Student groups said Monday China should stop opposing a trial for the Khmer Rouge leaders and instead apologize to the Cambodian people for supporting the bloody regime.
Members of the Students Movement for Democracy and the Democratic Front of Khmer Students and Intellectuals said those are some of the reasons why they plan to demonstrate during Chinese President Jiang Zemin’s two-day visit, which starts Nov 13. The purpose of Jiang’s visit “is to encourage the Cambodian government, especially [Prime Minister] Hun Sen, to avoid a trial of the Khmer Rouge leaders,” said Saro Sivutha, president of the Students Movement for Democracy.
The students say they will send a petition to the Chinese Embassy demanding the apology and asking China to drop its opposition to a trial.
The Chinese government was the main ally of the Khmer Rouge during the regime’s brief reign, and continued to support them in fighting the Vietnamese from 1979-1989.
China has remained a strong ally, going as far as threatening to veto a UN proposal to try the former Khmer Rouge leaders.
