Book review: Chanborey Cheunboran, Cambodia’s China Strategy: Security Dilemmas of Embracing the Dragon
| Published date | 01 March 2025 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/23477970241298779 |
| Author | Chhay Lim |
| Date | 01 March 2025 |
Journal of Asian Security
and International Affairs
12(1) 161–174, 2025
© The Author(s) 2024
Article reuse guidelines:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
DOI: 10.1177/23477970241298779
journals.sagepub.com/home/aia
Book Reviews
Chanborey Cheunboran, Cambodia’s China Strategy: Security Dilemmas
of Embracing the Dragon. New York: Routledge, 2021, 251 pp. £37.99
(paperback). ISBN 9780367762339.
In Southeast Asia, China’s influence is strongly felt, with Cambodia being the most
prominent regional state where this influence is increasingly evident. China has
established itself as a key benefactor to Cambodia in various domains, emerging
as a top foreign investor, a significant provider of official development aid, the
first-ever comprehensive strategic partner, and one of the most important military
suppliers. This strong relationship has led many scholars and pundits to simply
conclude that Cambodia has been bandwagoning towards China amid the US–
China competition, if not becoming a distinctive Chinese client state. Cambodia’s
visible alignment with Chinese interests is seen as particularly beneficial not only
for Phnom Penh’s socio-economic development but also for Beijing’s power
projections in the region.
Cambodia’s China Strategy: Security Dilemmas of Embracing the Dragon
by Chanborey Cheunboran challenges these simplistic narratives by offering a
comprehensive and timely analysis of Cambodia’s close relationship with China.
Notably, it is the first study to thoroughly review Cambodia’s strategic choices
since the collapse of the Khmer Empire’s prosperous Angkorian era in 1431. The
book explores how these historical decisions and the global strategic landscape
influence the current leaders’ perception on foreign policy, with a particular focus
on its relationship with China from 1997 to 2018.
Set against the backdrop of a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape in Southeast
Asia due to intensifying US–China rivalry, this book delves into the complexities
and consequences of Cambodia’s foreign policy choices. Chanborey provides a
nuanced examination of Cambodia’s strategic alignment with China. Conceptually,
the author employs ‘tight and loose alignment’ framework to analyse the complexi-
ties of great power-small states relations. With his comprehensive systemic litera-
ture review, the author advocates for ‘loose alignment’ as the best available strategic
option for weaker states like Cambodia, through which they enjoy certain flexibility
to defend their interests while exerting resistance against great power’s pressure to
secure its interests at home. The analysis of Cambodia–China bilateral relationship
is not only pivotal for Cambodia’s foreign policy but also illustrative of broader
regional dynamics.
The book begins by tracing the historical context that has led to Cambodia’s
current foreign policy orientation. Chanborey argues that Cambodia’s alignment
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