TAKEO: Addressing those who warn of China’s overreach in Cambodia’s economic development, Prime Minister Hun Manet asked people to consider Cambodia's interests before criticizing its interactions with the international community.

On September 19, he assured a crowd of nearly 20,000 factory workers that Cambodia interacts with the international community equally, whether communist or liberal, with the only goal being for the benefit of the people. He said that those critical of Chinese investment in the country will endanger Cambodia’s future.

He noted that he has children and hopes to have grandchildren one day, and that he will not allow his descendants to lose their Khmer identity.

China’s soft power policies have provided billions of dollars to Cambodia for infrastructure such as roads, hydropower dams, and power grids. Their major investment in everything from real estate to casinos to natural resource extraction has some worried about the cost Cambodia will ultimately pay for such transactions. However, the Royal Government seems intent on international investment as a means to achieve its vision of Cambodia as a high-income country by 2050.