Sea Clashes Loom Over Southeast Asia Summit

Tiny Cambodia is emerging as a key pawn in the diplomatic struggle over one of the world’s busiest stretches of water: the potentially energy-rich South China Sea. The country of 15 million people is this year hosting a series of regional summits in which China’s claims to the waters could loom large. Its sea tussles with countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines has raised security fears in an already jittery region. The U.S. has further angered China by saying it wants to keep the South China Sea, which carries around half the world’s total trade, free and open to navigation. Ahead of a summit by leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations next week. China’s President Hu Jintao is embarking on his own four-day state visit to Cambodia Friday in what some analysts interpret as a not-so-subtle reminder of where the host nation’s sympathies should lie, and a ploy to encourage Cambodia to play down the South China Sea controversy wherever possible. Cambodia is the latest Asian country to have its ties to China come under closer scrutiny. China for years has been the biggest provider of foreign aid and investment in Cambodia. Chinese investors have transformed Phnom Penh’s skyline with ever-taller buildings and Chinese tourists flock to the country’s burgeoning casinos. …

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