Jailed Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea told the UN-backed tribunal
on Wednesday that China had provided munitions, food and clothes
to the Khmer Rouge, but he denied any influence from Beijing over
the regime’s policies.Related Links
-Time Has Past for Khmer Rouge to Deny Facts: Author
- Life Sentence for Duch
-With One Trial Finished, Questions Loom Over Controversial Cases
The aid came “without conditions” and was not expected to be reimbursed, he said under
questioning from a court prosecutor.
“There was the aid of technicians, but no assistants to politics,” he said.
Nuon Chea, the regime’s chief ideologue, is on trial for atrocity crimes alongside its head
of state, Khieu Samphan, and foreign minister, Ieng Sary.
In testimony, Nuon Chea has continuously sought to blame Vietnam for the regime’s woes,
while Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary
have limited their exchanges with the court.
China has admitted it provided some aid to the Cambodia at the time, but it has never fully
acknowledged its role in aiding the Khmer Rouge.
Last year, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Gin Feng told a group of students in Phnom Penh
that China had provided food to Cambodia “to save them from starvation” but had not been
involved in Khmer Rouge politics.