BEIJING, Feb. 27 -- "China-Cambodia relations have withstood the tests of changing international landscape. No attempt to malign the bilateral ties will ever succeed," said a Chinese defense spokesperson at a regular press conference on Thursday.
Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to a media query about the recent negative comments made by a small number of accounts from we-media platforms regarding China-Cambodia relationship.
Senior Colonel Wu said that the relevant remarks completely disregard the facts and are sheer slanders. "China and Cambodia are iron-clad friends who share weal and woe and always support each other. The two militaries enjoy unbreakable relations and rock-solid brotherhood," he added.
The spokesperson further pointed out that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, the Chinese PLA and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) have had close high-level interactions and productive and substantive cooperation in various fields. The two sides successfully held Golden Dragon joint exercise for six times and also conducted Peace Angel military medical service exercise. Both sides' exchanges between military academies and cooperation in de-mining and military publicity fields have continued to deepen.
He mentioned that not long ago, the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense conferred medals upon the Chinese military medical expert team and military academic expert team in Cambodia.
When asked what programs of engagement the Chinese and Cambodian armed forces will have this year, the spokesperson responded that in the next step, the Chinese military will join hands with the Cambodian side to deliver on the important consensus between the leaders of the two countries, and push the military-to-military relations to a new level and achieve new development.
"Trust is like a tree rooted in the soil of mutual support. China-Cambodia relations have withstood the tests of changing international landscape. No attempt to malign the bilateral ties will ever succeed," the spokesperson stressed.