* Sihanouk's life was marked by his relentless struggle for Cambodia's independence, reconciliation, development and revitalization. He played a pivotal role in awakening this ancient nation.
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- At the bustling crossroads of Norodom Boulevard and Sihanouk Boulevard in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, rises the brick-red Independence Monument, paying tribute to Norodom Sihanouk, the "Father of Independence" of Cambodia.
Sihanouk had an extraordinary 90-year journey replete with ups and downs.
Born into the royal family, Sihanouk personally witnessed the havoc the colonialists wrecked on his motherland, which committed him to fighting for the independence of the country. He endured a long exile after the coup and led Cambodia to achieve national independence before landing up on his home territory.
Sihanouk's life was marked by his relentless struggle for Cambodia's independence, reconciliation, development and revitalization. He played a pivotal role in awakening this ancient nation.
A "PUPPET" KING
Sihanouk's surname traces back to his great-grandfather, Norodom. Cambodia fell under colonial rule during the reign of King Norodom as Western powers expanded their grip in the region.
In 1863, French Admiral Pierre-Paul de La Grandiere arrived in the then-Cambodian capital of Udong and forced King Norodom to sign a treaty of protection. Shortly after, Chasseloup-Laubat, France's Minister of the Navy and Colonies, established Cambodia as a French protectorate, hence the establishment of Chasseloup-Laubat High School in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), the alma mater of both Sihanouk and his father, Suramarit.
King Norodom, resistant to the annexation of his country, introduced ambitious reforms aimed at overcoming the nation's stagnation and achieving self-sufficiency. Yet, these reforms were inherently unacceptable to the colonial powers.
In 1884, Charles Thomson, the French Governor-General of Cochinchina at the time, discarded the pretext of "protection" and invaded the Cambodian Royal Palace with his troops. Under duress, King Norodom was forced to cede all authority through a treaty, effectively relinquishing control of Cambodia at every level to the French.
As Sihanouk wrote in his memoirs, "King Norodom had lost all power since signing the 1884 treaty imposed on him by France … The treaty degraded King Norodom and made the Khmer king a puppet of the French authorities."
The French subjected Cambodia to extensive exploitation. Deeply troubled, King Norodom dispatched his eldest son, Norodom Yukanthor (Sihanouk's great uncle), to Paris with the aim of exposing and condemning the abuses committed by the French colonists.
As a retaliatory measure, the French issued an arrest warrant for Yukanthor, compelling him to seek refuge first in Britain and then in Siam (presently known as Thailand). He remained in exile there until his demise in Bangkok in 1934.
Cultural assimilation was typical in French colonial rule. In 1892, the French Parliament declared Indochina (today's Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) as an "assimilated" colony. In order to consolidate the dominance of French culture in Cambodia, the colonial authorities took a series of measures to restrict the development of local culture, not least by designating French as the official language, opening only a few schools across the country, hiring French teachers to teach mainly in French, and offering French history courses instead of Cambodian ones, so as to make people submissive to the colonial rule.
Under such cultural pressure, the Cambodian royal family had to bow down. When Sihanouk was a child, his mother told him that only Khmer people who were very proficient in French could find a good position in the government, so he was asked to go to the "best school with the best French teachers" at all costs. Sihanouk was sent to Phnom Penh's top primary school, where he studied French, and later to Chasseloup-Laubat High School in Saigon.
As Cambodian scholar Song Siv described the long-lasting impact of French colonial rule in his book The Civilization Movement, the practices of the French colonial rulers made many Cambodians hate their own language. Even in the Sihanouk era after independence, there were still Cambodians who hated their own language and were extremely resistant to using Khmer for communication and correspondence. This is an extension of the French colonial rule that has affected the Cambodian national language and culture.
PLUNDER OF COLONISTS
After King Norodom died in 1904, the French colonial authorities, dissatisfied with the resistance of the Norodom royal family, blocked the Norodom prince from ascending the throne. Instead, they selected Norodom's half-brother, Sisowath, who had helped crack down on two "rebellions" for the French. Sihanouk later said that since the establishment of the protectorate, it was actually the French who instructed the Supreme Council of the Throne to select the king.
After Sisowath's death in 1927, his son Monivong succeeded him. During his reign, the French opened a number of rubber plantations in Cambodia, which accounted for one-third of the total output of the French Indochina Federation. The plantations raked in huge profits for the French.
Behind the huge profits is the ruthless exploitation of rubber workers. Australian journalist Wilfred Burchett, a friend of Sihanouk, visited the French rubber plantation in Kampong Cham Province and recounted the inhumane conditions: workers had to get up at 3 a.m., line up for roll call at 4 a.m., and start working at 5 a.m. until sunset. The working conditions were poor, the labor backbreaking, and mosquitoes rampant, hence numerous workers down with diseases. The French plantation owners showed little mercy, replacing dead workers with new ones and planting a rubber tree on the body of each deceased worker.
Living quarters were literally prisons, surrounded by barbed wire and armed sentries, with troops standing by in case of any emergency.
Sihanouk once believed that the colonists would change Cambodia's social structure and abolish slavery and serfdom, but he did not expect that the colonists' exploitation would be even more brutal. Under the plunder of the French colonists, Cambodia had almost no industry except for agricultural product processing and rubber production, leaving the economy backward, the people poor, and epidemics prevalent. The once-rich Cambodia became one of the poorest regions in Asia.
During World War II, France's surrender to Nazi Germany weakened its colonial grip in Asia. In 1941, the Vichy French government signed a treaty with Thailand, ceding several Cambodian provinces.
Sihanouk said that his grandfather Monivong had hoped that France would "protect" Cambodia, but it was the other way around. In April 1941, King Monivong died in his palace on Bokor Mountain in Kampot.
MARCHING TOWARD INDEPENDENCE
After the death of King Monivong, the French colonial authorities selected his grandson Norodom Sihanouk to inherit the throne. However, what the French did not expect was that the young man they chose did not live up to their expectations of becoming an obedient monarch. He instead became the terminator of France's colonial rule over Cambodia.
Born on Oct. 31, 1922, Sihanouk was a descendant of the two royal branches of Norodom and Sisowath. His grandfather, Prince Norodom Sutharot, gave him the name in ancient Indian Pali, which means "lion."
To ensure Sihanouk's compliance, the French appointed three Frenchmen as the new king's aide, personal adviser and secretary. However, the young king brushed off the French's "good intentions" and persisted in seeking Cambodia's independence.
At that time, traditional colonial empires such as France suffered a heavy blow in World War II. Sihanouk took advantage of Japan's victory over the French colonial authorities in Indochina and declared Cambodia's independence. After the war, the French came back, nominally granting Cambodia the status of an "autonomous country" but actually manipulating the country.
By then, anti-colonial movements were sweeping the globe. The national liberation movement in Indochina also surged. Sihanouk seized the favorable international and domestic conditions, not least by prompting the international community to put pressure on France.
Eventually, France was forced to make concessions and transfer all sovereignty to Cambodia. On Nov. 9, 1953, Sihanouk announced Cambodia's independence, ending 90 years of French colonial rule.
National independence was Sihanouk's lifelong commitment. To preserve Cambodia's sovereignty, he adopted a neutral foreign policy, refraining from joining any power blocs.
After the end of WWII, the United States sought to dominate Southeast Asia and established the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954, including Cambodia in its "protected area." Then Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Allen Dulles visited Phnom Penh to persuade Sihanouk to accept U.S. "protection." Sihanouk refused. "As a neutral country and Buddhists, we will take care of ourselves," he said.
At the 1955 Bandung Conference, he declared that Cambodia would remain neutral and never be used as a base for foreign aggression.
This stance riled the United States. In March 1970, the Lon Nol-Sirik Matak group launched a coup with the U.S. support. Sihanouk was forced into exile in Beijing, and later founded the National United Front of Cambodia and served as its chairman.
"American imperialism and its running dogs made me and my comrades exiles. We have to fight so that we can return to our beloved motherland with our heads held high," he said.
During the Cambodian War from the 1970s to the 1980s, Sihanouk was in exile in China for a long time, leading the Cambodian people in their struggle against foreign aggression and safeguarding national independence and sovereignty.
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the cessation of domestic war and the withdrawal of foreign troops, Cambodia's situation began to stabilize. The international community once again turned to Sihanouk to unite Cambodia's factions. He rose to the occasion, leveraging his influence to promote reconciliation and contribute to peace and national unity.
In 1993, Cambodia held national elections, adopted a new constitution, and put Sihanouk returned to the throne. On Oct. 6, 2004, he abdicated for health reasons and was succeeded by his son Sihamoni.
Sihanouk died on Oct. 15, 2012. The National Television of Cambodia hailed him as "the most outstanding monarch in Cambodia in the past 100 years," acknowledging his pivotal role in achieving independence and fostering national reconciliation after decades of war.
A CITY CALLED SIHANOUKVILLE
Sihanouk devoted his life to Cambodia's political independence and was committed to the country's economic development. To deepen his involvement in governance, he gave up the throne to his father Suramarit in March 1955. He formed a political party, won the general election, and became prime minister to lead the government. Sihanoukville is a microcosm of his vision for national economic construction.
After Cambodia's independence, the existing Kampot Port was not deep enough for modern trade. Recognizing the need for a deeper and more capable port, Sihanouk embarked on a plan to construct a new deep-water port.
Kompong Som, a serene fishing village nestled in the Gulf of Thailand, was selected for its suitable depth and strategic location. Sihanouk meticulously planned both the port and the surrounding city, envisioning a vibrant hub of trade and activity. The city, named Sihanoukville in his honor, has since grown to become a significant urban center. Meanwhile, Kompong Som Port has retained its status as the only deep-water port in Cambodia.
Sihanouk encountered numerous obstacles in his efforts to promote national development. During the construction of the port, he reached out to the United States for assistance in building a road or railway connecting Phnom Penh and Kompong Som. However, Washington demanded that Cambodia demonstrate its "willingness to cooperate" and accept their "protection" as a precondition for providing aid.
This experience served as a stark reminder for Sihanouk that the seemingly "generous" and "friendly" military assistance offered by the United States was not only conditional but also toxic and insulting.
During the war in Cambodia, the name of Sihanoukville was reverted to Kompong Som when Sihanouk went into exile. However, upon his return as king in 1993, the city was once again renamed Sihanoukville.
Thanks to the neutrality and peace Sihanouk advocated, Cambodia embarked on the fast track of economic development after restoring peace. In 2004, the Cambodian government proposed the "Rectangular Strategy" for national development, identifying Sihanoukville as a priority.
In 2008, King Sihamoni upgraded Sihanoukville to Sihanoukville Province. In recent years, it has been listed as a multifunctional economic demonstration zone and has emerged as a new economic engine for Cambodia, attracting international investments and tourists. The city has undergone tremendous changes, with large-scale infrastructure and industrial projects, high-rise buildings, a new deep-water wharf under construction at Sihanoukville Port, Sihanoukville Special Economy Zone, and island development in the surrounding areas.
After the new Cambodian government came into power in 2023, the "Pentagonal Strategy" was launched, focusing on human resource development, economic diversification, private sector and employment growth, resilience, sustainable development and digital transformation. The government has also set a goal of becoming one of the upper-middle-income countries by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050.
The economic construction that Sihanouk was committed to promoting is bearing fruit. Over the past 30 years, Cambodia's average economic growth rate has exceeded 6 percent, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia. The latest official data in 2024 showed that Cambodia's per capita annual income reached 1,600-1,700 U.S. dollars. Sihanoukville leads the country with a per capita annual income exceeding 4,200 dollars.
LONG-LASTING CAMBODIA-CHINA FRIENDSHIP
China and Cambodia are close neighbors. China's Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence aligns with Sihanouk's principle of "neutrality," setting the stage for the establishment of bilateral ties.
At the Bandung Conference in 1955, Sihanouk formed a lasting friendship with Premier Zhou Enlai. Since the official establishment of Cambodia-China diplomatic relations in July 1958, Sihanouk remained committed to fostering Cambodia-China friendship and forged closer bonds with Chinese leaders of several generations.
In the 1950s and 1960s, China and Cambodia collaborated on various economic projects. China assisted Cambodia in establishing enterprises in textile production, plywood, paper, cement and glassware manufacturing. Sihanouk once said that this laid a real industrial foundation for Cambodia and enabled Cambodia to achieve industrialization based on local materials, processing and direct service to the people.
In September 1965, Sihanouk and his wife visited China. Premier Zhou Enlai went to Chongqing to welcome them and took a river journey together through the Three Gorges. Inspired by the hospitality, Sihanouk composed the song "Nostalgia of China" to express his gratitude to the Chinese government and people.
This profound relationship led Sihanouk to choose China as his place of long-term exile during his most challenging periods. The Chinese government and people strongly supported Sihanouk's struggle to resist foreign aggression and safeguard national independence and sovereignty.
Recalling the friendship, Sihanouk once said, "There has never been any problem or cloud in the Cambodia-China friendship, which has benefited my country and people."
The strong bond between the two countries, created by earlier generations of leaders, continues to grow in the new era. The Belt and Road Initiative has aligned with Cambodia's "Rectangular Strategy" in areas such as agriculture, energy and transportation. This synergy has unlocked economic potential and written a new chapter in China-Cambodia economic and trade cooperation.
One landmark achievement is the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway (PPSHV Expressway), a key project under the framework of the initiative. Construction started in 2019 and opened to traffic in October 2022, the PPSHV Expressway became Cambodia's first expressway.
The 187.05-km highway reduces travel time between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville from five hours to under two, bringing convenience to the Cambodian people.
After the new Cambodian government proposed the "Pentagonal Strategy" in 2023, China and Cambodia issued a joint communique to promote the alignment of the BRI with the "Pentagonal Strategy," deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation and achieve high-quality and sustainable common development of the two countries.
In the suburbs of Sihanoukville, the Sihanoukville Special Economy Zone, known as the model for pragmatic cooperation between China and Cambodia, is being updated to the 2.0 version.
Today, China-Cambodia friendship continues to flourish. Through practical cooperation, the two countries are building a community with a shared future in a new era, delivering benefits to the two peoples.
Sihanouk's dedication to independence and his unwavering pursuit of national interests remain his most remarkable spiritual heritage. These values, reflected in his initiatives for national liberation, economic construction, and neutral diplomacy, have become a guiding light for the country's future.
As Kin Phea, director general of the International Relations Institute under the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said, Sihanouk is both a national hero and a symbol of national unity in the eyes of Cambodians. ■
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