Key facts
- Sam Rainsy said China is trying to dominate Cambodia and has strengthened military ties with Phnom Penh.
- Rainsy said China can use Cambodia's Ream naval base, in the country's south.
- Rainsy cited Japan's role as a signatory of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements.
- Rainsy said Cambodia has become a hub of international fraud involving criminals from China.
Sam Rainsy, Cambodia's exiled former opposition leader, urged Japan on November 10, 2026, to rethink its approach toward Phnom Penh and warned that China is trying to dominate Cambodia, according to Nikkei Asia. Speaking in Tokyo to a cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers focused on human rights diplomacy, Rainsy said Beijing has strengthened military ties with Cambodia and that the Ream naval base in the country's south can be used by China.
Rainsy pointed to Japan's role as a signatory of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, which he said guarantee Cambodia's neutrality and bar foreign military bases on its territory, and said Japan's role is very important for democratization in the region. He called Japan a model of advanced democracy in Asia.
Rainsy also said Cambodia has become a hub of international fraud, with criminals from China involved, and that the proceeds of scams flow to the government, according to the report. He said only low-level people are arrested while those behind the operations are not prosecuted. The Cambodian government has not responded to the claims in the report.
The Cambodia National Rescue Party, which Rainsy once led, was dissolved in 2017. He has lived in exile in France since 2015 and declared an independent government in Paris in October 2025, the report said.