A massive 3.8 billion USD project on the Cambodian coastline, ostensibly for Chinese tourism, has started to look like a closed economic zone solely for Chinese workers, investors, and visitors. The land, leased for 99 years in 2008, includes 20% of Cambodia’s coastline at a rate of only 30 USD per hectare. The land also includes portions of a national park that was privatized for the purchase. Local dissent and activism has been suppressed, with claims that the Chinese company has worked with the Cambodian military to force people off their land and destroy their property. With Cambodia’s reduction in democracy and move towards authoritarianism, the country has lost much access to Western support, becoming increasingly connected to, and reliant upon, China for economic investment.
Source: A Chinese colony takes shape in Cambodia | Asia Times
