Social commentary: the west envies and hates china-cambodia relations

Cambodia's people's party, led by prime minister hun sen, declared a "landslide victory" in a general election on Thursday, saying it had won 80 percent of the vote and was expected to win no less than 100 of the 125 seats in parliament. Not only did the result far exceed those of other parties, it also greatly exceeded its own record in the last general election. Hun sen will serve a second term as Cambodia's prime minister.
Mr. Hun sen, 65, has been in power for 33 years and is one of the world's longest-serving leaders. The United States and the European Union withdrew support for Cambodia's elections after the country's Supreme Court dissolved the largest opposition party, the national salvation party, which won more than 40 percent of the vote in the last election, and western opinion accused hun sen's government of "abandoning any pretence of democracy".
Western public opinion is also widely critical of sino-cambodian relations, claiming that China has supported hun sen's "iron rule" and that hun sen has "scorned" the west's snub in exchange for China's aid in the south China sea.
Western opinion, however, has had to admit that Cambodia's rapid economic growth since the new century has averaged 7 per cent a year. Under hun sen's leadership, the country has managed to shed the title of the world's least developed country, increasing the legitimacy of hun sen's "continuous rule".
It is hard not to say that western criticism is a platitude of Cambodia's relations with China through colored glasses. And the logic and values of such criticism are mixed.
In any case, Cambodia is running multi-party elections, where the opposition can legitimately exist, and by western political standards should not have been the main target of western opinion in the asean region. Asean, after all, has a more unacceptable socialist system.
Mr Hun sen's greater sin may be to refuse to run with the us diplomatically, without concealing his desire to strengthen co-operation with China. On the south China sea issue, Cambodia opposes the asean transformation of individual countries' disputes with China, advocates that specific countries directly negotiate with China to resolve disputes, opposes asean's excessive involvement, and opposes interference by countries outside the region. The United States and others are eager to oust hun sen through elections.
Mr. Hun sen, who has been in power for 33 years, has gone through all sorts of ups and downs, and some countries' attitudes have changed, or even changed. The United States, for example, supported his enemies in the early years of his rule in the late 1980s and early 1990s, then turned to him, until it recently regained its opposition.
China and Cambodia have established friendly relations since 1958, but also opposed hun sen's regime for some time, until he was invited to visit Beijing in 1996, opening a new chapter in the relationship. Since then, china-cambodia relations have been developing smoothly and cooperation has been expanding. China has finally become the largest investor in Cambodia and the largest trading partner of Cambodia.
Hun sen's rise to power in Cambodia is by no means supported by China. In fact, the dramatic evolution of Cambodian politics over the years is a story within that country, and hun sen miraculously emerged from the influence of the outside powers to achieve a high degree of political independence in Cambodia without paying the country a social price. Cambodia has not only emerged from the shadow of civil war, but also maintained its economic development for a long time.
China-cambodia relations are also easy to say: mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation. China has not linked its investment and assistance to domestic politics in Cambodia. Beijing does not interfere in the political struggle in Cambodia.
This is China's persistent foreign policy towards its neighbors. There is nothing special about it.
Of course, as long as Cambodia pursues multi-party elections, a change of political parties will probably happen sooner or later. How to maintain the security of Chinese investment and other interests in such a friendly country is worthy of our consideration and exploration. However, this forethought does not prevent us from continuing to strengthen our current cooperation with Cambodia, and making this cooperation more sustainable will only make our cooperation more directional and operate in a more reasonable way.