Cambodia's premier Wednesday urged stronger ties with China, saying that, unlike Western donors, Beijing continues to give millions in aid without making demands on his impoverished country.
"China talks less but does a lot … it does not tell us to do this or to do that," Prime Minister Hun Sen said, speaking at a Chinese-funded construction project near the border with Laos.
"I hope China will continue to help us … and that our relationship is eternal," he said in a speech broadcast on national radio.
The premier said in the past two years China has given 700 million US dollars in aid, mainly for a hydroelectric power project in southern Cambodia and other infrastructure.
That amount exceeds the total amount pledged at a donor meeting in March by other nations who demanded the government do something about the rampant corruption that plagues every level of the country's administration.
China's growing ties with Cambodia have caused unease among some western countries, which are wary of the Asian giant's increasing economic and military influence in the region.
Observers have also warned that warming relations between the two may result in the government's reluctance to fully support the UN-backed tribunal for former Khmer Rouge leaders that got underway earlier this month.
China was a key backer of the 1975-79 ultra-Maoist regime which is blamed for the deaths of up to two million people, with Beijing giving arms, technical assistance and funds to the Cambodian communists.
