AP
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia bristled Friday at a U.S. decision to cut a small military aid program to protest the December deportation of Muslim asylum seekers to China, saying if they deserved protection the United States could have offered it.
The United States announced Thursday it had suspended the program that supplied surplus trucks and trailers. It was a response to Cambodia's deportation of the 20 Uighurs who had fled ethnic violence last year in China's far west. China accused the Uighurs of involvement in the violence.
The suspension involves about 200 vehicles supplied directly to the Cambodian military and does not affect the roughly $60 million civilian aid program to Cambodia, said U.S. Embassy spokesman John Johnson.
In statements to the U.N. refugee agency, the Uighurs said they witnessed and documented the July rioting in the Xinjiang region between their minority group and majority Han Chinese and that they feared lengthy imprisonment or even the death penalty if they were returned to China. It was China's worst ethnic violence in decades.
"These Uighurs were not real political asylum seekers," said Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith. "If they were real political asylum seekers, the United States could have granted them asylum in the U.S."
"We're happy if the United States provides us with aid, but it's their right to suspend it," he said.
China had called the group criminals and presented Cambodia with arrest warrants, the spokesman said. Cambodia said it deported the group because they had entered the country illegally.
"Cambodia couldn't refuse the request from China to deport them, because China sent us arrest warrants," Khieu Kanharith said.
China is key ally and donor to impoverished Cambodia.
Days after the deportations, China announced a $1.2 billion aid package to Cambodia. China has denied the aid was linked to politics saying it came with "no strings attached."
The group of Uighurs had made the journey from China's far west through to Vietnam and then Cambodia with the help of a network of missionary groups.
The U.S., the U.N. and several rights groups had urged Cambodia not to deport the group. Following the deportations, the U.S. said it was "deeply disturbed" and that the incident would affect Cambodia's relationship with the United States.
China has not revealed the fate of the deportees.
Overseas activist groups say Uighurs in China have been rounded up in mass detentions since the summer's violence that killed about 200 people in Xinjiang. Almost 200 people have been tried and several dozen death sentences have been handed down, although authorities haven't said how many people have been executed.
The United States announced Thursday it had suspended the program that supplied surplus trucks and trailers. It was a response to Cambodia's deportation of the 20 Uighurs who had fled ethnic violence last year in China's far west. China accused the Uighurs of involvement in the violence.
The suspension involves about 200 vehicles supplied directly to the Cambodian military and does not affect the roughly $60 million civilian aid program to Cambodia, said U.S. Embassy spokesman John Johnson.
In statements to the U.N. refugee agency, the Uighurs said they witnessed and documented the July rioting in the Xinjiang region between their minority group and majority Han Chinese and that they feared lengthy imprisonment or even the death penalty if they were returned to China. It was China's worst ethnic violence in decades.
"These Uighurs were not real political asylum seekers," said Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith. "If they were real political asylum seekers, the United States could have granted them asylum in the U.S."
"We're happy if the United States provides us with aid, but it's their right to suspend it," he said.
China had called the group criminals and presented Cambodia with arrest warrants, the spokesman said. Cambodia said it deported the group because they had entered the country illegally.
"Cambodia couldn't refuse the request from China to deport them, because China sent us arrest warrants," Khieu Kanharith said.
China is key ally and donor to impoverished Cambodia.
Days after the deportations, China announced a $1.2 billion aid package to Cambodia. China has denied the aid was linked to politics saying it came with "no strings attached."
The group of Uighurs had made the journey from China's far west through to Vietnam and then Cambodia with the help of a network of missionary groups.
The U.S., the U.N. and several rights groups had urged Cambodia not to deport the group. Following the deportations, the U.S. said it was "deeply disturbed" and that the incident would affect Cambodia's relationship with the United States.
China has not revealed the fate of the deportees.
Overseas activist groups say Uighurs in China have been rounded up in mass detentions since the summer's violence that killed about 200 people in Xinjiang. Almost 200 people have been tried and several dozen death sentences have been handed down, although authorities haven't said how many people have been executed.
5 comments:
"Surplus trucks and trailers" should have been "Used and outdated trucks and trailers"
Good punch from Cambodia side...
If you are so into Human rights, the US could have offered it to the 20 Uighurs...
China and Cambodia are disgusted with the US interference with their internal affairs..."Mind your own business, dude!"
How about the thousands of Cambodian-American criminals that the US deport back to Cambodia each year...where are their rights??? Does the US deport black-Americans and other white Americans to Africa and Europe? This is a double standard...Big fish bullying small fish!
US should not get away with 2.5 million tons of bombs dropped over Cambodia in the 1970's which killed over half a million Cambodians...
Sounds like Cambodia needs to go to the World Court on this issue...and perhaps billions of dollars owed by the US to Cambodia on this awful Vietnam War era tragedy.
Ruom Reak
to 12:40 am
Please note that the 2.5 million tons of bombs dropped over Cambodia in 1970's are more than the bombs dropped over Europe during WWII !!
gruesome pitty without remorsed...
it's USA's politics, really! and sam rainsy is traitor, a foreign agent, that is! leave cambodia alone already, please. we suffered enough with US bombing, KR killings, viet/youn invasion, etc... we don't need any more problem now, really! leave uighurs issue out of my country cambodia, ok! first sudanese, now uighurs! stop it already, please! go do it in thailand or vietnam, ok, leave my cambodia alone!
it's not fair to use uighurs as strings to attach aid to my country cambodia. cambodia only welcomes legal entry, not illegal entry.
Listen Khmer people and listen carefully, No one in the world wants your nation to be better than theirs. life is always about compare and compete and if someone say to you that he/she wants to help you, ask yourself, is it genuine?. Again, look at Chineses's way of life,they give zero tolerant to outsiders dictatorship, why? it is obvious that no one can fools them. The chinese's law is very simple "we must work together as a team or all for one and one for all". So, khmer gov't and people needs to adapt this idealogy for good outcome. Again, when foreigner says, we have donated 20 millions dollars, but where is the money? I heard only words and this is what they say, well, we sent 50 US personal and their vichles which cost us 20millions for the next 5 years, but what do they do? Infuence us how to kill each other, not to help to improve,no!!!why? because they are the outsiders!. Now Chiness and India have 2 billion people and now they are the supperpower nations and now USA no longer can control them and as a matter of fact is threaten by them instead, why because they are no longer considered as the "big brother", no more since other nations also have their "nuclear bombs". This time who is going to kill whom. In the end we all will be doomed because of compare and compete and for what? since the we belong to the earth and the earth does not belong to us. Earth is a "no man land". So, what do we do? we need to beleive in Jesus Christ apply his tenth commandment theories which include "do the right thing for the righteous will live forever and the wicked will be terminated". Wisdom
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