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Cambodia's King Stresses Importance of Jiang's Coming Visit
Chinese President Jiang Zemin's coming visit to Cambodia "is of great historical significance", said Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk, in a recent interview with Xinhua.
King Sihanouk said that "Chinese President Jiang's visit will further strengthen the great long-standing friendship and brotherly unity between Cambodia and China."
President Jiang Zemin will pay a state visit to the Kingdom of Cambodia from November 13 to 14, at the invitation of Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk, Head of State.
The Chinese President will meet with King Sihanouk, Prime Minister Hun Sen, President of the National Assembly Norodom Ranariddh and President of the Senate Chea Sim. During his stay here, several agreements are expected to be signed.
During his visit, Jiang Zemin is scheduled to tour the Angkor Wat, one of the seven ancient buildings in the East, in the northern part of Cambodia.
Several days ago, King Norodom Sihanouk gave an exclusive interview to correspondents from Xinhua and Chinese Central Television (CCTV) at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.
Recalling the history of the friendly relationship between the two countries, the King said that "In the year of 1955, I had the honor of making acquaintance with the late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and the late Marshal Chen Yi at the Asian-African Summit Conference in Bandung, Indonesia. Since then, the great friendship and brotherly unity between the two nations and the two peoples have become increasingly better and better, and the two countries consistently cooperated and supported each other in all spheres".
"I thank the Chinese Communist Party, the People's Republic of China, the Chinese leaders and the Chinese people for their precious gratuitous economic aid and support in various periods and various spheres," said Sihanouk.
"I firmly hold that the two countries will continue to support each other as always. And the great friendship and brotherly unity will persistently develop," he continued to say.
"I felt honored that I myself built the friendly relationship between Cambodia and the People's Republic of China which lay a solid foundation for the friendship and unity between the two countries and the two peoples," he said.
The King reaffirmed that "Even after 100 years, the Cambodian people are still reliable friends and close brothers of the Chinese people, Cambodia will continue to keep close relationship with China."
Sihanouk highly appreciated the tremendous achievements made by China in carrying out "the reform and opening-up" policy. He said that "I have been closely watching the construction cause of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
China's achievements have fully indicated that the guidelines for China's economic construction are entirely correct. The country will play an increasingly important role in every sphere."
"China is a big country, but it always pursues a policy of treating other countries equally without discrimination against medium and small countries, especially small countries, like Cambodia. We are very thankful for this," the King pointed out.
Sihanouk said that "The late Deng Xiaoping was a great statesman who had intelligence and wisdom, and rich political experiences. What he had done is not only beneficial to the Chinese people, but also to the international community and the world peace."
On the Taiwan issue, the King stressed that "Cambodia and I forever support the 'one China policy '. The Royal Government of Cambodia maintains the policy of 'one China', because Taiwan is an integral part of China."
"I think that Deng Xiaoping's policy of 'one country, two systems' is completely correct, which has successfully resolved the issues of Hong Kong and Macao."
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