China will provide equipment for 2018 Cambodia election after EU, US withdraw support

China will provide equipment for Cambodia’s 2018 election, including ballot boxes and booths, an official said on Thursday, the first such pledge from abroad since the European Union and the United States withdrew their support.

China is Cambodia’s biggest foreign donor. The two countries have become increasingly close amid an ongoing crackdown by Cambodia’s government on critics, civil society groups and independent media that rights group say amounts to the destruction of democracy.

The European Union and the United States withdrew their backing for the election after a court dissolved the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in November at the government’s request.

In 2016 China, which has contributed to Cambodian elections since the reinstatement of national polls in 1993, donated vehicles and other supplies worth some US$11 million.

Hang Puthea, spokesman for the National Election Commission, said China would provide 30 different types of equipment.

“This equipment is very important for processing the election,” Hang Puthea said.