The relationship between China and Cambodia as an example of international clientelism

Abstract

Since the events of July 1997, when the Cambodian People’s Party staged a military coup and defeated the hitherto co-ruling FUNCINPEC party, relations with China have become an essential element for the new regime’s survival. Chinese support allowed the government to protect itself from human rights pressures, corruption and abuse of power, and gave it the political and economic space it needed at the time. Since then, Cambodia’s increasing and multidimensional dependence on the PRC has become apparent, raising questions about the actual nature of the relationship. This article aims to analyse bilateral relations between China and Cambodia through the lens of the theory of the patron–client arrangement in international relations. The author presents the course of cooperation between the two countries so far in the military and political fields by relating it to the theory of clientelism. He also points out the main motives behind the cooperation between the two states, arguing that the ‘security transfer’ characteristic of patron–clientelist relations takes place primarily with regard to the regime security (do­mestic policy) of the weaker partner rather than the strictly military dimension.