China offers condolences for ‘great friend’ Sihanouk

Chinese paramilitary police guard the entrance to what is believed to be the residence of former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk in Beijing. Photo: AP

Monday, 15 October, 2012
South China Morning Post

China lauded former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk as a “great friend of the Chinese people” on Monday as it expressed its condolences over his death in Beijing.

“On the morning of October 15, this year, the great friend of China, his excellency Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk, passed away in Beijing,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

It added that high-ranking Chinese officials including State Councillor Dai Bingguo – China’s top official on foreign relations – and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had gone to Sihanouk’s deathbed and expressed condolences to his wife Queen Monique.

Sihanouk, whose life mirrored the turbulent history of his nation where he remained a revered figure, died of a heart attack in Beijing Monday at the age of 89, his long time personal assistant Prince Sisowath Thomico said.

He was a frequent visitor to China where he received most of his medical treatment.

The former king, who abruptly quit the throne in October 2004 in favour of his son, had been staying at his Beijing residence since January.

Early in his long political life and especially during the war in Indochina and the Cold War, Sihanouk found an influential ally in China, and was close to revolutionary leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai.

“I’ve always considered China as my second homeland ... only China has supported us, the Khmer resistance, the Soviet Union does not want us,” he said in 1971.