AUTHOR
*Dr. Un Kheang is a Professor of Political Science at Northern Illinois University and Member of the Board of Directors at Cambodia Development Center.
ABOUT Opinion
As a country with a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with China, Cambodia has been among the first recipients of China’s vaccine assistance, with a donation of 600,000 doses arrived on February 07. As a country that is trying the best to battle against the pandemic, this is a great first step. However, rather than seeing this as a cause for celebration, the leaders of the opposition party have been trying to politicize the government’s vaccination plan by taking advantages of Cambodian people’s resentment toward Chinese investment that has caused some social problems. As a professor at an America-based university, Dr. Un Kheang believes that no government around the world would approve the use of China-produced vaccine SinoPharm to intentionally hurt their own people in exchange for good relations with China. He further adds that politicization of COVID-19 only brings about tragedy. Thus, politics and facts should not be mixed together to achieve one’s political agenda.
