柬埔寨加强与中国的军事联系

AS IT IS 2015-07-26 Cambodia Strengthens Military Ties with China 柬埔寨加强与中国的军事联系

Cambodia is strengthening its military ties with China. Cambodian Defense¹ Minister Tea Banh spent five days in China earlier this month. He met with high-level military officials and received promises of assistance from the military.

Mr. Tea Banh told VOA his visit was successful in bringing military cooperation between the countries even closer. He said Cambodia now has stronger military ties with China than with the United States.

Observers say Cambodia is likely to seek closer ties with China because of growing tensions with Vietnam over border issues.

Cambodia and China have traditionally enjoyed good relations. But the two sides grew closer after a 2012 summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). At the meetings, Cambodia supported China in a dispute with other countries over the South China Sea. The following year, China provided a $195 million loan to the Cambodian government. Cambodian officials used that money to buy 12 Chinese military helicopters. In May of this year, China promised military trucks, equipment and chemicals to Cambodia’s military.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has often spoken about his country’s ties with China. He spoke² in Kampong Som province last month at ceremonies for the opening of a road that China built. Mr. Hun Sen told a group of farmers that relations with China were stronger than ever before. He said the two sides were moving toward what he called a comprehensive partnership³. He said China’s development fund for Cambodia for 2015 was $140 million -- $40 million more than in 2014.

Chheang Vannnarith is a visiting professor at the University of Leeds in England. He says China needs Cambodia as a partner in Southeast Asia because the area is becoming increasingly competitive. He notes competition between China and Japan, and between China and the United States.

He adds that Cambodia is taking more of a risk than China. If Cambodia depends too much on China, he says, it will lose the power to make decisions about its relations with other countries.

Paul Chambers⁴ is a professor at Thailand’s Chiang Mai University. He says China is a “growing superpower” that uses Cambodia for influence within ASEAN. He thinks China is using Cambodia to help it win what he calls a “growing cold war” between China and the United States.

“I believe that Hun Sen has shown himself in the past and present to be a very good balancer among allies,” he says. “Hun Sen will increasingly welcome Chinese defense sector⁵ assistance to Cambodia.”

Also watching developments is Hugh White, a professor of Strategic Studies at Australian National University. He says the growing military cooperation between Cambodia and China is aimed at reducing U.S. influence in the area, while building up Cambodia’s military power. He notes that the United States is seeking closer ties with Vietnam. He says China’s decision to develop stronger defense links with Cambodia is a reaction to the US-Vietnam relationship.

Words in The News

sector – n. an area of an economy; a part of an economy that includes certain kinds of jobs

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。