Cambodian King heads to China for Beijing Winter Olympics

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on Thursday (Feb 3) left here for the Chinese capital Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which will be held on Friday.

At the Phnom Penh International Airport, the monarch was seen off by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian and other high-profile figures.

In a royal message to the Cambodian people, Sihamoni said he will be absent from the country from Feb. 3 to 5 and during his absence, Senate's President Samdech Say Chhum will assume the title of the acting head of state.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) secretary-general Vath Chamroeun said Cambodia fully backed the Games and opposed all forms of the politicization of sports.

"On behalf of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, I would like to express my full support for Beijing in hosting this Winter Olympics and I wish the Games a great success," he said.

"Although the games are in the time of Covid-19, measures have been taken thoroughly to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and these measures are good," he said.

"Beijing has done a good job in the preparation for the Games."