[China is trying to spread its political and economic influence across the region, particularly through its ambitious “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure- development initiative. And Cambodia is trying to develop its economy without having to adhere to any of the human rights demands that U.S. and European governments tend to insist upon.]
By
Anna Fifield
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The
Blue Bay is a Chinese resort under construction in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
(Anna
Fifield/The Washington Post)
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SIHANOUKVILLE,
Cambodia — It was a hot,
clear day. The kind of day when, a few months ago, the beach here would have
been crowded with tourists deciding whether to drink a $1 beer or a $1 fresh coconut
juice.
Instead, the beach was almost deserted. Women
wandered with trays of fresh lobsters perfectly balanced on their heads or
carrying kits for performing pedicures, touting in vain for customers.
Men lounged on chairs at their restaurants
offering barbecued squid and local curries. But the only patrons were stray
cats and flies.
“We’re not going to be able to feed ourselves
soon. Our business is about to die,” said Doung Sokly, a 30-year-old woman who
has been selling drinks, snacks and cigarettes from a cart on Independence
Beach for eight years.
A block away, however, business is booming in
the new casinos that have popped up in recent months. They have names such as
New Macau and New MGM, and they cater exclusively to Chinese guests. Cambodians
are prohibited from gambling.
On this sunny afternoon when the beach was
empty, the casinos were packed with Chinese customers smoking and slapping down
$100 bills on the tables. All around were eagle-eyed Chinese supervisors and
gaggles of young local women in short dresses and long eyelashes.
China is trying to spread its political and
economic influence across the region, particularly through its ambitious “One
Belt, One Road” infrastructure- development initiative. And Cambodia is
trying to develop its economy without having to adhere to any of the human
rights demands that U.S. and European governments tend to insist upon.
Those two interests directly coincide in
Sihanoukville, a port city on the Gulf of Thailand named after the late king
who is still revered as the father of modern Cambodia.
It is here that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun
Sen’s willingness to be embraced by China is most evident.
“Sihanoukville is kind of a poster boy for
China’s development. On all economic measures, China is number one,” said Carl
Thayer, a Southeast Asia expert affiliated with the Australian Defense Force
Academy and a former adviser at U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii. “China is
definitely trying to displace the U.S., and it’s succeeding wonderfully.”
For Hun Sen, who has been in power for 33
years and is taking steps to ensure he will be reelected in a vote scheduled
for the end of July, this investment means he is able to boast about economic
advances even as democratic institutions backslide.
The Cambodian government has allowed
extraordinary levels of Chinese investment: Thirty casinos have already been
built, and 70 more are under construction.
One huge development, the Blue Bay casino and
condos, advertises itself as “one of the iconic projects of China’s One Belt,
One Road initiative.” The smallest studios start at $143,000, while the most
prized apartments cost more than $500,000.
The number of Chinese tourists visiting
Sihanoukville, a city of 90,000, doubled between 2016 and 2017 to hit 120,000
last year. Restaurants, banks, landlords, pawnshops, duty-free stores,
supermarkets and hotels all display signs in Chinese.
But with the exception of those working in
the hotels and casinos, most Cambodians, whose average income is $1,100 a year,
are seeing little benefit from this investment. And resentment is mounting.
“My business has halved,” said Chhim Phin,
who has run a seafood restaurant on Independence Beach since 2003. “We used to
have lots of Western tourists coming here, people who liked to try our food.
But Chinese tourists don’t want to eat Khmer food and experience our local
customs — they prefer to eat their own food. Chinese tourists like to stay in
their bubble.”
[ China’s foreign minister suggests ‘Chinese dragon’ and ‘Indian elephant’ should dance, not fight ]
Next to his restaurant, a plot of land that
used to be filled with backpacker bars that held dance parties on the beach has
been reduced to rubble, the lease taken over by Chinese developers.
And when Chinese customers do come to his
restaurant, Chhim Phin is not thrilled with their business. “I don’t speak
Chinese, so it’s very difficult to communicate,” he said. “To be honest, I’ve
had a very bad experience dealing with Chinese. They’re so rude.”
Doung Sokly, operating her cart, does not
enjoy interacting with the new arrivals, either. “Western tourists don’t
haggle, because they want to try local things. But Chinese tourists really try
to get the prices down,” she said.
As if on cue, a group of Chinese tourists on
the beach erupted into laughter and yelling. “Listen to them. They’re so loud,”
she said, glancing over at the group with a look of distaste. “It’s so
annoying.”
Locals are also worried about organized crime
resulting from the casinos, and the increasing incidents of drunken violence.
After the publication of reports about the pros and cons of Chinese investment,
Beijing’s ambassador acknowledged that “a small amount of low-educated people”
from his country were breaking Cambodian laws.
Not that Western tourists are always well
behaved. Sex tourism is a draw for some, while others have recently gotten into
trouble for lewd behavior.
One local business owner who is happy with
the Chinese influx is Ko Hong. He rents water scooters, charging Westerners $60
for an hour of joyriding. For Chinese customers, the price is $50.
“Before it was more seasonal, but now I can
earn lots of money,” Ko Hong said. On an average day he makes $200.
The main reason for the exodus of Western
tourists and influx of Chinese visitors is accommodations, Chhim Phin and other
business owners here say.
The cheaper hotels and guesthouses that
locals and Western tourists have liked have been crowded out by the big Chinese
developers, who will pay much more for the land. Those that do remain have
trouble hiring staff because they’re being snatched up for much higher wages.
“There used to be cheap accommodations here,
but not anymore,” said Koeun Sao, a 29-year-old who estimates that his income
from driving a tuk-tuk has dropped by 70 percent in the past three months.
“Chinese people take cars, not tuk-tuks.”
The Chinese investment has not translated
into better roads or other infrastructure in a city that struggles with basic
plumbing.
“All this building they’re doing is only to
benefit Chinese,” Koeun Sao said. “It’s good for the landowners but not for
ordinary people.”
But both the Cambodian and Chinese
governments tout their economic cooperation.
The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, a
4.4-square-mile industrial park where 104 of the 121 companies are Chinese,
“stands as a symbol of renewed China-
Cambodia friendship by delivering real
benefits to the people,” Chinese Premier Li Keqiang wrote for a Cambodian
newspaper when he visited in January.
While here, Li signed 19 business deals.
These included building an expressway between the capital, Phnom Penh, and
Sihanoukville to replace the potholed narrow roads that link the cities now,
and the construction of a new airport in Phnom Penh.
The two countries pledged to more than double
the number of Chinese tourists coming to Cambodia to 2 million within the next
two years and to boost bilateral trade to $6 billion.
“We’ll try to remain here,” Doung Sokly said
from behind her cart. “We need to see how things unfold.”
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