Brothers in Arms

C. Mertha Andrew

Description

When the Khmer Rouge came to power in Cambodia in 1975, they inherited a war-ravaged and internationally isolated country. Pol Pot's government espoused the rhetoric of self-reliance, but Democratic Kampuchea was utterly dependent on Chinese foreign aid and technical assistance to survive. Yet in a markedly asymmetrical relationship between a modernizing, nuclear power and a virtually premodern state, China was largely unable to use its power to influence Cambodian politics or policy. In Brothers in Arms, Andrew Mertha traces this surprising lack of influence to variations between the Chinese and Cambodian institutions that administered military aid, technology transfer, and international trade. Today, China's extensive engagement with the developing world suggests an inexorably rising China in the process of securing a degree of economic and political dominance that was unthinkable even a decade ago. Yet, China's experience with its first-ever client state suggests that the effectiveness of Chinese foreign aid, and influence that comes with it, is only as good as the institutions that manage the relationship. By focusing on the links between China and Democratic Kampuchea, Mertha peers into the "black box" of Chinese foreign aid to illustrate how domestic institutional fragmentation limits Beijing's ability to influence the countries that accept its assistance.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Camboya
• International economics
• Cambodia
• International relations
• Southeast Asia
• History of Asia
• China

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 06 février 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801470738
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

BROTHERS IN ARMS

Brothersin Arms Chinese Aid to the Khmer Rouge, 1975–1979

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS

Andrew Mertha

ITHACA AND LONDON

Copyright © 2014 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

First published 2014 by Cornell University Press First paperback printing 2019 Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging–in–Publication Data Mertha, Andrew, 1965– author.  Brothers in arms : Chinese aid to the Khmer Rouge, 1975–1979 / Andrew Mertha.  pages cm  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 9780801452659 (cloth : alk. paper)  ISBN 9781501731235 (pbk. : alk. paper)  1. Technical assistance, Chinese—Cambodia. 2. Military assistance, Chinese— Cambodia. 3. Cambodia—Foreign relations—China. 4. China— Foreign relations—Cambodia. 5. Cambodia—Politics and government—1975–1979. I. Title.  DS554.58.C65M47 2014  338.91'51059609047—dc23 2013036443

First published in ebook format 2014 ISBN 9780801470721 (epub/mobi) ISBN 9780801470738 (pdf)

To Sophie

Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments A Note on Transliteration

1.  China’s Relations with Democratic Kampuchea 2.  The Khmer Rouge Bureaucracy 3.  The Bureaucratic Structure of Chinese Overseas Assistance 4.  DK Pushback and Military Institutional Integrity 5.  The Failure of the Kampong Som Petroleum Refinery Project 6.  China’s Development of Democratic Kampuchean Trade 7.  What Is Past Is Present

Notes Glossary Index

vîî

ix xi xv

1 20 56 77 98 119 132

145 163 171

Illustrations

Figures

Tables

 1.1  The road to Angkor Thom.  1.2  Chinese delegation with diplomatic corps and technical experts, PRC Embassy in Phnom Penh, November 1978.  2.1  Map of Democratic Kampuchea.  3.1  Partial institutional structure of China’s foreign aid projects to DK.  3.2  Authority and communications framework, Chinese experts in DK.  4.1  Chinese blueprints for radar installations in Democratic Kampuchea.  4.2  Proposed radar sites.  4.3  The Krang Leav airfield.  4.4  Corridor in underground command center, Kampong Chhnang.  5.1  Chinese schematic for the Kampong Som refinery.  5.2  Chinese experts and their Cambodian counterparts at Kampong Som.

 2.1  Chinese imports distributed by DK sector and zone, 1978 (in US$).  6.1  Early Chinese aid shipments to Democratic Kampuchea (in metric tons).

îx

2

8 31

65

67

83 84 86

94 102

105

51

121