Background Despite concerns about sustainability, employment, and incurred debt, a recently published 2025 survey reported that the Cambodian public generally holds a positive sentiment towards China across economic, political, and strategic matters. This is puzzling, considering that negative discourse on China’s economic presence in Cambodia would be expected to elicit significant negative sentiment among the people. Methods In understanding the structure of this public opinion that indicates an alignment in the public and elite’s views on China, this qualitative study argues that this uncommon foreign policy attitude can be understood through the analytical frameworks of elite cues and elite perceptions, which serve as heuristic shortcuts in shaping public perceptions. The article uses published data from the 2025 State of Southeast Asia survey report, focusing on Cambodian respondents’ answers. Results First, perceptions of Cambodians vis-à-vis China are examined as shaped by elite cues, focusing on the unique political information environment of a de facto one-party state in which Cambodian citizens are embedded. Second, the elite’s perceptions of Cambodia serve as a heuristic shortcut for the Cambodian public, allowing the dominance of economic and political cooperation between the two nations to be framed positively, which aligns with Hun Sen and Hun Manet’s favorable perceptions of China. Conclusions The top-down interpretation of the relationship between the Cambodian people and the elite’s views on China shows that the Cambodian public’s views are heavily influenced by how elites frame the significance of Cambodian-Chinese bilateral relations, which shapes an optimistic perception despite the presence of negative discourses about China.
Bama Andika Putra (Thu,) studied this question.