Rights Day Marred by Murder, Chinese Loans Dry Up, Exports Surge to $24 Billion
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, December 13, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
SOFT LAUNCH: The blight of Sihanoukville’s half-built “ghost” buildings remains an annoyance for authorities. Developers have promised $6 billion to help clean up the coastal city, but officials say billions more are needed.
HEALTH ED: School officials banned energy drinks from the nation’s classroom, in an effort to battle the alarming rise of diabetes. Education authorities said closer scrutiny of campus cafeteria food is next.
LONG TALE: The critically endangered Mekong giant catfish appears to be making a remarkable comeback. Researchers typically find less than 10 per year. They’ve tagged and released six in the last week.
THE LEDE
Money Trap
Beijing has slammed its wallet shut.
In a stunning reversal, two decades of free-flowing Chinese loans have come to a sudden stop, and the Kingdom’s iron-clad ally hasn’t approved a loan all year.
There’s some speculation — though little evidence — the freeze is a result of Phnom Penh’s failure to clamp down on cyber scams. China, the theory goes, is keeping its money and tourists at home, while the flurry of recent activity — compound raids, bans on gambling ads and cryptocoin platforms — is Cambodia’s effort to get the cash flowing again.
Authorities insist they’re working overtime on the cyber scam problem. The trouble is no one, least of all China, believes them.
Climb Down
Cambodia had few reasons to celebrate International Human Rights Day.
The weekend murder of an environmental journalist badly marred the event, stunning observers and prompting media groups to demand swift justice — while in Phnom Penh, security forces stopped advocates from marching to a popular riverfront shrine, where they planned to hold a vigil for jailed activists. CIVICUS, in its annual survey of freedoms, rated the Kingdom as “repressed.”
More than 100 activists have been jailed this year, a leading rights group said, making it one of the worst in recent memory — and the outlook for 2025 isn’t much better.
Survey Says
Amazing discoveries from a biodiversity survey funded by Angelina Jolie's wildlife foundation have again underscored the ecological wonders of the Kingdom's untamed places.
The research, conducted across 60,000 hectares of the Samlot Multiple Use Area in Battambang and Pailin provinces, revealed even more awesomeness: 142 bird species, new insects and reptiles, critically endangered mammals, more than 50 species of orchids — and first-ever findings of elephant ear plant and dwarf voodoo lily.
A separate study in the Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary found 28 rare and endangered species, notably the banteng, gaur and black-shanked douc langur.
Cambodia has a truly spectacular environment — but how long will it last?
TALKING POINTS
Trade Roar
The Kingdom’s manufacturing sector is booming. Exports climbed to nearly $24 billion over the first 11 months of 2024, a 17% rise from last year. The garment industry led the way with more than 50% of sales, while the U.S. remained the top buyer — accounting for about 37% of purchases — followed by Vietnam (14%) and China (7%).
Money Trail
The Brilliant City World land fraud scandal that bilked $200 million from thousands of Cambodians continues to reel in high-ranking suspects. Sar Thavy, a senior National Defense Ministry official, faces allegations of money laundering, organized crime fraud and financial violations. Sean Borath, deputy chief of the Anti-Corruption Unit, will be questioned Monday.
Sea Views
Officials in Sihanoukville will meet with potential investors next week in an attempt to raise billions in badly needed capital. Developers have committed more than $6 billion to rejuvenate the city, but officials say billions more are needed to tackle the city’s scourge of unfinished construction projects.
Heat Exhaustion
Garment workers are feeling the scorch of rising global temperatures. More than 20% of employee wages will be lost to heat-related illnesses by 2030, the Global Labor Institute predicts, with nearly 70% lost by 2050. A coalition of labor groups is demanding better conditions.
Med School
Construction began on the country’s first public university hospital. The facility, to be run by the University of Health Sciences, will conduct theoretical education, hands-on training and health-related research. The minister of health called it a historic milestone for the Kingdom’s medical industry.
Fizzed Out
The Ministry of Education banned energy drinks from the nation’s schools. Sugary sodas and unhealthy diets are driving an epidemic of non-communicable diseases, say health officials, some of whom are calling for higher taxes to discourage consumption.
Super Sized
A record-breaking six Mekong giant catfish were netted in less than a week — a discovery researchers called "a remarkable and unprecedented event." The find raises hopes that the critically endangered species — and the world’s largest freshwater fish — is making a comeback.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Coming of Age in a Time of Peace
December 11, 2004
Around the time of Pol Pot’s death six years ago, his then 13-year-old daughter Mea Sith was photographed shyly tugging her mother’s hand, her face hidden behind long, stringy locks of black hair. Shortly after his cremation, while the country’s attention focused on the intrigue and infighting surrounding the notorious Khmer Rouge leader’s death, the mother and daughter slipped quietly into the seclusion of their wooden hut near the mountainous Thai border in what is now Oddar Meanchey province’s Anlong Veng district.
Wanderers Emerge From Life of Constant Fear
December 10, 2004
In 1979, ethnic hill tribe minority member and one-time Khmer Rouge foot soldier Ly Moun fled to the remote jungles of Ratanakkiri province on the warnings of Khmer Rouge soldiers who claimed that approaching Vietnamese troops would kill all those they found.
Sex Workers Abducted in Raid on NGO Afesip
December 9, 2004
In a daring Wednesday afternoon raid, an armed group stormed the Phnom Penh women’s shelter of the NGO Afesip and abducted more than 80 recently rescued sex workers, staff members and witnesses said.
WEEKEND READING
This photographer just returned from a jungle expedition in Cambodia — what he captured was astonishing
Jeremy Holden's remarkable images – part of a Fauna and Flora biodiversity survey – highlight the ecological significance of the Cardamom Mountains in Southeast Asia.
Photos: The funeral of journalist Chheung Chheng, Cambodia Daily.
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