Cambodia buying 'tens of thousands' of Chinese weapons: PM

Cambodia has purchased "tens of thousands" of weapons from China, premier Hun Sen said Monday, providing rare details of arms deals with Beijing just days after denying a secret agreement to allow Chinese warships to use a local naval base.

The Wall Street Journal last week reported on a draft deal letting China access Ream base near Sihanoukville to dock warships and store weapons, apparently confirming months of rumours.

Cambodia tried to knock down the report on Friday by taking dozens of reporters on an unprecedented tour of the base.

Prime Minister Hun Sen repeated the denials in his latest remarks and called the news "slander", but he went into an unusual level of detail about arms sales from its powerful neighbour.

"I ordered the purchase of tens of thousands of additional weapons," he said, without explaining what the country had bought.

"Now they are being shipped."
During the closely chaperoned trip, navy and government officers showed reporters a number of outhouses and a jetty where several