PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday he would appeal to U.S. President Barack Obama to cancel a "dirty debt" of more than $300 million he said helped fuel civil conflict three decades ago.
Hun Sen, who will meet Obama in New York Wednesday, rejected a U.S. plan to reschedule payments of an estimated $317 million, a debt he said was incurred by a government that came to power in a 1970 coup backed by Washington.
"The debt Cambodia owes the United States from 1970 to 1975 is judged as dirty debt, so please cancel it," Hun Sen said during the opening of a new bridge in Kandal province.
"How can we pay back this dirty debt? Even banks would cancel this," he added.
U.S. agricultural development loans were given to the government of Lon Nol after it came to power in the 1970 putsch. Cambodia and several U.S. congressmen have argued the money was spent on arms, which were ultimately used on its own people.
Lon Nol was toppled in 1975 by the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge regime, under which an estimated 1.7 million people died in less than four years, plunging Cambodia into decades of poverty and political instability.
Cambodia has asked the United States to convert the debt into aid, pointing to a 2000 debt-swap arrangement between the United States and Vietnam for educational development. But the United States maintains Cambodia has sufficient funds to repay the loan.
Analysts, however, believe Washington's refusal to make any concessions is more to do with geopolitics, stemming from Cambodia's close political and economic ties with China, its biggest source of aid and investment.
In 2002, China canceled Cambodia's debts from the 1970s and in April it signed investment deals with its closest Southeast Asian ally worth an estimated $850 million.
That deal was agreed during a visit to Phnom Penh by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping. Days ahead of his arrival, Cambodia deported a group of asylum-seeking Uighur Muslims back to China, despite U.S. concern they would be persecuted upon their return.
Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking people native to China's far western Xinjiang region where many residents chafe under rule from Beijing and restrictions on their language, culture and religion.
The United States responded by halting shipments of about 200 of its surplus army trucks and trailers to Cambodia and has since suspended military aid.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Writing by Martin Petty)
Hun Sen, who will meet Obama in New York Wednesday, rejected a U.S. plan to reschedule payments of an estimated $317 million, a debt he said was incurred by a government that came to power in a 1970 coup backed by Washington.
"The debt Cambodia owes the United States from 1970 to 1975 is judged as dirty debt, so please cancel it," Hun Sen said during the opening of a new bridge in Kandal province.
"How can we pay back this dirty debt? Even banks would cancel this," he added.
U.S. agricultural development loans were given to the government of Lon Nol after it came to power in the 1970 putsch. Cambodia and several U.S. congressmen have argued the money was spent on arms, which were ultimately used on its own people.
Lon Nol was toppled in 1975 by the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge regime, under which an estimated 1.7 million people died in less than four years, plunging Cambodia into decades of poverty and political instability.
Cambodia has asked the United States to convert the debt into aid, pointing to a 2000 debt-swap arrangement between the United States and Vietnam for educational development. But the United States maintains Cambodia has sufficient funds to repay the loan.
Analysts, however, believe Washington's refusal to make any concessions is more to do with geopolitics, stemming from Cambodia's close political and economic ties with China, its biggest source of aid and investment.
In 2002, China canceled Cambodia's debts from the 1970s and in April it signed investment deals with its closest Southeast Asian ally worth an estimated $850 million.
That deal was agreed during a visit to Phnom Penh by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping. Days ahead of his arrival, Cambodia deported a group of asylum-seeking Uighur Muslims back to China, despite U.S. concern they would be persecuted upon their return.
Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking people native to China's far western Xinjiang region where many residents chafe under rule from Beijing and restrictions on their language, culture and religion.
The United States responded by halting shipments of about 200 of its surplus army trucks and trailers to Cambodia and has since suspended military aid.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Writing by Martin Petty)
23 comments:
Hello Sir
What is the difference of more than $300 million dept and million ton of B52 bomp were dropped in cambodia by USA in 70-75 and killed more than 4000000 innocent Cambodian(Vietname war)
world superpower USA should or must be repaired the cambodian suffering wound
9:30PM! Unlucky it not killed the one eye monky! Let make adeal to have Hun Xen retirement to free the debt!
Ah Kwack will use tjhe money to buy weapons! Please give money to landles Cambodian instead!
Of course we should take American Government to International Court for killing cambodian innocent peoples by B-52 bomb and also the Vietnamese and Chinese government!
don't forget to take the danm communist leaders. they are the one who had millions of khmer killed. eliminated all the communist and we all should live in peace and free of debt.
CASH of PRIVATE PARTY!!!
Let see ah Kwack sue American! come on ah Kwack don't be chicken!
Your mother fucker just strong with the poor Cambodian!
hahaha ah kwen!
Why all of you are so stupid ?
Until the end of second world war, Communism did not exist and killing was also there.
There is no Communist in the Alganestan and Irak wars but killing still is there too.
The problem is not Communism but the Super power countries: they want war, you have war.
Why all are stupid only a monkey with free PhD are smart!?
president of obama, please cancel lon nol era debt. lon nol regime was long gone, and cambodia did not benefit from lon nol era loan from the US, really! thank you.
it was dirty debt, please cancel it, america. lon nol was so corrupted and the money did not benefit cambodia at that time at all, you know! please see history from that era, thank you.
I wonder why the US did not ask the Khmer Rouge to repay Lon Nol loan!! :)
How about the Viet? South Viet government borrow hundred time more money from the US, but how come the US never ask the current Vietnamese government to repay the loan? Why only as Cambodia to pay. If so, Cambodia should ask the US to pay billions in compensation from drop millions tons of bomb on Cambodia.
Some of you dont be so stupid . If there were no Viet troops in Cambodia at that time there would be no bombing either and American bombed Cambodia because they got the permission from the government . No one will come to your house and help you do things without your invitation.
You are the one who is stupid. You should study history and Nixon secret file. American bomb Cambodia without permission and while Cambodia was still neutral in the conflict. Yes the Viet sneak in and transport weapon through Ho Chi Minh trail, but the American carpet bomb Cambodian villages, not just the Ho Chi Minh trail.
If you guys ask American to pay what they have done to help the government of Cambodia after 1970 , you need to ask Viet to pay for what they have been doing in Cambodia after 1979 too because all of them brought destruction to Cambodia . American helped Lon Nol , Viet helped Hun Sen , Chea Sim and Heng Somrin .
Is that fair enough ?
3:21 AM , you are stupid , it was a secret between American government and the parliaments .. not a secret between American and Cambodian Governement . read it again.
The government of Cambodia allowed American to use B 52 to bomb Viet in Cambodia . Let make it short guys .
3:21 AM poster
You tried to be someone you are not .
B52 bombers were flying from Utapao Airport in Thailand to drop bombs on the eastside of Cambodia because Pochentong Airport in Cambodia was not big enough to handle B52 at that time . There was no secret bombing between American and the government of Cambodia .
i think cambodia should beginning building the world's largest airport to handle any type of aircraft from anywhere in the world. i'm tired of seeing cambodia have small airports! make it big, ok! we need 3500 meters plus runways in cambodia, thank you! cambodia's airport as of today still substandard internationally! whoever run our airports should wake up and expand our airports to accommodate long haul flights and larger jets, etc, really! wake up, please! stop depend on layover from bangcock or wherever! direct flights from america, EU, australia, japan, korea, china, russia, the middle east, india, etc is way better for cambodia, you know! thank you.
3:31am, let's make it one big pile for you. BULLSHIT!!!!
Media is dedicated to publishing sensitive information about the Cambodia. This shows the PM to urge Obama to cancel dirty debt.
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