រូបភាព នៃពិធីបុណ្យ មិន​​ឯករាជ្យ (​ ៩ វិច្ឆិកា ១៩៥៣ - ៩ វិច្ឆិកា ២០១១​ ) - The Lack of Independence celebration

Independence Day celebration [... or more appropriately "mourning"]

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Independence Day celebration

Balloons are released at the Monument of Independence during Independence Day celebrations in Phnom Penh November 9, 2009. Cambodia celebrates its 56th anniversary of independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian honour guards hold the national flag during Independence Day celebrations in Phnom Penh November 9, 2009. Cambodia celebrates its 56th anniversary of independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni (C) greets officials during Independence Day celebrations in Phnom Penh November 9, 2009. Cambodia celebrates its 56th anniversary of independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni (R) greets the honour guard during Independence Day celebrations in Phnom Penh November 9, 2009. Cambodia celebrates its 56th anniversary of independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's prime minister Hun Sen (C) inspects the honor guard during Independence Day celebrations in Phnom Penh November 9, 2009. Cambodia celebrates its 56th anniversary of independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni (R) greets the honour guard during Independence Day celebrations in Phnom Penh November 9, 2009. Cambodia celebrates its 56th anniversary of independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Independence from France ... but no independence from Vietnam yet?

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni greets his government officials during the Independence Day celebration at the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. The king was joined by thousand of civil servants and students to mark the country's 54th Independence Day from French rule. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, center, stands in front of two of Cambodian supreme patriarchs during the Independence Day celebration at the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. The king was joined by thousand of civil servants and students to mark the country's 54th Independence Day from French rule. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, talks with his Defense Minister Tea Banh, right, during the Independence Day celebration at the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. Thailand's fugitive ex-leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, will visit Cambodia this week after being appointed an economic adviser, Hun Sen said Sunday, inflaming a diplomatic row between the neighbors. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Kingdom of Cambodia National Day

November 8, 2009
Manila Bulletin

The Kingdom of Cambodia celebrates its National Day Nov. 9, Monday. On this day in 1953, King Norodom Sihanouk declared the country’s independence from French colonial rule.

Diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Cambodia were formally established in 1957.

Although our relations were affected by the Khmer rouge regime in 1975, the Philippines and Cambodia have maintained cordial ties since the resumption of diplomatic relations in 1995 and the reopening of the Cambodian Embassy in Manila in 1999. The two countries have concluded agreements on economic and trade relations, agricultural and agribusiness collaboration, and tourism cooperation.

Cambodia is a member of the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2004 and attended the inaugural East Asia Summit in 2005.

Cambodia has established diplomatic relations with numerous countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, and Russia. As a result of its international relations, various charitable organizations have assisted with both social and civil infrastructure needs.

We congratulate the people and government of the Kingdom of Cambodia headed by His Majesty, King Norodom Sihamoni, and H.E., Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, and its Embassy in the Philippines led by Ambassador In May, on the occasion of their National Day.

Sam Rainsy talked about the meaning of 23 October

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy gave a speech during the commemoration of 23 October (Photo: Sok Serey, RFA)

23 October 2009
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

KI-Media Note: Mr. Khieu Kanharith forgot that the current regime as well as the one installed by the Vietnamese regime were filled with former KR cadres

On 23 October 2009, opposition leader Sam Rainsy declared that the 23 October date is a day that Cambodia receives true freedom and democracy, and it is also the day that Cambodia and her population receive full independence and sovereignty that are fully recognized by 18 signatory countries.

Sam Rainsy, leader of the largest opposition party in Cambodia, said on Friday that: “If there were no 23 October, then there would be nothing that we have today. If there were no 23 October 1991, Cambodia would be vanished and she would become a colony of a neighboring country that maintained its troops in Cambodia, and that Cambodia would be controlled by a regime installed by foreign troops. If there were no 23 October, there would be no freedom rights, no progress for democracy.”

In addition to considering 23 October as an important date, Sam Rainsy also indicated that 09 November is the independence day for Cambodia, allowing her to get out of the French colonial rule in 1953.

He criticized 18 march 1970 as being the day that a coup d’état took place to topple former King Norodom Sihanouk out of power, and it brought in war between Cambodians that led to the subsequent Khmer Rouge killing fields.

He added that 07 January was the day foreign troops invaded Cambodia, and that led to the formation of 4 disputing Cambodian factions, as well as the civil war in Cambodia.

The ceremony took place with 18 Buddhist monks and about 100 SRP supporters, as well as representatives from the US embassy in Cambodia. The religious ceremony marked the 18th anniversary of the 23 October 1991 Paris Peace Agreements on Cambodia.

Sam Rainsy’s declaration was not welcomed by high-ranking government officials. Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman and spokesman for the CPP, reacted strongly by saying that 23 October is the commemoration of a portion of what Sam Rainsy’s mentioned about the KR, and it also brought in the KR into the Cambodian government at that time. He added that is there were no 23 October, there would be no trial for the former KR leaders either.

It should be recalled that the 4 disputing Cambodian factions included: the Funcinpec party, the Son Sann resistance movement, the KR Democratic Kampuchea movement, and the State of Kampuchea movement [installed by Vietnam]. They all signed the 23 October 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, along with 18 other signatory countries, such as the US.

Cambodia celebrates the 1953 Independence from France ... What is the meaning of Independence in current Cambodia? Share with us

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) talks to Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) Commander-in-Chief Ke Kimyan during the Independence Day celebration in Phnom Penh November 09, 2007. Cambodia celebrates its 54th anniversary of Independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian school children wave Cambodian flags as they hold portraits of former King Norodom Sihanouk and current King Norodom Sihamoni during the Independence Day celebration in Phnom Penh November 09, 2007. Cambodia celebrates its 54th anniversary of Independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian school children wave Cambodian flags as they hold portraits of former King Norodom Sihanouk and current King Norodom Sihamoni during the Independence Day celebration in Phnom Penh November 09, 2007. Cambodia celebrates its 54th anniversary of Independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni (R) walks past an honour guard during Independence Day celebration in Phnom Penh November 9, 2007. Cambodia celebrates its 54th anniversary of Independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni walks past an honour guard during the Independence Day celebration in Phnom Penh November 9, 2007. Cambodia celebrates its 54th anniversary of Independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, right, and other dignitaries attend Independence Day celebration at the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Nov. 9, 2007. King Sihamoni is jointed by thousand of civil servants and students to mark the country's 54th Independence Day from France, Nov. 9, 1953. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni (bottom R) prepares to release a dove during the Independence Day celebration in Phnom Penh November 09, 2007. Cambodia celebrates its 54th anniversary of Independence from France November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
(KI-Media Note: Non Nget, seen on the second row in reddish orange robe, is the Buddhist patriarch who wrote to comrade Tep Vong to defrock Venerable Tim Sakhorn)
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni greets school children during the Independence Day celebration in Phnom Penh November 9, 2007. Cambodia celebrates its 54th anniversary of Independence from France on November 9. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, left, greets students during the Independence Day celebration at the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Nov. 9, 2007. King Sihamoni is jointed by thousand of civil servants and students to mark the country's 54th Independence Day from France, Nov. 9, 1953. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, left, greets students during the Independence Day celebration at the Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Nov. 9, 2007. King Sihamoni is jointed by thousand of civil servants and students to mark the country's 54th Independence Day from France, Nov. 9, 1953. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodia celebrates anniversary of independence from France

Fri, 09 Nov 2007

Phnom Penh - Thousands of Cambodians waving national flags turned out at the capital's Independence Monument Friday to witness King Norodom Sihamoni light the symbolic flame to mark the 54th anniversary of the country's break from colonial France. However, the man widely credited as the architect of a political solution to growing popular and increasingly armed resistance to French rule in November 1953, 85-year-old former King Norodom Sihanouk, was not present. Only his portrait oversaw the ceremony.

Police estimated that around two thousand people lined the streets around the monument to watch Sihamoni symbolically release pigeons before hundreds of balloons were also sent skyward. Countless more watched the live broadcast on state television.

Sihamoni was born just months before France agreed to withdraw from Cambodia and succeeded his father as monarch in 2004.

The ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Hun Sen, Senate and National Assembly presidents Chea Sim and Heng Samrin - both former resistance fighters against the French - senior politicians, business leaders and the nation's most senior Buddhist monks.

The flame will burn for three days before being extinguished by Sihamoni in a brief ceremony Sunday. A fireworks celebration on the city's central Tonle Sap river is scheduled for Friday night.