he thump of jackhammers and the whine of drills pierce the air, workmen in orange safety hats beaver away, and a massive concrete wall rises slowly above the river.
Here, in lush northeastern Cambodia, the $800 million Lower Sesan 2 Dam stands as a potent symbol of China’s growing reach, and Beijing’s ambitious plans to expand its influence throughout Asia by building desperately needed infrastructure.
Nearly 5,000 people are likely to be evicted from their villages when the dam’s reservoir fills, and almost 40,000 living along the banks of the Sesan and Srepok rivers stand to lose most of the fish they rely on for food, yet this dam project is part of a much larger Chinese ambition. Chinese President Xi Jinping is making a bold move, billed as the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, to restore what he sees as Beijing’s historic place at the center of Asia.
This is a new assertive China, with a grand strategic vision to match its still considerable economic might, countering President Obama’s foreign policy “rebalance” toward Asia with hundreds of billions of dollars of new investment of its own in its neighbors. Even as Xi arrives in the United States for a historic visit later this month, keen to be seen as Obama’s equal on the world stage, he is working behind the scenes to surpass the United States as Asia’s regional power.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Cambodia, a country that has found itself drawn into China’s orbit and lured away from the West with the promise of billions of dollars of easy money, offered with no strings attached, often in the blink of an eye, for roads, bridges and dams.
“Without infrastructure, you can’t revive,” said Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol, in an interview. “We have been blamed for always going to China, but it is because we need infrastructure fast and quick, nothing more than that. Are there any conditions put on Cambodia by China? I can tell you, absolutely nothing. No conditions at all.”
Xi says he wants to restore ancient trading routes, to create a new “Maritime Silk Road” through the seas of southern Asia and a new “Silk Road Economic Belt” across the deserts and mountains of Central Asia. The new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, based in Beijing, and a $40 billion Silk Road fund will provide some of the money. China sees opportunity in Asia much the way the United States once saw — and grasped — opportunities in Latin America. Beijing’s plans are already unfolding across the region, with China simultaneously making new friends, and new enemies, as it spreads its wings.