessor as prime minister. The visit was Xi’s first to Cambodia since 2016.
Xi and Hun Manet also presided over the signing of 37 documents covering investment, trade, education, finance, information, youth work, agriculture, health, water resources, tourism, women’s affairs and other subjects.
Details of the biggest deal were announced Friday, the signing of a public-private partnership contract to fund Cambodia's ambitious $1.156 billion Funan Techo Canal project, which was launched last year but work stopped soon after groundbreaking.
The 151 kilometer (94 mile)-long canal would link a branch of the Mekong River to a port on the Gulf of Thailand.
China has been Cambodia’s largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years, with two-way trade in 2024 reaching $17.83 billion, though greatly in China’s favor. It has also been Cambodia’s largest source of foreign investment for 13 consecutive years, as well as a major aid donor and its biggest creditor.
China's position on climate and aid contrasts with US
Referring to social and development issues, the Foreign Ministry's statement implicitly made a contrast to positions held by the United States, saying “both sides acknowledged the global threat posed by climate change and committed to strengthening environmental protection (and) advancing clean energy collaboration.”
It mentioned as well China’s help in dealing with Cambodia’s problem of clearing land mines left over from armed conflicts decades ago, and cooperation in the health sector. The Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts have affected those and other sectors.
The statement also declared that “both sides agreed to further strengthen the cooperation mechanism between the armed forces of the two countries.”
Beijing helped fund an expansion of the Ream Naval Base on Cambodia’s southern coast, raising worries it could become a strategic outpost for the Chinese navy in the Gulf of Thailand.
The statement did not mention the base issue. Cambodia has repeatedly denied any agreement granting China special privileges or the establishment of a foreign military base.
Cambodia has stated that warships from all friendly countries are welcome to dock at its new pier, provided they comply with certain conditions. Japan announced on Tuesday that two of its minesweepers will visit the Ream base this weekend in the first foreign navy visit since the expansion project was completed.
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Peck reported from Bangkok.