France visit offers ‘margin of manoeuvre’ in Cambodia’s bid to ease reliance on China
- A ‘counterbalancing’ approach could work for France as Cambodia will not be against ‘marginal diversification’ from its close ties with China, analysts say
- Japan is also a vital ‘hedge’ for Cambodia to help maintain a strategic equilibrium amid US-China tensions, they add
Cambodian leader Hun Manet’s visit to France last week to discuss defence cooperation, among other issues, gives the Southeast Asian nation “a margin of manoeuvre” of counterbalancing its over-reliance on China, analysts have said.
Together with Cambodia’s increased security cooperation with Japan, foreign policy experts said the Paris trip represented Phnom Penh’s tilt “towards diversification” as it sought to hedge its bets among the great powers vying for dominance in the region.
During Manet’s state visit to France on Thursday and Friday, he met French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, where Paris confirmed that it would provide €200 million (US$217 million) in support of Cambodia’s vocational training, energy, and water treatment sectors.
France is the first country in Europe and outside Asia that Manet has visited since assuming office in August.
While the trip largely focused on economic cooperation, as well as clean water, energy, and education initiatives, Macron also discussed Cambodia’s role in France’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
Following the release of the Indo-Pacific Strategy by the United States in February 2022, many mainly Western countries have come up with similar strategies, widely seen as blueprints to countering China’s growing dominance in the region.