Hun Sen Seeks Out Suu Kyi, Amret Sells for $500 Million, More Chinese Ships En Route
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, May 10, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
COAST CALL: Two more Chinese warcraft, an amphibious attack vessel and a giant training ship, are on their way to Ream Naval Base for military exercises with the RCAF. Washington is said to be fuming.
SHOCK VALUE: Australian authorities say the huge influx of Cambodian money doesn’t add up. Over the last four years, more than $500 million has been deposited and $110 million in property purchased.
RED CARPET: Rithy Panh’s new film will thrill Cambodia fans. “Rendez-vous with Pol Pot,” which tells the story of pioneering journalist Elizabeth Becker, opens in local theaters on June 5.
THE LEDE
Rights Rebuke
Cambodia brushed off new concerns over its grim human rights record with a novel approach, insisting that the brutality of Khmer Rouge era must be considered and any assessment “must therefore reflect on our past tragedy.”
As officials told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, it was “impractical” to judge Cambodia on its civil liberties because of its history, and a “one-size-fits-all solution for all countries” was laughable.
Back home in the Kingdom, police arrested three more opposition party officials, including the president of the National Power Party, founded last year after the main opposition group was barred from elections.
The courts also upheld the conviction of Chhim Sithar, the NagaWord union boss, and jailed a trade union leader over a Facebook post from two years ago.
Wave Maker
The Funan Techo Canal has become a point of national pride. All it needed was a well-polished point man.
Meet Sun Chanthol, a Harvard-educated CPP technocrat who has served as minister of commerce and twice as minister of public works. First-order of business: some spin doctoring for the $1.7 billion, 110km mega project.
Speaking to the local press corps, he promptly dismissed Vietnam's environmental fears and doused concerns over China's bankrolling of the waterway. He said 10,000 jobs would be created, urged land speculators to relax — and even promised free fishing for all Cambodians.
For better or worse, the canal will define someone’s legacy. Sun Chanthol will be one to watch.
Odd Couple
Hun Sen has been rebuffed. What’s his next move?
All the Strongman wanted was a chat with Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been detained in Myanmar since a 2021 coup. Maybe it’s not as odd as it sounds.
Myanmar’s crisis dogged Hun Sen as ASEAN chairman. His failure to broker talks was a regional embarrassment. This week, he asked the ruling junta to "say hello" to Suu Kyi and received a hard “no.”
The question isn’t what game Hun Sen is playing — or what the two Southeast Asian icons have to talk about. The question is: How much clout does Hun Sen have left?
TALKING POINTS
Sea Games
More Chinese warships are on the way. The Qijiguang, China’s largest training ship, and the Jinggangshan, a giant amphibious warfare ship, will soon join two corvettes docked at Ream Naval Base as the two countries prepare for joint military exercises. Cambodian officials insist the ships will not stay indefinitely. Even so, their presence is ratcheting up tensions in Washington, where some are calling for action.
Big Spend
Massive inflows of Cambodian money have alarmed Australian transparency watchdogs who say the amounts are “vastly disproportionate” to the Kingdom’s wealth. Cambodians in 2020 deposited more than half a billion dollars into Australian banks, and between 2019 and 2023, bought 118 properties worth a combined $110 million.
Dollar Tree
The Taiwanese banking giant SinoPac Holdings will purchase Amret, Cambodia's largest deposit-taking microfinance institution by total assets, for around $500 million. The purchase comes amid growing calls to reform the industry, which has an average loan of $5,000 — the highest in the world — and has for years been plagued with allegations of predatory lending.
Big Wash
A $2.2 billion money laundering case — the largest ever in Singapore and reportedly one of the biggest in global history — neared its conclusion with two Chinese men being mysteriously deported to Cambodia. Singaporean authorities gave no specific reasons why the two men, both convicted and sentenced months ago, were kicked back to the Kingdom.
Members Only
A group of powerful tycoons rushed to the defense of one of their own, as the Cambodian Oknha Association slammed a recent Radio Free Asia report alleging that a chain of hotels owned by Ly Yong Phat, a CPP senator and Hun Sen adviser, was used in human trafficking. The group demanded an immediate retraction and said RFA had a "a political agenda to slander with malicious content."
Down Beat
Master Kong Nai, the Kingdom's legendary chapei dang veng artist, is recovering in the cardiac ward of a Phnom Penh hospital after being rushed for emergency care for a fever and respiratory problems. The 80-year-old musician thanked the prime minister for paying his medical bill.
Dark History
“Rendez-vous with Pol Pot,” directed by Rithy Panh and based on the experiences of Elizabeth Becker, the American journalist, will premier at the Cannes Film Festival, which opens next week. Becker was one of only three Western journalists to visit Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge rule. The film hits local theaters June 5.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Another Free Trade Union Leader Shot Dead
May 10, 2004
When the bullet hit union leader Ros Sovannareth, his motorbike rolled to the curb and he toppled to the ground, several witnesses said Sunday.
PM Refuses To Guarantee Sam Rainsy’s Safety
May 4, 2004
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday said Sam Rainsy would have to wait “until the next life” before the premier would agree to give written assurance of the opposition leader’s security.
Ferry Bomb Suspects Tied to CFF, Official Says
May 4, 2004
A Koh Kong Provincial Court official has accused four men arrested for allegedly planting explosives at a ferry terminal last month of belonging to the US-based, anti-government Cambodian Freedom Fighters.
WEEKEND READING
Impacts of Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal and Implications for Mekong Cooperation
How a new Belt and Road project in Cambodia could increase water and flood risks in Vietnam and weaken the 1995 Mekong Agreement.
Cambodia’s US$16 billion ‘eco-city' raises financial and environmental concerns
The multi-billion dollar development project in the coastal city of Sihanoukville has stirred discontent among locals and fuelled environmentalists’ worries.
Photo: Chhim Sithar, Licadho.
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