ABSTRACT
Community boundaries are not so clearly drawn, and not as many aspects of community life are under the control of its leaders. One important area of power that appears to have diminished considerably for community leaders is the mediation of disputes. Disputes arising between members of the same association are no doubt dealt with in some way by that association. An opportunity to examine the organization or leadership in the Chinese community was provided by the visit of President Liu Shao-chi to Cambodia in May 1963. The over-all pattern that emerges from these data is of a closely-knit network of associations, with interlocking leaders forming the links between them and arranging them into a rough hierarchy of power. The traditionist associations in the Chinese community in Phnom-Penh are those oriented toward traditional Chinese values. The leaders of traditionist associations also come from among the immigrants. The modernist associations are those whose activities are oriented toward more universalistic values.
