Cambodian gov't pins aid hopes on China [because Hun Sen is concerned about not receiving enough Int'l aid due to global financial crisis]

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government will turn to China to make up for any shortfall in foreign aid as the global financial crisis forces Western donors to rethink their assistance to developing countries, national media reported Friday.

"We expect to get 600 million U.S. dollars (in aid) next year as usual because the new (top) donor nation is China," Keat Chhon, Cambodian Minister of Economy and Finance, was quoted by the PhnomPenh Post as saying.

Aid from China last year, at 601 million U.S. dollars, eclipsed the combined pledges from the rest of Cambodia's donors, the Post said.

And as nations struggle to keep their own economies afloat, aid budgets are being slashed, raising alarm in many aid-dependent countries.

They can't spend hundreds of billions of dollars to rescue share markets and then forget a poor country like Cambodia, Keat Chhon said.

Meanwhile, Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said if the amount of official development aid were to plummet, it would not adversely affect the Cambodian economy.

"We hope we will weather this difficult time. This is a chance for Cambodia," he said, citing the Kingdom's low-end garment exports as a cushion against a global financial slowdown.

Chinese Pledge $55 Million for Roads [-after Cambodia's kowtow to "One-China Policy"]

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
01 February 2008

China and Cambodia signed a $55-million agreement Thursday to improve the national roads in the northeast.

The money was pledged at a signing ceremony during the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. China has been expanding its aid in the region and gave $600 million in aid to Cambodia in 2007.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said following a signing ceremony the money would be used to connect Stung Treng and Ratanakkiri provinces.

“In previous years, China lent us $300 million with a low interest rate for infrastructure construction,” Hor Namhong said. “With that $300 million, we have had two bridges and four national roads constructed.”

Yang Jiechi said through an interpreter the two countries had also agreed to promote friendly relations and bilateral cooperation.

“We highly appreciate that Cambodia upholds the one-China policy, opposing any such claim as Taiwan’s independence,” he said.

Hor Namhong reiterated the Cambodia position: “Taiwan is a province of the People’s Republic of China that cannot be separated, no matter what tactics they use.”

Taiwanese bids for independence could destabilize the region, Hor Namhong said.