Chinese vice president arrives in Cambodia

Associated Press
21/12/2009

Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (L front) meets with Sok An,

Cambodian deputy prime minister and minister of council of ministers,
in Siemreab, Cambodia, Dec. 20, 2009. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Cambodia and its key donor China focused Monday on agreements on economic aid during a visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, after Cambodia bowed to Beijing's wishes and deported a group of 20 Muslim asylum-seekers.

The 20 ethnic Uighurs deported Saturday were sought by China in connection with violent anti-government protests. Human rights activists are concerned that they will face persecution in China.

The United States on Sunday said it was "deeply disturbed" by the forcible deportations. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said the incident would affect Cambodia's relationship with the United States and its international standing.

China is key ally and donor to impoverished Cambodia, and officials in Beijing had described the 20 Uighurs as "criminals." Cambodia said it was expelling them because they had illegally entered the country.

Xi's trip to Cambodia is seen as significant because he is widely considered the leading contender to eventually succeed President Hu Jintao. It is his last stop on a four-nation Asian tour that also included Japan, South Korea and Myanmar.

Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Xi arrived by plane in the northwestern province of Siem Reap, home to the famed Angkor Wat temple complex. On Monday, he was scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen in the capital Phnom Penh and preside with him over the signing of 14 agreements, mostly concerning economic assistance to Cambodia.

While economic powerhouses Japan and South Korea are rivals to China, Myanmar and Cambodia are two of Southeast Asia's poorest countries, where China uses its wealth to spread its influence.

Beijing is the closest and most powerful ally of military-ruled Myanmar, and has major investments in the country, which is shunned by the West because of its failure to restore democratic rule.

Cambodia is nominally more democratic than Myanmar, but Hun Sen is an autocratic ruler who uses his ties with China as a balance against dependency on Western nations.