Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday arrived in Cambodia for a two-day state visit.
The visit, Xi’s first since 2016, concludes a three-nation Southeast Asian tour that included stops in Vietnam and Malaysia.
Xi was formally greeted at the airport in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni.
Photo: EPA-EFE
During his visit, Xi was scheduled to meet Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, who is Hun Manet’s father and predecessor as prime minister.
In a statement at Phnom Penh International Airport after his arrival on his presidential aircraft, Xi said he was “delighted” to visit again.
“Cambodia is a priority in China’s neighborhood diplomacy. China will unswervingly support Cambodia in upholding strategic autonomy and in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions,” he said, according to a transcript of his remarks distributed by the Chinese embassy.
Trade was likely be a major topic of Xi’s discussions in Cambodia, which faces among the highest tariff rates proposed by Washington.
China is presenting itself as a source of stability and certainty as Southeast Asia scrambles to respond to tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, which threaten the region export-oriented economies whose largest markets are generally the US.
In addition to a universal 10 percent tariff, the country faces the threat of a 49 percent tax on exports to the US once a 90-day pause expires.
In addition to discussions on improving bilateral ties, and regional and international issues, several agreements were expected to be signed on cooperation in various sectors.
The visit comes on the 50th anniversary of the April 17, 1975, takeover of Cambodia by the communist Khmer Rouge, which imposed a reign of terror with Maoist-inspired policies that saw an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians die of starvation or overwork, as well as executions.
Beijing was the main foreign backer of the Khmer Rouge and supported the group in carrying on a guerrilla war after it was ousted from power in 1979 by an invasion from Vietnam.
Cambodia’s rapid growth in the past few decades has been fueled largely by Beijing.
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