Text | Lijia
Editor | Zimu
In the modern history of the world, King Sihanouk of Cambodia is a legendary figure with an extremely important position. His life was full of twists and turns, and he went through many hardships. Although he was the head of a small country, he was definitely world-class. influence. He has developed a profound friendship with China's top leaders and has lived in China for more than 40 years. He can be said to be an old friend very familiar to the Chinese people.
Over the past century, Cambodia has experienced colonialism, independence and prosperity, coups, wars and killings, foreign occupation and national reconciliation. Every chapter of history has involved Sihanouk. As he said, his whole life was "defending national independence, territorial integrity and the dignity of the country and the people."
It can be said that the story of King Sihanouk is the epitome of the Cambodian nation's struggle to survive in the cracks of big powers and seek its role on the world stage for decades.
In the mid-19th century, Cambodia became a French colony. Under the mediation of France, Thailand returned the occupied land around Angkor Wat to Cambodia. Generally speaking, although under French colonial rule, Cambodia's political situation is relatively stable. In the 20th century, France gradually weakened after World War I and was even more overwhelmed with its colonies. In September 1940, Japanese troops invaded Cambodia, but the French colonial authorities still firmly controlled the Cambodian royal family.
In 1941, Japan and France were behind the plan to cut up Cambodia and signed a new treaty on Cambodian territory in Tokyo. In order to win over Thailand, the Japanese forced the French, who were exhausted during World War II, to sign a treaty under the new treaty and transferred a large area of Cambodian land to Thailand. The King of Cambodia, King Monivong, fell ill due to depression and finally passed away.
At this time, who will be the king of Cambodia is completely a game between France and Japan behind the scenes. Similar things also happened in the 1980s. This can be regarded as the reincarnation of fate. The fate of Cambodia is always in the hands of outsiders. Turning around in hands. In 1941, Sihanouk, who was studying abroad in Saigon City, Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City), returned to China to inherit the throne.
At that time, the Cambodian royal family was divided into two branches, namely the Norodom family and the Sisowath family. In the end, the reason why the French chose Sihanouk as king was because Sihanouk not only inherited the blood of two families at the same time (Sihanouk’s father was a member of the Norodom family, and King Norodom was a member of the Norodom family). Sihanouk's great-grandfather; his mother came from the Sisowath family, and King Monivong was Sihanouk's maternal grandfather), and he was still young and easier to manipulate by the colonial government.
The French thought that the young king, who had received Western education since childhood, would look up to him like his predecessors. To achieve this goal, they even sent three Frenchmen to serve as the new king's adjutants, personal advisors and secretaries. But this time they miscalculated . Sihanouk's efforts to seek Cambodia's national independence never stopped. He led the Cambodians to use various political means to finally win Cambodia's independence from the French colonial rulers in 1953.
What is commendable is that the path to independence chosen by Sihanouk was not resistance through force, but through peaceful means, which was particularly rare in the international environment at that time. Although Sihanouk was accused by left-wingers of being an incomplete opportunist, in the eyes of more Cambodians, the king saw the cruelty of the war and was unwilling to let his people experience the consequences of the war. suffered trauma and chose the path of peaceful struggle.
After independence, Cambodia successfully joined the United Nations. Sihanouk also represented Cambodia at the 1955 Bandung Conference and became a dazzling new star in the international community. It was also at the Asia-Africa Conference that year that Chinese leaders got acquainted with Sihanouk, which marked a new beginning for China-Cambodia friendly relations. On July 19, 1958, China and Cambodia officially established diplomatic relations.
After experiencing the success of the independence movement, the confident Sihanouk hoped to participate more deeply in the governance of Cambodia. In 1955, Sihanouk resigned from the throne and appointed his father Suramarit to succeed him. He changed his title to "Prince" ”, and serves as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, mainly responsible for Cambodia’s internal and external affairs.
In March 1960, King Suramarit passed away. With the throne vacant, Sihanouk assumed the newly established position of "Head of State" and became Cambodia's supreme political leader. The ruling Sihanouk promoted education throughout the country, and all citizens, regardless of gender, high or low, were included in the education system. In terms of diplomacy, he strictly maintained neutrality. In the international situation of the Cold War that intensified, Cambodia was able to receive economic assistance from both the Eastern and Western camps at the same time. When neighboring Vietnam and Laos were both plunged into civil war, Cambodia single-handedly maintained domestic stability. Economic development was achieved in the cracks of the Cold War.
However, during this period, the opposition between the left and right factions in the government continued to intensify, and Sihanouk's attitude towards the left continued to swing between reuse and suppression, eventually forcing Pol Pot, Yingsari , A group of leftist leaders such as Khieu Samphan entered the border jungle area to launch armed struggles, laying the seeds for the future Khmer Rouge movement.
The war in Cambodia in recent decades began with the coup of General Lon Nol. In March 1970, under the control of the United States, Prime Minister and Defense Minister Lon Nol, together with Deputy Prime Minister Shrimada, launched a coup while Sihanouk was on a state visit abroad and coerced the parliament to pass the removal of Sihanouk. The position of head of state, the resolution to abolish the monarchy and establish the Khmer Republic, and introduce Zheng Xing as the puppet president, but the real power is still in the hands of Lon Nol. In 1972, Lon Nol launched a second coup, deposed Zheng Xing and officially became president.
Sihanouk, who was far abroad at this time, was very helpless and could not go back to his country. Sihanouk was extremely sad. After learning about the coup in Cambodia, Premier Zhou Enlai decided to personally welcome the deposed Head of State Sihanouk. China also invited 46 foreign ambassadors to China to participate, and they enjoyed the highest level of welcome and hospitality. Sihanouk was very moved and said that Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou were good friends that he respected throughout his life.
After that, Sihanouk formed a government-in-exile in China. He announced the establishment of the National United Front of Cambodia. On May 5, the National Unity Government of Cambodia was established with Prince Binnu as prime minister, and the leader of the Communist Party of Cambodia, Khieu Samphan, as deputy prime minister. . China urges the trilateral and four-party summits to support Sihanouk's national salvation cause, and welcomes Sihanouk and his family to live in China for a long time. It has also supported Cambodia with a large amount of weapons, equipment and aid funds.
During Lon Nol's administration, the United States followed the lead of the United States in everything at home and abroad. He suppressed it internally, pursued anti-Soviet and anti-China policies externally, and spared no effort to support the United States' intervention in the civil wars in Southeast Asian countries. This perverse behavior aroused strong resistance from the people, and strikes occurred one after another, which in turn led to the continuous growth of the Khmer Rouge armed forces. In addition, the United States was eager to end the Vietnam War and had no time to take into account the survival of the Lon Nol regime, which ultimately led to Lon Nol's devastating defeat. In 1975, the Lon Nol regime collapsed and the Khmer Rouge began to rule Cambodia.
During the Khmer Rouge’s rule, peace in Cambodia still did not come. Instead, it brought about the most painful disaster in Cambodia’s history – as many as 2 million people died or were executed due to hunger, overwork, and torture. In the past three years, One-third of the population disappeared, and someone in almost every Cambodian family suffered a tragic disaster.
The Khmer Rouge never thought of accepting Sihanouk, but just hoped to use his popularity to expand their own armed forces and power. Although Sihanouk was welcomed back to the country and served as the country's top leader, he had no real power and his personal freedom was greatly restricted. He was actually under house arrest in the palace, while all members of the royal family he left in the country were exiled. Five sons and 14 grandsons were tortured and killed in the process. Only after pressure from the Chinese government did Sihanouk survive.
At the end of 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia with 200,000 troops divided into seven groups. Later, a puppet government was established in Cambodia and the People's Republic of Kampuchea was established. Cambodia began a period of more than 10 years of occupation by Vietnam. Sihanouk, Song Shuang and Khieu Samphan's three resistance forces united to form the coalition government of Democratic Kampuchea.
Sihanouk began to be active on the international stage and worked hard for Cambodia to regain its independence. He moved among various forces and continued to work hard to achieve ultimate peace and reconciliation. At this time, all parties in Cambodia were unable to achieve absolute rule but were unwilling to compromise. Sihanouk had no choice but to mediate among all parties. He builds bridges and uses the diplomatic methods he is good at, hoping to reach a political solution acceptable to all parties.
When the civil war was about to break out, he gave up his vow not to ascend the throne again. In 1993, the 71-year-old Sihanouk was crowned King of Cambodia again. Finally, under his "inspiration" and pressure, all parties formed a cabinet, ending nearly 30 years of war in Cambodia and achieving national reconciliation.
In his later years, Sihanouk suffered from various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, and began to gradually fade out of the public eye. In October 2004, King Sihanouk abdicated again and Prince Norodom Sihamoni succeeded to the throne. According to the Cambodian Constitution, when the king abdicates, he does not have the power to directly appoint a successor. The new king should be voted by the Throne Committee. But after Sihanouk announced his abdication, he made it clear that he hoped that Sihamoni would succeed to the throne. On October 15, 2012, Sihanouk passed away in Beijing at the age of 90. His departure marks the end of an era.
Sihamoni is the child of Sihanouk and his sixth wife, Princess Monique. Their names are based on the first two characters of their parents. Although Sihamoni was born into the royal family, he was not interested in politics at all. He had a soft spot for art since he was a child. He went to the West to study music at the age of 12, and when he grew up, he went to North Korea to study film. After following his father to Beijing, Sihamoni became Sihanouk's personal secretary and later served as Cambodia's representative to the United Nations.
Sihamoni is a loyal person, and he himself is not very interested in politics and does not want to be a king. However, for the continued existence of the Norodom dynasty, he must take over the scepter from his father.
Sihanouk once commented on him: "The position is neutral, not involved in politics, and does not belong to any party. This is suitable for the current situation in Cambodia." King Sihamoni's neutrality and non-competitive attitude have been respected by all political parties. , no matter how fierce everyone is fighting for the position of prime minister, no one will always disrespect Norodom Sihamoni.
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