Beijing ‘Coordinated’ With Cambodia to Influence Asean Meeting
A Chinese academic with close ties to China’s state security apparatus has claimed that Beijing coordinated with the Cambodian government to influence the outcome of the Asean meeting in Phnom Penh, according to the Financial Times. In an interview with the Financial Times on Wednesday, Chen Xiangyang, a foreign policy expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), said Beijing worked with Cambodia to prevent the Philippines and Vietnam from mentioning their territorial disputes with Beijing in a joint statement issued at the end of the week-long meeting in Phnom Penh. … Cambodia, as chair, resisted having the disputes mentioned, bringing the meeting to a bitter end, and failing to issue a joint statement for the first time in Asean’s 45-year history. Cambodia has since borne the brunt of public blame, with other Asean nations accusing it of bowing to China in return for its considerable financial largesse. Cambodia has vigorously denied the charges. …
