Chinese foreign minister arrives in Cambodia, Beijing's closest Southeast Asian ally

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Cambodia on Sunday for a three-day official visit to reaffirm ties with Beijing’s closest ally in Southeast Asia. His visit is the last stop on a three-nation regional swing that also took him to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

He is visiting amid foreign concerns about two big Chinese-funded projects in Cambodia — a planned canal and a naval base — that critics allege could aid Beijing’s strategic military interests in Southeast Asia.

China is Cambodia’s most important ally and benefactor, with strong influence in its economy. That is illustrated by numerous Chinese-funded projects — particularly infrastructure, including airports and roads, but also private projects such as hotels, casinos and property development. More than 40% of Cambodia’s $10 billion in foreign debt is owed to China.

Wang is scheduled to have separate meetings with Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, Hun Sen, now serving as president of the Senate after serving for 38 years as Cambodia’s head of government until he stepped down last year to be succeeded by his son. Wang was also granted a royal audience with King Norodom Sihamoni.

Hun Manet has shown no sign of deviating from his father’s pro-Beijing foreign policy. In August 2023, Wang visited Cambodia just days after Hun Sen announced he would step down as prime minister in favor of his eldest son.

Beijing’s support allows Cambodia to disregard Western concerns about its poor record on human and political rights, and in turn Cambodia generally supports Beijing’s positions on foreign policy issues such as its territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Cambodia has recently reiterated its determination to go ahead with the Chinese-financed 180-kilometer (112-mile) long, $1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal project across four provinces in the southern part of the country to connect the capital, Phnom Penh, to the Gulf of Thailand.

The plan has raised concern from neighboring Vietnam, where some scholars speculated the 100-meter (330-foot) -wide and 5.4 meter (18-foot) -deep canal could make it easier for China to send military forces southward, close to Vietnam’s southern coast. There are often frosty relations between Vietnam and its massive northern neighbor China, which aggressively claims maritime territory claimed by Hanoi and in 1979 staged a brief invasion.

The United States has also weighed in on the project, appealing for transparency on the part of Cambodia's government. Wesley Holzer, a U.S. Embassy spokesperson in Phnom Penh, was quoted as telling the Voice of America that “the Cambodian people, along with people in neighboring countries and the broader region, would benefit from transparency on any major undertaking with potential implications for regional water management, agricultural sustainability, and security,”

Hun Manet, speaking Thursday to government officials and villagers in southern Takeo province, dismissed the Vietnamese concern and vowed to push forward with the project, which he said would provide a huge benefit to Cambodia.

China also is involved with another project causing foreign concern, its Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand , which the United States and some international security analysts say is destined to serve as a strategic outpost for Beijing’s navy.

The Ream base initially attracted attention in 2019 when The Wall Street Journal reported that an early draft of an agreement seen by U.S. officials would allow China 30 years' use of the base, where it would be able to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships.

Hun Sen in response repeatedly denied there was such an agreement, pointing out that Cambodia’s constitution does not allow foreign military bases to be established on its soil and declaring that visiting ships from all nations are welcome.

The base is situated on the Gulf of Thailand, adjacent to the South China Sea, where China has aggressively asserted its claim to virtually the entire strategic waterway. The U.S. has refused to recognize China’s sweeping claims and routinely conducts military maneuvers there to reinforce its status as international waters.

On Dec. 7, two Chinese naval vessels became the first ships to dock at a new pier at the base, coinciding with an official visit to Cambodia by China’s top defense official.

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, is welcome meeting by Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, right, in Royal Palace, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, April 21, 2024. Wang Yi, arrived Cambodia to mark his 3 days official visit (21-23 April) Cambodia to reaffirm his country's commitment and to boost the already firmly tied to southeast Asian country, twice visited in the last eight months. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, greets with Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, right, in Royal Palace, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, April 21, 2024. Wang Yi, arrived Cambodia to mark his 3 days official visit (21-23 April) Cambodia to reaffirm his country's commitment and to boost the already firmly tied to southeast Asian country, twice visited in the last eight months. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, front right, greets with Cambodia's Foreign Minister, SOK Chenda Sophea, front left, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, April 21, 2024. Wang Yi, arrived Cambodia to mark his 3 days official visit (21-23 April) Cambodia to reaffirm his country's commitment and to boost the already firmly tied to southeast Asian country, twice visited in the last eight months. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left. is greeted on his arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrives at Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, greets with Cambodia's Foreign Minister, SOK Chenda Sophea, right, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, April 21, 2024. Wang Yi, arrived Cambodia to mark his 3 days official visit (21-23 April) Cambodia to reaffirm his country's commitment and to boost the already firmly tied to southeast Asian country, twice visited in the last eight months. (AKP via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Police ordered pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon a tent encampment at New York University early Friday, following weeks of demonstrations and police crackdowns at college campuses nationwide that have resulted in more than 2,300 arrests.

About a dozen protesters who refused police orders to leave were arrested and about 30 more left voluntarily, according to NYU spokesperson John Beckman. The school asked the New York Police Department to intervene “to minimize the likelihood of injury" and disruption, Beckman said.

Classes will proceed as scheduled on Friday, he said. A larger NYU encampment was dismantled on April 22, when more than 130 protesters were arrested.

Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread across U.S. campuses in a student movement unlike any other this century.

Israel has branded the protests antisemitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, protest organizers — some of whom are Jewish — call it a peaceful movement to defend Palestinian rights and protest the war.

President Joe Biden has defended the students’ right to protest peacefully but decried the violence and disruption of campus life.

NYPD officers on Friday also cleared an encampment at The New School in Greenwich Village, where students were not able to attend classes in at least two buildings because of the protesters. Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry posted on the social platform X that the school asked the department to disperse the protesters.

Video posted by Daughtry shows dozens of helmeted officers massed outside the school. No arrests were announced.

Authorities said a further 133 protesters were arrested when police broke up a pro-Palestinian encampment at the State University of New York at New Paltz starting late Thursday, while nine protesters were also arrested at the University of Tennessee. Chancellor Donde Plowman said Friday that seven of those arrested are students who will also be sanctioned under the school's code of conduct.

The student protest movement began April 17 at Columbia University, where student protesters built an encampment to call for an end to the Israel-Hamas war. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Oct. 7, when Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages in an attack on southern Israel.

More than 100 people were arrested late Tuesday when police broke up the Columbia encampment. One officer accidentally discharged his gun inside Hamilton Hall during that operation, but no one was injured, NYPD said late Thursday. He was trying to use the flashlight attached to his gun but instead fired a single round that struck a frame on the wall, police said.

At University of California, Los Angeles, more than 200 people were taken into custody early Thursday, after hundreds of protesters defied orders to leave, some forming human chains as police fired flash-bangs to break up the crowds. Police tore apart a fortified encampment’s barricade of plywood, pallets, metal fences and dumpsters, then pulled down canopies and tents.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block told alumni on a call Thursday afternoon that administrators tried to find a peaceful solution and that things had been stable on campus until counterdemonstrators attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment late Tuesday.

Campus administrators and police did not intervene or call for backup for hours. No one was arrested that night, but at least 15 protesters were injured.

By Wednesday, the encampment had become “much more of a bunker” and there was no other solution but to have police dismantle it, Block said. Officers warned over loudspeakers that there would be arrests if the crowd did not disperse. Hundreds left voluntarily, while another 200-plus remained and were arrested.

Arrests have been made during at least 58 crackdowns on protesters at 44 colleges or universities since April 18, according to figures based on Associated Press reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.

University of Minnesota officials reached an agreement with protesters not to disrupt commencements, and similar compromises have been made at Northwestern University in suburban Chicago, Rutgers University in New Jersey and Brown University in Rhode Island.

Watson reported from San Diego and Keller from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Associated Press journalists around the country contributed to this report, including Carolyn Thompson, Kavish Harjai, Krysta Fauria, Leslie Ambriz, John Antczak, Lisa Baumann, Jae C. Hong, Colleen Long, Sarah Brumfield, Philip Marcelo, Steve Karnowski, Cedar Attanasio and Gene Johnson.

Police officers stand guard outside Columbia University, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Police officers stand guard at the gate of Columbia University, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A car that attempted to drive through a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters on the Portland State University campus is seen parked and damaged on a campus walkway on Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Portland, Ore. After the driver fled on foot the protesters damaged the car. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Ellie Crane unfurls a Palestinian flag on the quad outside the J.D. Williams Library at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., during a pro-Palestinian protest on campus, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (HG Biggs/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

A pro-Palestinian protester jumps on fencing outside a library on the Portland State University campus on Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Portland, Ore. The fencing was placed by police after they cleared out the library that had been occupied by protesters since Monday. Officers said they made 22 arrests Thursday. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

An officer walks towards pro-Palestinian protesters as officers block off an area on the Portland State University campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Portland police cleared out a library on campus earlier that had been occupied by protesters since Monday. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A group of pro-Palestinian protesters try to block a van carrying people detained by Portland police on Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Portland police cleared out a library on campus that protesters had occupied since Monday. Officers said they made 22 arrests Thursday. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Officers stage near the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment, cleared by police overnight, on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Two people argue opposing views near the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment, which was cleared overnight by police, on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

A demonstrator is escorted out of a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators watch police activity behind a makeshift barricade on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Police enter an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Police advance on pro-Palestinian demonstrators in an encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Police face off with pro-Palestinian demonstrators inside an encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A sign is removed at the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment which was cleared by police overnight on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Tents and trash are left behind at the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment which was cleared by police overnight on the UCLA campus, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

People hold blankets and take down the final tents standing at an encampment in support of Palestinians at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 2, 2024. Earlier in the day, University of Minnesota officials announced an agreement with protesters to end the encampment on the Minneapolis campus. (AP Photo/Trisha Ahmed)

A tent is removed at the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment which was cleared by police overnight on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Cleanup continues on the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment, cleared by police overnight, on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

A man power washes the ground as the cleanup continues on the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment, cleared by police overnight, on the UCLA campus, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Trash is piled up at the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment which was cleared by police overnight on the UCLA campus, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Police advance on pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators embrace while charging devices at an encampment on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)