Cambodian PM signs deals at start of China visit
Mon, Dec 13, 2010
AFP
BEIJING - China and Cambodia on Monday signed a raft of cooperation agreements at the start of a visit by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, as the two nations look to further bolster their traditionally tight ties.
Both Hun Sen and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expressed hope the visit would do just that in brief remarks at the start of their talks at Beijing's Great Hall of the People - the first event of a five-day visit by the Cambodian.
The pair signed 13 agreements in areas including hydroelectric power, port facilities and financial loans in Cambodia, but neither side supplied details.
Hun Sen said before the trip that the deals would include Chinese imports of Cambodian agricultural goods and financial assistance for the construction of Cambodian roads and bridges, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
China - a former patron of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, which oversaw the deaths of up to two million people in the 1970s - is Cambodia's top source of aid and investment.
Nearly 400 Chinese companies have pumped billions of dollars into Cambodia, including in key infrastructure projects such as hydropower dams and coal power plants.
China has long played a prominent role in Cambodian affairs, particularly as a counterweight to Vietnamese influence during the 1970s and 1980s - and to check US power in the region.
Hun Sen's government in particular has been a benefactor of Chinese largesse.
Cambodian officials said last month China would inject 1.6 billion dollars into Cambodian infrastructure over five years.
That came just days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a visit there that Cambodia should not become "too dependent" on Beijing.
In December 2009, Cambodia deported to China 20 Uighurs, a largely Muslim minority group in western China's Xinjiang region that complains of oppression there, despite their application for UN refugee status.
China had pressed Cambodia for their return, saying they were wanted in connection with ethnic rioting in Xinjiang five months earlier.
The move was followed by a 1.2-billion-dollar aid and loan package from Beijing. China has rejected accusations of a link between the two.
Hun Sen is to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday. His visit will also include stops in the northern port city of Tianjin and the eastern city of Nanjing, according to a Cambodian government statement.
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