Friends in Need

By Wen Qing

Videos about cooking the Cambodian specialty fish amok， boating on the Tonle Sap Lake， shopping at markets in Siam Reap， as well as tasting durian， pineapple， jackfruit and other local fruit. These are the kind of things Di Zi， her username， posts on Douyin， the Chinese TikTok. After marrying her Cambodian husband， Di moved to Siam Reap， the second largest city in the Southeast Asian country and the home of Angkor Wat.

Di has nearly 2 million followers on Douyin. Her videos mostly share the daily life of her family. To some extent， they have opened a window to facilitate a greater understanding of Cambodia among Chinese people. “I knew little about Cambodia before. But now Im eager to go and see， and try some local food，” a follower commented. Other replies include “Are all Cambodian guys sweet like your husband？”“People are so kind there. I wish I could go.”

In a larger context， the relationship between Cambodia and China is at a high point， a role model for cooperation between countries， Cambodian Standing Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Bin Chhin said at the Second Cambodia-China Think Tank Forum on July 28 via video link.

In the 63 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties， tangible results have been achieved， with increasing economic ties and people-to-people exchanges. Recently， results have also been achieved in the joint response to COVID-19 and cooperation to push economic recovery. At the forum， officials and experts from both countries called to strengthen their comprehensive strategic partnership.

Jointly fighting the pandemic

Cambodias vaccination rate is the highest among Southeast Asian countries. “This is largely attributed to vaccines from China，” Huot Pum， Undersecretary of State of Economy and Finance of Cambodia， said at the meeting. According to him， as of July 27， China had provided over 17 million doses of vaccines to Cambodia， among them 2.2 million were donations.

Cambodia launched a vaccination drive for 10 million adults on February 10. Data from the health ministry showed that as of August 3， about 7.48 million adults had received at least one dose， with 5 million being fully vaccinated with the second dose.

On August 1， a follow-up campaign for 2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 was launched to raise the vaccination rate. “Vaccines for adolescents will mostly come from China， through either donation or procurement，” Huot Pum said.“After completing the vaccination drives， we can guarantee public safety， protect peoples health， and lay the foundation for the return to normalcy of social and economic life，” he added.