Triangular Development Cooperation in an era of Sino-Khmer Cooperation and China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Triangular Development Cooperation (TDC) is an increasingly common form of development cooperation amongst a Northern partner, an emerging Southern partner, and a Southern low-income partner. For some scholars, TDC may empower Southern actors through South-South Cooperation (SSC). However, for others, TDC represents a Northern strategy to reinstate top-down power dynamics and liberal hegemony. To contribute to this debate, this paper presents two recent Cambodian-Chinese-United Nations projects with TDC structures in an era of Sino-Khmer Cooperation and China's Belt and Road Initiative. This paper argues for an urgent and more complex understanding of the power dynamics and outcomes within TDC, particularly in relation to the South-South relationship. The two projects simultaneously capture how South-South Cooperation does not always lead to South-South empowerment or the achievement of the Southern low-income partner's development goals. Nevertheless, South-South Cooperation can still be the primary axis of power within a TDC project.