Xi honors Cambodia’s Queen Mother
Friendship Medal sign of respect, peoples’ friendship
President Xi Jinping a warded Cambodia’s Queen M other Norodom Monineath Sihanouk the Friendship M edal of the P eople’s Republic of C hina on F riday as a sign of the C hinese people ’s great respect for her and the intimate friendship be tween the t wo nations.
The ceremon y to present the medal — a top honor intended for foreign friends of the countr y — was held at the Great H all of the People in Beijing.
At the ceremony, Xi said in a speech that the Queen Mother is a key witness and promoter of C hinaCambodia friendship. She has witnessed the advances of the People’s Republic of C hina since, in 1958, she accompanied the late King Norodom Sihanouk on her first visit to China, he said.
The Queen Mother bears extraordinary feelings for the C hinese people, suppor ts bilateral e xchanges and cooperation in various fields, and has made outstanding contributions to promoting bilateral relations and enhancing the friendship of the two peoples, Xi said.
Xi said since China and Cambodia established diplomatic relations 62 years ago, the y ha ve always supported and helped each other, forged an unbreakable, diehard friendship and become a community with a shared future of strategic significance.
The ties be tween the t wo countries have withstood a great variety of tests and can be regarded as a model of exchanges between countries, and the Cambodian royal family pla ys an irreplaceable role in this, Xi added.
China is ready to work with Cambodia to hand down and carry forward their traditional friendship, re vitalize C hinaCambodia relations in the new historical period and bolster the wellbeing of the two, he said.
The Queen M other said X i’s presentation of the Friendship M edal fully shows the friendship and brotherhood of the great China and the C hinese people with her and with the Cambodian people. She said she was greatly delighted and expressed her strongest, heartfelt appreciation for that.
The late King F ather Norodom Sihanouk and the elder generation of Chinese leaders jointly forged and carefully nur tured a bilateral traditional friendship, which will be remembered for good, she said.
She e xpressed her most sincere gratitude to the great Communist Party of C hina, the C hinese government and the Chinese people as China has firmly suppor ted the just cause of Cambodia and has supported Cambodia in safeguarding state sovereignty and independence, territorial integrity, national peace, unity among ethnicities and the advance of various undertakings.
The Cambodian people will work with the brotherly Chinese people to cement traditional friendship, strengthen unit y and cooperation and promote the lasting growth of bilateral relations, she said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin became the first person awarded the Friendship Medal in 2018.
Also on F riday, X i and his wife, Peng Liyuan, me t with Cambodia’ s King Norodom Sihamoni and the Queen Mother at the Great Hall of the People.
Xi e xpressed appreciation for the letters of sympathy sent by the King and the Queen Mother as well as their generous donations offered since the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic.
Xi noted that the King had just visited Yan’an, Shaanxi province. The trip echoes the footsteps of the late King F ather and the Queen Mother 50 years ago, passes on amity and boosts friendship, he said.
Praising the Queen M other’s special and important contributions to bilateral friendship, e xchanges and cooperation, X i vowed to push the ChinaCambodia comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.
Sihamoni said the great cour tesy offered by Xi and his wife impressed him regarding the great friendship of the C hinese people toward the Cambodian people, he is ready to further deepen bilateral friendship and he hopes that C hina, led by X i, would achieve greater advances.