Mouly Ieng is currently a Senior Minister in charge of special missions and the Chair of the National AIDS Authority of Cambodia.[1] He was the architect of the Cambodian Government’s policy to fight against HIV/AIDS, leading Cambodia to reach the 90-90-90 target by 2017. Mouly Ieng has devoted much of his life to serving the Cambodian people through various posts in the Royal Government of Cambodia. He was a Member of the Supreme National Council of Cambodia, and he was one of the twelve Cambodian co-signatories of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements that led to the establishment of a new Cambodia, with a multi-party system of democracy. As the Minister of Information from 1993-1998, he was instrumental in authoring the Press Law for the freedom of the Press in Cambodia. His awards include a degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa by the Armstrong University, USA; the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia, and the Medal of National Merit awarded by His Majesty the King; and the French Commander de la Legion d’honneur by President Jacques Chirac of France.
Good evening to everyone,
Before I begin my lecture on Cambodia and her position in regional geopolitics, I would like to state that what I am expressing here reflects only my own comments and opinions as a private citizen of Cambodia who has served his nation for many decades.
I would like to thank the Rising Asia Journal, especially Dr. Harish Mehta, the Editor-in-Chief, who invited me to deliver the Rising Asia Foundation’s Distinguished Annual Lecture on the issues that are relevant to the current dispute between superpowers over world supremacy. I have chosen to talk about this topic because I perceive some concerns in the West that Cambodia is aligned with China, antagonizing the United States and the West in their competition for hegemony. From my point of view, I will tell the public what interests Cambodia must align with, either with China, or America and its allies.
Cambodia is one of the oldest nations in Southeast Asia. The land of Cambodia, once called the Land of Gold (Suvarnabhumi), was occupied for a hundred thousand years by a Khmer Mon ethnic group, Austronesian-speaking people, which includes the Indonesian and Malaysian ethnic families.
Throughout the centuries, this Southeast Asian nation enjoyed periods of peace and development, and periods of decline and weakness. The Khmer Empire, from the ninth to the fourteenth century, marked the pinnacle era of Khmer civilization. However, through ceaseless internal and external wars, Cambodia became weak and eventually fell under the French protectorate in the nineteenth century.
After the Second World War, the Kingdom gained independence in 1953. Despite decades of peace thereafter, Cambodia fell into civil war, with the brutal Khmer Rouge regime gaining power. The Khmer Rouge regime was merciless and savage, wiping about two million Cambodians from existence. The Khmer Rouge dictatorship led to the Vietnamese occupation, which then set in motion a United Nations supervised general election.
Since 1993, Cambodia became a free and fully independent nation, under a constitutional monarchy. The King reigns but does not rule. Power belongs to the people in accordance with the multi-party system of democracy. However, as the world is divided in terms of democracy and autocracy, Cambodia is under constant pressure to take sides, either with autocracy or with democracy.
Let us examine the essence of the Cambodian government and understand the interests of Cambodia in regional politics. Is it true that Cambodia has no interest in western democracy or in the respect for human rights? To answer this question, we must first take a deep dive into her history.
The history of Cambodia draws its sources from accounts of Chinese historians who visited the country in the third century CE, and from the many inscriptions found on bas-reliefs of Khmer temples. The Chinese accounts were recorded based on a local legend, rather than on historical events. Thanks to the epigraphic works of famous French scholars such as Georges Coedes and others, we gained knowledge of ancient Cambodia. Unfortunately, information provided by the inscriptions is limited mainly to the Khmer kings and other high-level dignitaries.
In essence, the Chinese historians and the French scholars wrote the early history of Cambodia. The other source, quite recent, is from the Khmer Royal Chronicles consisting of two parts: legend and history. The legend part tells the story of a King named Ta Trask Paem (Grandfather with Sweet Cucumber). The history part relates to the history of Cambodia from the fourteenth century to nineteenth century.
When I was a schoolboy, I was taught that the land of Cambodia was created or formed by the Mekong River that had brought fertile soil into the sea. Little by little, the land emerged from the water and became an island on which grew a stupendous tree named Thlork. The island was called Thlork Island or Koh Kok Thlork, and finally known as Thlork country or Nokor Kok Thlork (see picture 1).
Picture 1. According to the legend part of the Khmer Royal Chronicles, before his death, Lord Buddha visited Nokor Kok Thlork and told his disciple, Ananda, in the form of a prophecy, that a great and powerful empire will rise. Nokor Kok Thlork was recorded as Funan by the Chinese accounts. Funan is referred to by Cambodians as Nokor Phnom (see picture 2).
Picture 2: Funan is referred to by Cambodians as Nokor Phnom.
The legend says that an Indian Brahman named Kaundinya, whom the Chinese called Hun Tien, came from India and married the local princess named Soma (Liu Yeh in Chinese). The couple founded the first dynasty of Cambodian rulers in the first century CE. In the Cambodian legend, Kaundinya is known, from generation to generation, as Preah Thong, and Queen Soma as Neang Neak, daughter of Naga. For Khmers, the lore of Preah Thong and Neang Neak tells stories of the birth of the Khmer land, culture, and civilization.
In April 2022, Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen inaugurated a giant statue of Preah Thong and Neang Neak, a statue 21 meters tall on a pedestal 6.34 meters high, weighing 60 tons. This is the largest copper statue Cambodia has ever had in her history. The statue represents Queen Soma (Neang Neak), the daughter of Naga leading King Kaundinya (Preah Thong) in a journey to the depths of the ocean to meet her parents and request permission to marry him.
To this day, this legend has seeped into Cambodian tradition. In concluding the final ceremony of a wedding, the groom must hold on to the end piece of cloth called Sbai, probably a derivation from Indian Sari, worn on the bride, who leads the groom around in circles three times before entering together into a private room where groom and bride are allowed to finally consummate their marriage. This tradition is the imitation of the journey of Preah Thong and Neang Neak to the depths of the ocean where the parents of Neang Neak, the Nagas, live. The legend says Preah Thong, who was living alone on the Thlork Island, one day saw Neang Neak emerging from water and playing in the sea, fell in love with her, and asked her for marriage. Neang Neak, in response, agreed to marry only when Preah Thong accepted to follow her in a journey to request her parents’ permission, to which Preah Thong agreed. The Khmers translate Preah Thong’s gesture as a respect of his wife’s culture and civilization, meaning the prevailing status of women in Cambodian society (see picture 3).
Picture 3: A giant statue of Preah Thong and Neang Neak, 21 meters tall on a pedestal 6.34 meters high, and weighing 60 tons, the largest copper statue Cambodia has ever had in her history, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Hun Sen in April 2022.
Because the Funan or Nokor Phnom existed already when Lord Buddha visited the land, we can conclude that this nation is one of the oldest countries in Southeast Asia.
According to French Scholar George Coedes, the Indian expansion was not a historical fact clearly delimited in time and space. It was a phenomenon that touched vast and diverse regions and lasted several centuries. In his book titled The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, Coedes wrote, “Emperor Asoka sent Buddhist monks Sona and Uttara for the religious mission in the third century BC to Suvarnabhumi, the ‘Land of Gold.’”
The eastern part of India contributed to the Indian expansion, but the south played the greatest role. Merchants starting from Benares or Champa, in the valley of the Ganges, took to the sea in the direction of Suvarnabhumi, writes George Coedes in the same book. According to their academic works titled, “Wonders of the Khmer World,” published in 1976, Donatella Mazzeo and Chira Silvi Antonini explain that there were two factors of Indian expansion, “commerce and search for gold.” The existence of trade has been proven not only by Indian sources, but also by the presence of commercial ports scattered along the shipping routes and imported objects that are found in large numbers in Funan or Nokor Phnom cities, clarify the two researchers. Many countries in the region may claim that they hold the site of the “Land of Gold” or Suvarnabhumi, but they do not have any proof to support their statements.
To the contrary, over two decades ago, a group of Khmer scholars, led by Dr. Vong Sotheara, found a stone inscription tablet on Suvarnabhumi, in Borseth district of Kampong Speu province, Cambodia. The stone inscription was written in a sixth-century form of Khmer which combined the Sanskrit and Nagari alphabets. It dates to the year 633 CE. The stone inscription can be translated into English as follows: “The great King Isanavarman is full of glory and bravery. He is the King of Kings who ruled over Suvarnabhumi until the sea, which is the border, while the kings of neighboring states honor his orders to their heads.” The inscription belonged to a temple built during the reign of King Isanavarman I who ruled over the Chenla Kingdom from 616 to 637 CE. The Chenla Kingdom was under Funan’s domination until the fifth century CE, and united with and replaced Funan or Nokor Phnom from the sixth to eighth century.[2] The stone inscription clearly demonstrates that Cambodia is the true location of Suvarnabhumi. The inscription can be viewed in the Phnom Penh National Museum (see picture 4).
Picture 4: This sixth century stone inscription clearly demonstrates that Cambodia is the true location of Suvarnabhumi. It is located in the Phnom Penh National Museum.
A particular point that differentiates Khmers from other peoples of the region is blood, according to Professor Jean Bernard, of the French Academy. In his book titled, Le Sang et l’Histoire or Blood and History, he writes, “Hematologists have confirmed the originality of the Cambodian people by recognizing in the blood of many Cambodians a special hemoglobin, hemoglobin E. Hemoglobin E is really the hemoglobin of the Khmer population.” Since 1957, several surveys have specified the frequency of an abnormal hemoglobin, hemoglobin E, in the populations of Southeast Asia. Hemoglobin E frequency surveys have recognized three concentric areas. The central area where the frequency of hemoglobin is remarkably high (30 percent to 40 percent) corresponds to the current Cambodia. The average area where the frequency is still high (15 percent to 30 percent) includes a large eastern and central part of present-day Thailand, the southern two-thirds of Laos, the western provinces of Vietnam, and the northern territories of Malaysia. The peripheral area where the frequency is low (1 percent to 5 percent) includes other provinces of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, some islands of Indonesia, and some Burmese territories.[3]
In his blog published on May 15, 2013, Amir Aczel, Researcher at Boston University, wrote, “Until 1930, many scholars in the West believed that the zero was either a European or an Arab invention.” A highly polemical academic argument was raging at the time, where British scholars, among them G. R. Kaye, who published much about it, mounted strong attacks against the hypothesis that the zero was an Indian invention. The oldest known zero at that time was indeed in India, at the Chatur-bujha in the city of Gwalior. However, it was dated to the mid-ninth century, an era that coincided with the Arab Caliphate. Thus, Kaye’s claim that the zero was invented in the West and came to India through Arab traders could not be defended using the Gwalior zero. Then in 1931, the French archeologist George Coedes published an article that demolished Kaye’s theory. He proved definitively that the zero was an Eastern invention (and perhaps Cambodian, although he viewed Cambodia an “Indianized” civilization). Coedes based his argument on an amazing discovery. Early in the twentieth century, an inscription was discovered on a stone slab in the ruins of a seventh-century temple in Sambor on the Mekong River in Cambodia. Coedes gave this inscription the identifier K-127.
In December 2012, to make sure of the existence of the inscription K-127, Amir Aczel, accompanied by his wife, Debra Gross Aczel, and his friend, a mathematician Bill Casselman of British Columbia University, headed for Cambodia. They traveled to the compound called Angkor Conservation outside of Siem Reap town, on the way to the Angkor complex. Among literally thousands of artifacts lying on the ground in large sheds, Amir Aczel finally found K-127 on January 2, 2012. His wife, Debra, took several photographs of the inscription.[4]
The inscription was written in Old Khmer of the seventh century and can be translated as follows. It begins, “The Chakra era has reached 605 on the fifth day of the waning moon” (see picture 5 where the dot in the center, to the right of the inverted-9-looking sign, which is 6 in Old Khmer is the oldest zero ever discovered). Amir Aczel wrote,
The zero in the number 605 is the earliest zero we have found. We know that the Chaka era began in AD 78, so the year of the inscription in our calendar is 605 + 78 = AD 683. Since this time predates the Arab empire, as well as Gwalior zero, by two centuries, Coedes was able to prove that the zero is, in fact, an Eastern invention. It is believed to have come to the West via Arab traders and was popularized in Europe through the work of Fibonacci (of the famous sequences of numbers), published in 1202. The inscription K-127 is now located in the National Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia [see picture 5].
Picture 5: The inscription K-127, demonstrating that the first zero occurred in Cambodia, is now located in the National Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
During the Nokor Phnom period, since the first century, Khmer Kings ruled over a vast territory that might have encompassed Southern Vietnam, the Central Mekong, a large part of the Menam Valley, and the Malay Peninsula. According to legend, the civilization of India brought Brahmanism first and Buddhism later, along with Sanskrit and Pali, and an innovative administration such as the Devaraja (God-king) and the King of Mountains. French scholar George Coedes wrote, “As Funan, which at times played the role of a true empire, the civilization is developed in the valley of the Mekong, prepared the soil for the efflorescence of Khmer civilization, one of the most beautiful flowers that Indian influence has produced in India beyond Ganges.”[5] This confirms that the marriage between the old Cambodian civilization and that of India produced a highly developed new civilization.
The Khmer Kings who had ruled Cambodia during the Angkor Period were the builders of monuments or temples that they dedicated either to Lord Siva or Lord Buddha. At those times, the Khmers practiced Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism.
I cite here only the most famous kings:
Picture 6: The Angkor Wat temple complex built by King Suryavarman II.
Pictures 7 and 8: The Angkor Thom complex.
After King Jayavarman VII, the power of the Khmer Empire weakened. The five successive kings who reigned from 1218 to 1336 each recognized the beginning of the decline. Despite this dark perception, the kingdom was still endowed with vast wealth and an even more advanced civilization. As a result, the kings and their entourage continued to live in luxury and led lavish lives. In this context, a glorious past often blinds the dangers to come.
First was the inner danger. For some time already, no attention was paid to agriculture. The construction of monuments or temples, the expenses of which were exorbitant, was prioritized. The economy deepened into crisis. Additionally, the lack of precise rules for succession to the throne gave rise to fratricidal wars between princes each time a reigning king died. In addition to the frequent internal wars of succession, we must add the religious crisis between the Hindus and the Buddhists. When Khmers practiced Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism, the two religions peacefully coexisted. But when Khmers turned to Hinayana or Theravada Buddhism, religious war broke out.
As misfortunes never come alone, external dangers materialized. Countless internal crises paved the way to external aggressions. First in the east, the Chams, who had been under Khmer authority since 1203 CE, revolted and fought for their independence in 1220. They won the war and freed themselves from Khmer domination. In the west, the Siamese, who lived pell-mell with the local Cambodian inhabitants for a long time already, brought in newcomers during the Mongol invasion. In the thirteenth century, they rose up against the Cambodian authorities and proclaimed a new kingdom independent of the Khmer royal powers. The new kingdom was called Sukhothai, the beginning of modern-day Thailand. Sukhothai began to wage war against the Khmer kingdom and gradually nibbled away at rural areas towards Angkor. To the north, in the mid-fourteenth century, a Laotian prince proclaimed a new kingdom called Lanxang or the million elephants, present-day Laos, in the northern Cambodian provinces. To the east, when the Dai Viet, the ancestor of today’s Vietnam, finally swallowed Champa, it posed a serious threat to the survival of Cambodia.
Because of the incessant wars, the Khmer Empire was destroyed. The water reservoirs that enriched the country were all damaged. Cambodia had lost both her population and all her wealth. Faced with this situation, King Ponhea Yat decided to abandon Angkor as capital in 1432. The abandonment of Angkor, combined with continuous frequent internal and external wars, plunged Cambodia into a period of annexation, where the two more powerful neighbors, Vietnam in the east, and Thailand in the west, annexed a significant part of her territory. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries marked a dark period in Cambodian history.
To prevent the Khmer Kingdom from further loss of territory, the Khmer Kings, Ang Duong and Norodom, turned to the French colonialists for help and protection, at the cost of national independence. When the French authorities eventually offered Cambodia her independence in the mid-twentieth century, they believed this Southeast Asian nation might continue to stay under the sphere of influence of the western world.
King Norodom Sihanouk played a historic role and connected his own fate to the destiny of the entire Cambodian nation. When talking about post-Second World War Cambodia, one cannot afford to forget King Norodom Sihanouk. In 1941, when he was eighteen years old, Norodom Sihanouk was chosen by the French to ascend to the throne. Given his youth, the French believed the king could be an easy puppet. Later, the French realized that, on the contrary, he was tough. It was this young king who led a royal crusade to fight France for the independence of Cambodia, which he obtained in 1953. In 1955, he abdicated the throne in favor of his father, King Suramarit. This is again a special case in Cambodia, the transfer of power from son to father. In addition, it must be remembered, when Norodom Sihanouk ascended the throne, he succeeded his maternal grandfather, King Monivong.
Having become a prince, Norodom Sihanouk managed to take the position of head of state on the death of his father, King Suramarit in 1960. Norodom Sihanouk became Chief of State, without being a formal king. Cambodia, under his leadership, managed to enjoy peace for at least fifteen years. At the start of his political movement in 1955, called the Sangkum Reastr Niyum (the Popular Community), the country’s political elite closed ranks around the former king. Internally, he advocated a policy based on an ideal he had invented under the name of Buddhist Socialism. During the Cold War, he took a neutral position, balancing between the east and the west. But his policy of neutrality was fragile. The war in neighboring countries, Laos first and Vietnam later, was on Cambodia’s doorstep. Little by little, as the Vietnam War escalated, the elites became fractured into different political colors. Cambodian politicians were divided into at least four categories: Khmer Rouge or Red Khmer, Khmer Bleu or Blue Khmer, Khmer Blanc or White Khmer, and Khmer Rose or Pink Khmer.
Cambodia was accused by the United States of being a military sanctuary for the Vietcong communists. In 1970, the Cambodian right wing, led by General Lon Nol and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, staged a coup and deposed Sihanouk from power when the former king traveled abroad. Again, this plunged the country into decades of war. Norodom Sihanouk, for his part, from his exile in Beijing, joined the Khmer Rouge and thus helped them win the war against the Lon Nol regime.
At the peak of the Cold War, when China and the Soviet Union shared the same spirit of international solidarity, the communists made their advance in many parts of the world. On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized power in Phnom Penh. Under their rule, they established a regime of totalitarian dictatorship that committed the worst genocide ever known in Cambodian history. Once the war had been won, the Khmer Rouge ignored the support of Norodom Sihanouk, who resigned from his functions as head of state in 1976. They put him in isolation away from his loved ones. During their reign of terror, the Khmer Rouge killed over two million innocent Cambodians. In addition, they started a destructive war with neighboring Vietnam.
In retaliation and in response to the call for help from a group of Khmer rebels, of which the former Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, was among the leaders, Vietnam forcefully attacked the Khmer Rouge with the support of the Soviet Union, and invaded Cambodia in December of 1978. On January 6, 1979, the Chinese sent a special plane to Phnom Penh to evacuate Samdech Sihanouk to Beijing. On January 7, 1979, the Khmer Rouge fled Phnom Penh to regroup their troops at the border with Thailand. A new government was set up in Phnom Penh and another new war began. One war was to fight for national liberation from Vietnamese occupation. The other war was waged to safeguard the Cambodian people against the return of the Khmer Rouge genocidal regime.
In a reversal of alliance, this time, Communist China fought both Communist Soviet Union and Vietnam. The Chinese joined hands with the United States and other Western powers to fight the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia. Samdech Sihanouk, under the patronage of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), once again accepted to form an alliance with the Khmer Rouge and, with his former Prime Minister, Son Sann, a nationalist leader, in a coalition named the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) in 1982. The CGDK occupied the seat of Cambodia at the UN. This tripartite government fought against Vietnamese troops and the Hun Sen government, which controlled Phnom Penh and a vast territory of Cambodia for several years before reaching a common ground for a political solution. In the end, the Cambodian conflict was settled by the signing of the Paris Peace Agreements on October 23, 1991. To implement the agreements, the UN was given powers to organize a general election to elect a constituent assembly.
In 1993, despite the non-participation of the Khmer Rouge, the UN organized a general election. As a result of this election, Cambodia was able to adopt a new Constitution upholding a pluralistic system of democracy. The new Constitution also restored the monarchy and allowed Samdech Sihanouk to be made king again for the second time. This was the former king’s exceptional destiny to ascend the throne twice in his life. The 1993 election was a success story of the UN’s mission around the world. Under the pretext that the Paris Peace Agreement was not properly implanted, the Khmer Rouge continued waging war against the new Royal Government led by Prime Minister Hun Sen until the end of 1998. In the end, thanks to his “win-win policy,” the prime minister succeeded in rallying all remaining Khmer Rouge forces to permanently lay down their arms and restore full peace by the end of 1998 (see pictures 9 & 10).
Picture 9: The signing of the Paris Peace Agreement in October 1991.
Picture 10: UN Special Representative of Cambodia, Yasushi Akashi, with King Norodom Sihanouk.
The “win-win policy” consisted of three guarantees for those who laid down their weapons and joined the government. (1) To guarantee life and physical safety, (2) to guarantee their employment and their business, and (3) to guarantee ownership over mobile and immobile property.
The fundamental principles that have guided the actions of post-war governments are enshrined in the 1993 Constitution. This Constitution considers all the clauses of the Paris Peace Agreements regarding the political regime as well as the orientation of the foreign policy of Cambodia. In domestic policy, Cambodia strives for a liberal multi-party democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, and a market economy. In 2022, Cambodians voted to elect their local leaders in the commune election. The rate of participation was over 80 percent with seventeen political parties in competition. In 2023, our people went to the polls again to elect their deputies for the seventh time since the 1993 election. There were, of course, several competing political parties participating in the election.
Not everything is perfect. The issue of democracy and human rights has been challenging as Cambodia still needs time to cultivate its values and practices as well as to put in place institutions that uphold democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. The process of consolidating those institutions depends upon peace and political stability in the country. Peace and political stability are sine qua non of every field of development, including the development of democracy in Cambodia.[7] Most Cambodians see peace as the basis of any development and a primary element for the defense of human rights. Therefore, on all public buildings, signs say, “Thank you Peace,” throughout the country. Given past experiences, we would like to see democracy as safe for Cambodia rather than Cambodia being safe for democracy: reform rather than revolution.
Under the Constitution, Cambodian politicians of all political shades are rightfully able to participate in the development of democracy, joining in elections, accepting, or disputing election results, and at the end, always resorting to the supreme verdict of the people. This is significant in that if any political party is suspicious of any election fraud, that party can appeal to a higher authority. In addition, through the parliamentarians’ responsibilities to their constituents, the complaining party can ask for amendments to the laws relating to the election, or ask for a reshuffle of the election committee. In the past, Cambodia has amended the election law numerous times, with the composition of the National Election Committee often being changed. This is the right way to develop democracy. For most Cambodians who have lived under previous regimes, there is a firm conviction that the current regime is on the side of democracy.
In foreign policy, the Constitution prohibits Cambodia from entering into an alliance with any foreign power, except for participation in United Nations’ operations. Cambodia, which had received UN peacekeeping troops during the transitional period between 1991 and 1993, began a few years ago to send its troops to participate in UN peacekeeping operations in some African countries, as well as Cyprus, and Lebanon. To defend itself, Cambodia is authorized by the Constitution to receive military aid from all sides.
In addition to the provisions of the Constitution, Cambodia must abide by the ASEAN Charter, where Cambodia was admitted as a full member of this Southeast Asian organization in 1999. Each ASEAN member must respect the fundamental importance of amity and cooperation, and the principles of sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, non-interference, consensus, and unity in diversity. Each member must adhere to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, and the respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
In recent years, the world has seen China progress in all areas, technological, economic, political, and military. In just a few decades, China jumped from a Third World country status to the second largest world economic power. With its newly developed power, China is becoming more assertive. The Chinese mark their presence all over the world. The One Belt One Road Initiative project launched by the Chinese government was the last drop that made the cup overfill. The emergence of the new Chinese power has been threatening the United States and its allies who ultimately formed a bloc to prevent China from advancing further.
A new Cold War mentality has reappeared in the West. The United States has accused China of being an autocratic communist state that threatens the world’s democracy. To see if China really poses a threat to the world’s democracy, we should ask questions to the three largest democracies, India, the United States, and Indonesia. Here is the answer I found in a book written by Professor Kishore Mahbubani, entitled Has China Won? He states,
If Chinese communism is an inherent threat to democracies, it should be perceived as a threat by many other democracies. The three largest democracies in the world, in terms of population size are India (1.3 billion), America (330 million), and Indonesia (250 million). If communism is a threat to democracies, all three should feel threatened. Some American policymakers feel threatened. Yet, if one were to ask either Prime Minister Modi of India or President Jokowi of Indonesia (or any of other senior colleagues) whether Indian democracy or Indonesian democracy feels threatened by Chinese communism, they would be puzzled by this question. Since both India and Indonesia are geographically much closer to China and have many more links with China, they understand China well. Certainly, the rise of Chinese power is a matter of concern to them. But Chinese communist ideology is of no concern to them. They see no desire or effort on the part of Chinese leaders to export or promote communism. In this respect, the attitude and behavior of the Chinese Communist Party is the exact opposite of the Soviet Communist Party.[8]
Cambodia as well as other members of ASEAN don’t feel any threat from China. That is why we conduct business with China without fear. To tell the truth, until today, to my knowledge China has never asked—or demanded—that Cambodia enter an alliance with it against any power in the world. It is unfortunate that some Western powers have spread rumors that Cambodia is secretly allowing China to set up a naval base in Ream. The Ream naval base in Sihanoukville province is in reality far too small, and the depth of our sea is way too shallow for large navy vessels to navigate effectively.
If Western pundits characterize the ongoing contest between China and the United States as a contest between democracy and autocracy in a New Cold War, we must consider whether the current Chinese regime is genuinely autocratic without popular support and whether the Chinese economy is not capable of improving the living standard of the Chinese people. It is true that the goal of any government in the West is to preserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all its citizens. Cambodia, as well as other nations like China, resolve to the same purpose of peace, freedom, and the happiness of their people.
As we live in an increasingly dangerous world because of crises that break out everywhere without adequate solutions, the space that Cambodia occupies in regional geopolitics, as a neutral country under our Constitution, is as follows:
(i) Myanmar: In principle, Cambodia should not interfere in the internal business of Myanmar as the ASEAN charter prohibits any ASEAN member to do so. To help address the crisis created by the military coup on February 1, 2021, Prime Minister Hun Sen went to Nay Pyi Taw to try to convince the military leader to implement the Five Point Consensus (FPC) in January of 2022. This Five Point Consensus was agreed upon by ASEAN leaders on April 21, 2021. General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief, the author of the coup, attended the meeting and approved the Five Point Consensus. Some analysts have criticized the visit of the Cambodian Prime Minister to Nay Pyi Taw as recognizing the military regime. In fact, by inviting General Min Aung Hlaing to the Jakarta meeting in April of 2021, ASEAN leaders already gave de facto recognition to the military regime. This was long before the visit of the Cambodian prime minister. As Chair of ASEAN, Cambodia was willing to help end the crisis. What Cambodia needs to achieve is to put an end to the violence, to obtain a cease-fire for humanitarian aid to be distributed to the people in need, and once a cessation of violence or a cease-fire is observed, then political dialogue can start. However, without contribution and cooperation from the Myanmar parties themselves, any reasonable resolution of the conflict cannot be reached. This is a Myanmar-owned problem and needs a Myanmar-owned solution. In recent months, as the Chair of ASEAN, Cambodia noticed very little progress on the Myanmar issue and has expressed disappointment. The military regime not only ignores the goodwill of ASEAN but persists in using violence against opponents, especially with the execution of four opposition activists.
(ii) Ukraine: Cambodia strictly respects the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all nations, and calls for respecting international laws and the United Nations Charter. Regarding the situation in Ukraine, Cambodia clearly stands with Ukraine against the Russian invasion. Cambodia co-sponsored the resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She voted “Yes” for the resolution among 141 countries that included the United States, Europe, Japan, and others, while China, Vietnam, India, and more abstained. Prime Minister Hun Sen gave his recommendations to Cambodian officials, telling them to explain to the Russians that what they did in Ukraine is contrary to Cambodian foreign policy which condemns the use of force to attack another country and annex its territory. Cambodia stands on the side of peace. Cambodia joins other nations to call for a cessation of hostilities, and for the creation of an environment for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Through its wartime experience, Cambodia will not encourage any party to intensify the war, but to the contrary to find means and methods to negotiate peacefully.
(iii) Taiwan: Cambodia recognizes only one China, the People’s Republic of China. Cambodia always considers Taiwan a province of the PRC. Most Cambodians believe that China does not need to invade Taiwan if the latter does not proclaim independence. Taiwanese are Chinese and Chinese blood does not need to spill. The world stands to greatly benefit, if both sides are encouraged to negotiate for the formula of “One Country, Two Systems.” Unfortunately, it is very regrettable that certain Western powers which by public declaration undertake the idea of respecting the One-China policy, yet are in the process of pushing Taiwan to proclaim its independence by supplying arms or sending high-level officials to Taiwan. The last visit of U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August of 2022 is an example.
(iv) Korean Peninsula: Cambodia is a friend of both Koreas. North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and South Korea (Republic of Korea) have their embassies in Phnom Penh. Like other members of ASEAN, Cambodia stands against the proliferation of nuclear arms and undeniably underlines the importance of peaceful dialogue among all parties concerned. Cambodia would like to realize a state of lasting peace in a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. Like other ASEAN members, Cambodia was very concerned with the recent surge of DPRK’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) testing and ballistic missile launches.
(v) Indo-Pacific: As the world shifts its interests to Asia and the Pacific, rivalry between the United States and China has intensified in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition to the United States, some powerful countries and groups such as Japan, Australia, European Union, and France, for example, have rolled out each of their own Indo-Pacific initiatives or strategies. As a small country, unable to take sides, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen recommended three perspectives in which any Indo-Pacific initiative or strategy would be welcomed: (1) The initiative or strategy that leads to peace and cooperation, (2) the initiative or strategy that is not aimed against any country, and (3) the initiative or strategy that considers the centrality of ASEAN, as Cambodia is one of its members. In fact, ASEAN has set out the objectives and principles of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), which provides a guide for ASEAN’s engagement in the wider Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.
(vi) South China Sea: Cambodia is not a party in the dispute like other members of ASEAN such as Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei. Cambodia fervently wishes that the South China Sea remains a sea of peace, stability, and prosperity. In 2002, under the chairmanship of Cambodia, ASEAN was able to adopt a Declaration of Conduct (DOC), a document establishing the basic principles and a common norm for all parties to handle the South China Sea issue. It was the first political document signed by China and ASEAN countries regarding the dispute. Cambodia hopes to see the South China Sea as a place of peace, cooperation, and development instead of a conflict site. According to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prak Sokhonn, Cambodia is working hard with other ASEAN members for the adoption of a Code of Conduct (COC) this year. The COC, an updated version of the DOC, is intended to reduce the risk of conflict.
In summary, Cambodia pursues a foreign policy to accomplish the following tasks: (1) To protect national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and neutrality; maintain peace, security, stability, order, and social unity, (2) to foster more friendships abroad based on the spirit of national independence, (3) to promote economic diplomacy, (4) to continue to support and strengthen multilateralism, and (5) to enhance the quality, efficiency, and capacity of Cambodian diplomats.[9]
Some Western countries have classified Cambodia as an autocracy or a competitive autocratic regime. However, for most Cambodians, except a small portion living in Western countries, democracy has been and is still being practiced since 1993. Under the Paris Peace Agreements, reached by all Cambodian parties, and supported by the international community in 1991, the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia organized the first general election in 1993 to elect a Constituent Assembly that transformed into a National Assembly when the new Constitution came into effect. The new Constitution absorbed all the provisions of the Paris Peace Agreements, relating to multi-party democracy, wherein the general elections must be organized every five years.
Cambodians have since then voted regularly for their representatives at the National Assembly, Senate, Commune, District, and Provincial Councils. The July 2023 general election marks the 7th legislature election in which 18 political parties participated. The election was organized by the National Election Commission, whose composition consists of representatives from political parties having seats in the National Assembly and of NGO members elected by the National Assembly. In the past, opposition party members, known as the Cambodian Rescue Party (CNRP), had occupied some seats of the Commission too. They successfully proposed to amend laws and regulations regarding the general election and the composition of the National Election Commission, yet they still claimed that the National Election Commission was not neutral. Additionally, whenever the opposition joined in the elections, they would always proclaim victory even before citizens had cast their votes at the ballot box. Sometimes they would even claim a landslide victory as a way to accuse the elections as being stolen and a sham when they lost.
Furthermore, because of their self-claimed connection with outside powers, in their attempts to unconstitutionally overthrow the government through a color revolution in 2013, the Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in 2017. Last year, an affiliate of the CNRP, the Candlelight Party was able to participate in the commune council elections and won approximately 22 percent of the votes. This year, along with another political party, the Candlelight Party was not allowed to participate in the election because of its own negligence in providing appropriate administrative documentation as required by the election law.
Despite the opposition’s campaign or maneuvers against the general election, either to boycott or to nullify any vote, the turnout of the election was an astounding 84.58 percent, the second highest in the last 30 years. The Cambodian People’s Party won a landslide of 120 seats, while the Royalist FUNCINPEC Party, founded by former King Sihanouk in 1980s, won five seats. The 16 others won no seats as they did not gather enough votes in a proportional voting system by province.
It is primordial to note that almost 90,000 national observers coming from 134 associations or NGOs, 586 international observers from 52 foreign institutions, 18 special international guests, 1,289 journalists from 127 local media organizations, and 137 international journalists from 38 international news medias, along with 57,000 political party representatives witnessed the whole proceedings of the general election. All observers declared that they didn’t see any irregularities, any violence, and pronounced that the election was held in a just and fair manner. However, because of their geopolitical position, biased against Prime Minister Hun Sen, some Western powers, who did not send their observers to watch the election, dared to declare that this election was neither free nor fair. Those powers prefer to make friends with some countries of a single-party political system or military regime.
For Cambodians, the landslide victory of the ruling CPP reflects the strong support of the Cambodian people because they have enjoyed, at least, three main benefits: peace and political stability, economic growth, and social protection. Since December 1998, the Cambodian people have been living in 25 years of peace and political stability. If compared to the fifteen years under former King Sihanouk, five years of the U.S. backed Lon Nol Republic, and just more than three years of the Khmer Rouge rule, the current 2nd Kingdom of Cambodia is the longest unified and peaceful country Cambodians have ever lived in.
In addition to peace and political stability, Cambodia has enjoyed decades of economic growth, with rates of 6-10 percent every year. This economic growth has allowed Cambodia to embark on a vast program of social protection in which even factory workers will be able to claim retirement benefits at the age of sixty. Every pregnant woman, below the poverty line or a factory worker, will receive a cash bonus of US$20 each time she visits a doctor, and receive another US$200 when she delivers a child. In all, everyone as independent worker or small business owner can enroll in a social security system, free of charge. This kind of social protection is the first ever established in Cambodian history. Because of the benefits they receive, the youth and the factory workers have turned the tides. Before, some of them used to support the opposition, now the youth and factory workers understand the real situation and believe that it is in their best interest to vote for the continuity of the social protection policy, implemented by the ruling CPP. In addition to the good political, economic, and political policies, the ruling CPP dispatched their cadres to oversee the implementation of these policies in every local base. If a commune chief or a district governor fails to properly serve the people, he or she will be removed from the job. In addition, the recent success of the Covid-19 control by the Cambodian government has propelled Cambodia up to the top. This is how the CPP earns the hearts and minds of the people, and this is the way democracy is practiced in Cambodia.
Autocrat or competitive autocratic regime, with or without democracy as commented by outsiders, Cambodia is genuinely a country where the voices of its people are always listened to. There is no way that Cambodia returns to a dictatorship. Cambodian people aspire to live in peace and liberty. Without peace, no one can expect to uphold democracy, human rights, and economic development.
Picture 11: Voters are looking for their names on the voters’ list, while others are standing in line to go to the voting stations. July 23, 2023 (Source: NEC, Cambodia).
Picture 12: Cambodians are standing in line, quietly and orderly, waiting to cast their votes on July 23, 2023 (Source: NEC, Cambodia).
Cambodia has experienced both greatness and darkness in her long history. The Kingdom has felt the pain of losing vast amounts of territory and has understood that the use of force is never a good solution to settle problems between nations. Cambodia highly values national independence, national sovereignty, and freedom. The primary goal of our government is to care for the fate of the Cambodian people. All actions are taken to lift the Cambodian people out of poverty.
When Phnom Penh was liberated from the Khmer Rouge on January 7, 1979, there were only around 70 inhabitants in the city. The infrastructure was in a state of disrepair. Running water and electricity were almost non-existent. The Khmer Rouge emptied the city from the first day of their victory over the republican regime of Lon Nol, on April 17, 1975. Until January 1979, they had ruled with terror, separating families, ferociously murdering intellectuals and religious devotees, imposing forced labor, and leaving people in starvation. Under their totalitarian rule, the Khmer Rouge had decimated all the human resources that the country needed. At the end of the Khmer Rouge regime, the Cambodian people continued to suffer from war and political turmoil until the end of 1998. Compared with neighboring countries, for example, Vietnam and Laos, where the war ended in April 1975, Cambodia lost 23 years before being able to start the work of rehabilitation and reconstruction (see pictures 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17).
In 1979, Cambodians resumed their lives from the year zero. Cambodians had to rebuild everything from the destruction and were the poorest people in the world. Now, little by little, Khmers have almost caught up with the two neighbors. Cambodia has reached a lower-middle income status since 2015 and is on the way to attain upper-income status by 2030.
Picture 13: An empty street in Phnom Penh with the French-colonial built Central Market dome in the background after the Khmer Rouge were overthrown in 1979.
Picture 14: Soldiers patrol the streets of Phnom Penh after the removal of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
Pictures 15 and 16: Present-day Phnom Penh, the bustling capital city of Cambodia.
Picture 17: A new highway in the country.
Ultimately, Cambodia cannot afford to side with one camp against another. The Kingdom is willing to make friends with all nations, including powers such as China, the United States, the European Union, Australia, India, Japan, Korea, and others. I sincerely believe that the Cambodian government welcomes, with opens arms, all necessary aid and assistance for nation building and national development. Cambodia still maintains a particular interest with the United States and other Western powers, which have opened their market to Cambodian manufactured products.
We must not lose sight of the fact that the Khmer Rouge abolished all fundamental human rights and that it was the successive post-war governments which restored them. Cambodians now enjoy all rights. Cambodians have become the free citizens of a country that has emerged from decades of war and destruction.
[1] We are publishing the entire text of Mr. Mouly Ieng’s lecture, unabridged. A new addition to the original lecture is Section V, where the author discusses the Cambodian general election of July 2023.
[2] Sorn Samnang, “Buddhism in Suvarnabhumi,” Keynote Presentation, 2nd International Conference on Buddhism in Southeast Asia, Phnom Penh, September 4-5, 2018.
[3] Jean Bernard, Le Sang et l’Histoire (Paris: Editions Buchet/Chastel, 1983), 46-49.
[4] Amir Aczel, Researcher, Boston University, Blog posted: 5/15/2013, 1:24 pm.
[5] George Coedes, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, edited by Walter F. Vella, Translated by Susan Brown Cowing (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1975), 60-62.
[6] Kenneth So, The Khmer Kings and the History of Cambodia (DatAsia Press, First Edition),103, 105-106.
[7] Ieng Mouly, “Settling the Cambodia Conflict: Hindsight Views,” Rising Asia Journal, vol. 2, no. 1 (Winter/Spring, January-April 2022). https://www.rajraf.org/article/thirty-years-after-the-paris-peace-agreementsettling-the-cambodia-conflict-hindsight-views-october-23-1991-to-october-23-2021/1044.
[8] Kishore Mahbubani, Has China Won: The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy (Public Affairs, 2020).
[9] “Cambodia’s Foreign Policy Direction,” ASEAN Cambodia 2022 website: asean2022.mfaic.gov.kh
