Cambodian prime minister lauds China, snipes at donorsWednesday 14 February 2007 12:22vote +45%

Wednesday 14 February 2007 12:22

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen lauded China and sniped at donor nations Wednesday, saying Chinese aid came with respect and no strings attached.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new road in the nation's north-east, Hun Sen appeared to be taking a swipe at donors after a tense meeting between them and the government earlier in the week. He praised China's relationship with Cambodia, saying it "respected Cambodia's independence and integrity. "

"All Cambodia asks is an equal relationship with its partners," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on national radio. "China is a very big country with 1. 3 billion people. If the Chinese all urinated at once, they would cause a great flood.

However, Chinese leaders do good things with their partners. " Last April China pledged 600 million dollars in aid to Cambodia during a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao - aid which the government and Chinese state media both said came with no conditions attached. That pledge almost matched the total pledged by all donor nations at the March Consultative Group meeting during which they again publicly castigated Cambodia over its human rights record and failure to pass an anti-corruption law.

Wednesday's inauguration of a Chinese-funded project came just days after similar public criticism had emanated from the quarterly meeting between donors and Cambodia. "When China gives, it doesn't say do this or that. We can do whatever we want with the money," Hun Sen said.

Donors have voiced increasing impatience over Cambodia's continued failure to put anti-corruption legislation before the National Assembly, with some even threatening to withhold funding to the heavily aid-dependent nation if it dallied on reforms much longer. dpa sl jh