03/05/2010Source: Zee News
Phnom Penh: China has pledged military aid worth USD 14 million to Cambodia, a senior government official has said.
Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, told upon return from China on Sunday that Chinese President Hu Jintao offered 256 military trucks and 50,000 military uniforms to the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, worth USD 14 million.
He said the pledge was made at a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday while Hun Sen was on a three-day visit to China to attend the opening of the Shanghai World Expo.
Another senior government official who accompanied the premier told Kyodo News the new Chinese aid was "a kind of" complement or replacement for military aid the United States had pledged but later suspended.
The United States had offered about 200 military vehicles and trailers to Cambodia under its Excess Defence Articles program.
But in early April, the US government suspended military aid to Cambodia to protest the Cambodian government's deportation of 20 Uygur refugees to China.
The United States had tried to prevent the deportation but failed.
The refugees arrived in Cambodia via Vietnam and were placed under the protection of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
PTI
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