Tuesday, 19 January 2010

No conditions attached to Cambodia aid, FM says



Source: Global Times
via CAAI News Media

China has always, within its capability, provided aid to Cambodia, with no strings attached, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday.

She said there was no link between Beijing's aid and Phnom Penh's decision to deport 20 Chinese Uygurs back to China on Saturday.

"Cambodia has, based on its immigration laws, deported the 20 Chinese citizens who illegally entered the country," Jiang said during a regular press conference. "China just received them in line with international conventions."

"I think any country in this situation has the right to make its own decision according to domestic laws," she said, adding that Chinese judicial organs will handle the Uygur suspects and protect their legal rights.

Cambodia signed 14 deals with China on Monday during Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's visit to the country.

The total value of the deals was estimated at $850 million, according to Reuters, based on an agreement reached by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Sichuan on October 15.

Some media reports hinted the deals were conditional on the deportation of the Uygurs, whom China accused of committing crimes during riots in Xinjiang in July.

However, Jiang said that China would continue to aid Cambodia even if the deportation never happened.

"The relevant accusations against us are groundless. China and Cambodia have maintained a comprehensive partnership of cooperation and we have provided aid to Cambodia within our capacity. This aid has no strings attached," she stressed.

Cambodia, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has so far received more than $4.3 billion in aid from China, the biggest source of its foreign direct investment, according to Reuters.

Agencies – Global Times

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

very useful article. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you guys learn that some chinese hacker had hacked twitter yesterday again.