China will provide equipment for Cambodia’s 2018 election, including ballot boxes and booths, an official said on Thursday, the first such pledge from abroad since the European Union and the United States withdrew their support. Cambodia’s democracy has never been fully free and open. But this year, Hun Sen’s government has conducted a wide-ranging crackdown that many Cambodians and outside observers say is unprecedented. Cambodia’s next general election has been set for July 29, 2018. With political tensions growing over opposition to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s rule, this will be one of the closest elections in Cambodia’s history, according to Global Risks Insights.