Historic Chinese visit to Cambodia

Cambodians offered President Jiang a warm welcome

By South-East Asia correspondent Simon Ingram

The Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, has begun a two-day visit to Cambodia, the first by a Chinese head of state in over 30 years.

China never talks about the Khmer Rouge. They consider the Khmer Rouge issue an internal problem of Cambodia

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong

King Sihanouk, along with the Prime Minister, Hun Sen, and other senior government officials, were at the airport to greet the Chinese leader as he arrived.

An attempt by students to stage a protest over the visit because of China's links to the Khmer Rouge regime of the late 1970s was blocked by police.

This is a trip loaded with historical, not to mention geo-political, significance at a time when China is looking to expand its influence in South-East Asia.

On Sunday, Jiang Zemin was in Laos, the first Chinese president ever to visit the country.

Flags and portraits

A stage-managed welcome on a massive scale greeted President Jiang and his entourage as they arrived in the Cambodian capital.

President Jiang, fresh from Laos, hopes to counter Vietnam's influence

Tens of thousands of schoolchildren, waving little Chinese flags and portraits of Mr Jiang and his host, King Sihanouk, lined the highway leading from the airport to the royal palace in central Phnom Penh.

However dubious Beijing's involvement in Cambodia's turbulent past, the current government wants this visit to reinforce the strong ties that exist between the two countries today.

The original invitation to President Jiang came from King Sihanouk whose warm personal ties with Beijing date back many years.

But the relationship goes much deeper than that.

China was one of the few countries to give unstinting support to Hun Sen after the 1997 coup that ousted his then co-Premier, Prince Ranariddh.

Chinese aid has flowed in abundance and more can be expected following the agreements due to be signed during Mr Jiang's stay.

Khmer Rouge supporter

But not everyone here is willing to overlook China's role in the late 1970s, when it was the principal supporter of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, blamed for the deaths of well over a million Cambodians.

The Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge killed 1.5m people

Several dozen members of a student organisation, which has led demands for China to apologise and pay compensation to victims of the Khmer rouge, tried to mount a protest along the route of Mr Jiang's motorcade.

But plain-clothed and uniformed police, who have been deployed in vast numbers for the visit, quickly hustled them away.

Justice delayed

One of the protesters' concerns - one shared by some United Nations officials - is that Beijing is exerting pressure on Prime Minister Hun Sen to block international calls for a trial of Khmer Rouge leaders.

Over a million died in the Khmer Rouge era

A draft law approved by the UN, allowing the establishment of a tribunal, is currently before parliament.

But the delay in passing it has heightened suspicion that the government may be backtracking on its commitment.

The Foreign Minister, Hor Namhong, told reporters that the Khmer Rouge issue had never been discussed with China.

Beijing, he said, considered this to be a matter for Cambodia alone.