China’s army, GDF sign grant agreement without political strings

Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 August 2014, 19:51 by GxMedia

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Tuesday agreed to provide U$4.8 million in assistance to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) without any strings attached.

GDF Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Mark Phillips and PLA Major General, Kong Li signed the agreement at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), Liliendaal during the opening of the 2014 Bilateral Staff Conference.

Li said no conditions were tied to grant aid package to the GDF. “This military assistance is not affixed with political implications and political conditions and I think we can further our detailed discussions in the later consultations,” he said.

Brigadier Phillips later told reporters that the money would be used to procure “non lethal” items from China such as engineering and medical equipment, military kits and the construction of buildings.  “China has always been giving us non-lethal assistance over the years and, by way of agreement, this assistance will always be non-lethal,” he told reporters.