Cambodian patients welcome Chinese doctors as part of health care diplomacy push
Beijing’s latest efforts reflect a more politically aligned strategy to curry favour with locals – and it’s gaining pace as Cambodia’s July 29 election looms and China’s business presence in the country swells
Cambodian rice farmer Peng Nean’s eyesight cannot get much worse. After years of working in the fields the 68-year-old can now see only one metre ahead in the light of day. After sunset, it’s hard for her to see anything at all.
She used to make upwards of US$25 per day from farming, but with her deteriorating condition, Peng is now lucky to scrape together US$10 from selling vegetables at market. That’s with the help of her daughter, who is divorced with two children and had to quit her high-paying restaurant job in the capital to look after her mother.
Peng is one of about 8,000 Cambodians who suffer from cataract-related blindness in Kampong Cham, a vast farming province of 1.6 million people, where there are only two qualified ophthalmologists and surgery costs US$100 per eye. So it came as a pleasant surprise when a group of Chinese doctors arrived in May this year, pledging to eradicate the disease in the province within two years – for free.
“I don’t really have a strong impression on Chinese people,” Peng said as she queued for an eye check-up before the surgery. “But I am thankful that I can get the surgery done for free.”
It’s exactly what the Chinese government hopes to hear as it expands its medical aid campaign to win the hearts and minds of Cambodians.
