Clinton warns of 'dependency'
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Cambodians not to become 'too dependent' on China. -- PHOTO: AFP
PHNOM PENH - US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton urged Cambodians on Monday not to become 'too dependent' on China, during a visit to the capital in which she was expected to call for respect for human rights.
'You look for balance. You don't want to get too dependent on any one country,' Mrs Clinton told young Cambodians when asked about China's growing influence in the impoverished southeast Asian nation.
China - a former patron of the Khmer Rouge regime, which oversaw the deaths of up to two million people in the 1970s - is the country's top donor, according to Cambodia.
Nearly 400 Chinese companies have invested billions of dollars in Cambodia, including key infrastructure projects such as hydropower dams and coal power plants.
'China is a great country and China has a very exciting future,' Mrs Clinton said at the town hall-style meeting in Phnom Penh. 'There are certainly many reasons for Cambodia to have good relationships with China.
'I think there are also important issues that Cambodia must raise with China,' she added. -- AFP
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