ABSTRACT
Following independence from France in 1953, modern Sino-Cambodian relations began in 1958,2 after the French system of administering Chinese communities was terminated. The French colonial system levied taxes and fees on all Chinese and non-Chinese communities residing in Cambodia in order to develop an economic infrastructure, just as in British Burma and Malaya. Between the late 1960s and early 1970s, ethnic Chinese were Cambodia’s largest minority (numbering 425,000), but by 1984 only 61,400 remained.3 Today that population stands at 700,000, or 4.7 per cent of the Cambodian population (as of 2010). The Tiananmen Square massacre led to Western sanctions against China in June 1989.4 In 1993, multi-party democracy was restored in Cambodia where, simultaneously, a Chinese cultural revival occurred. Cambodia officially severed relations with Taiwan in 1996, and in 1997 a coup d’état by Second Prime Minister Hun Sen ousted First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh. At this time, Chinese-Cambodian lawmakers and senior officials began to occupy key power positions.5
