1 ‘Mao Zedong sixiang wansui [Long live Mao Zedong thought]’, Mianhua ribao (MHRB), 2 July 1966; and ‘Zhongguo shi shijie geming renmin zui kekaode pengyou’ [China is the world's revolutionary peoples’ most dependable friend], MHRB, 1 Oct. 1963.

2 See ‘Zhong-Jian liangguojia zongli fabiao lianhe shengming: Jianpuzhai fengxing zhongli zhengce, ying shoudao yiqie guojia zunzhong [Joint statement by the Chinese and Cambodian premiers: Cambodia's pursuit of a policy of neutrality should be respected by every country]’, MHRB, 25 Aug. 1958; and ‘Geguo yao huode zhenzheng duli he jiefang jiu bixu kuoda fandui Meidimen zhanzheng [To achieve true independence and liberation, all countries must oppose the wars of US imperialists]’, MHRB, 12 Oct. 1965. On the CCP's revolutionary cosmopolitanism in archipelagic Southeast Asia, see Guoquan, Seng, ‘Revolutionary cosmopolitanism and its limits: The Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese in Singapore, Medan and Jakarta compared (1945–1949)’, Journal of Chinese Overseas 16, 1 (2020): 1–30Google Scholar. On local Chinese in Cambodia, see Willmott, William, The political structure of the Chinese community in Cambodia (London: Bloomsbury, 1970)Google Scholar.

3 Vita Chieu, Wo yu Zhonggong he Jiangong chise huaren jiemi: Jiangong ruhe xingwang [My story with the Communist Parties of China and Kampuchea: A record of the rise and fall of the Communist Party of Kampuchea], trans. Zhu Xueyuan (Hong Kong: Tianyuan shuwu, 2006), pp. 36, 45. Vita Chieu was acting president for over twelve years (early 1950s to mid-1960s).

4 Thion, Serge, ‘The Cambodian idea of revolution’, in Revolution and its aftermath in Kampuchea: Eight essays, ed. Chandler, David P. and Kiernan, Ben (New Haven, CT: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, Monograph Series no. 25, 1983), p. 22Google Scholar.

5 See Sacha Sher, Le Kampuchéa des ‘Khmers Rouges’: Essai de compréhension d'une tentative de révolution [Kampuchea of the ‘Khmer Rouge’: An attempt to understand a revolutionary effort] (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2004), pp. 30–32; Henri Locard, Pourquoi les Khmers Rouges? [Why the Khmer Rouge?] (Paris: Vendémaire, 2013), pp. 8, 38–43; Jackson, Karl D., ‘Intellectual origins of the Khmer Rouge’, in Cambodia 1975–1978: Rendezvous with death, ed. Jackson, Karl D. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989), pp. 241–50CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Etcheson, Craig, The rise and demise of Democratic Kampuchea (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1984), p. 164Google Scholar.

6 Lanza, Fabio, The end of concern: Maoist China, activism, and Asian Studies (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2017), pp. 10, 20Google Scholar.

7 Suong Sikœun, Itinéraire d'un intellectuel Khmer Rouge [Itinerary of a Khmer Rouge intellectual] (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2013), p. 57.

8 Phouk Chhay, ‘Seknae reaykar choun Angkarbak [Report to the Party Organisation]’, S-21, Tuol Sleng prison, 15 Mar. 1977, p. 2.

9 Kiernan, Ben, ‘Pol Pot and the Kampuchean communist movement’, in Peasants and politics in Kampuchea, 1942–1981, ed. Kiernan, Ben and Boua, Chanthou (London: Zed, 1982), p. 271Google Scholar. See also Chieu, Wo yu Zhonggong he Jiangong chise huaren jiemi, p. 15; and Don O. Noel Jr., ‘Cambodia politics II: The man to get’, National Archives of Australia, Canberra, Alida Patterson Fund, Document A1838 3016/2/1 Part 17.

10 This article owes its inspiration to Yeh Wen-hsin's Provincial passages: Culture, space, and the origins of Chinese communism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996).

11 In the radical 1960s, Khmer intellectuals did not remain fixed in one ideological camp; rather, they could, and often did, trend leftward or rightward over time, as some became Communists (Phouk Chhay) and others (Soth Polin) became rightists (despite using leftist rhetoric); Siti Keo, pers. comm., Berkeley, 8 Oct. 2018. See also Siti Keo, ‘Writing the postcolonial city: Phnom Penh and modernity during Sangkum Reastr Niyum, 1955–1970’ (PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 2019).

12 Some describe AGEK as ‘pro-Peking’, ‘pro-Communist’, or ‘pro-China’. Khatharya Um, From the land of shadows: War, revolution, and the making of the Cambodian diaspora (New York: NYU Press, 2015), p. 93; Philip Short, Pol Pot: The history of a nightmare (London: John Murray, 2004), p. 154; and Sher, Le Kampuchéa des ‘Khmers Rouges’, p. 127.

13 Kosal Path and Angeliki Kanavou, ‘Converts, not ideologues? The Khmer Rouge practice of thought reform in Cambodia, 1975–1978’, Journal of Political Ideologies 20, 3 (2015): 312, 326.

14 Chandler, David, Voices from S-21: Terror and history in Pol Pot's secret prison (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), p. 112CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

15 Kanavou, Angeliki and Path, Kosal, ‘The lingering effects of thought reform: The Khmer Rouge S-21 prison personnel’, Journal of Asian Studies 76, 1 (2017): 89, 95–8Google Scholar.

16 Phouk Chhay, ‘Le pouvoir politique au Cambodge: Essai d'analyse sociologique, 1945–1965’ (Political power in Cambodia: A sociological analysis, 1945–1965) (PhD diss., Université Royale de Phnom Penh, 1966). Unpublished original: ‘Les elites politiques du Cambodge contemporain (1945–1965)’ [The political elites of contemporary Cambodia]; Ministère de l'Information (MI), Revue trimestrielle de l'Association d'amitié khméro-chinoise/Sameakom Mittpheap Khmer-Chen (hereafter RT AAKC) 1 (Jan. 1965), pp. 1–47, NAC, Document no. 5973, Box no. 687; and MI, ‘Tossaanavdeit Sameakom Mittpheap Khmer-Chen’ [Review of Khmer-Chinese Friendship Association] (2 (Sept. 1965), pp. 1–45, NAC, Document no. 5973, Box no. 164.

17 Ben Kiernan, ‘Pol Pot et le mouvement communiste Cambodgien [Pol Pot and the Cambodian communist movement]’, in Khmers Rouges!: Matériaux pour l'histoire du communisme au Cambodge [Khmer Rouge!: Materials for the history of Cambodian communism], ed. Serge Thion and Ben Kiernan (Paris: JE Hallier-Albin Michel, 1981), p. 225.

18 Suong, Itinéraire, pp. 489–90; Marie-Alexandrine Martin, Le mal Cambodgien: Histoire d'une société traditionnelle face à ses leaders politiques, 1946–1987 [The Cambodian evil: A history of a traditional society facing its political leaders, 1946–1987] (Paris: Hachette, 1989), p. 114; and Norodom Sihanouk, Les paroles de Samdech Norodom Sihanouk [The words of Samdech Norodom Sihanouk] (Phnom Penh: Ministère de l'Information, 1969), pp. 677, 679.

19 Gloria Emerson, ‘After prison in Cambodia an intellectual needs to talk’, New York Times, 13 Apr. 1970.

20 Peou, Sorpong, Intervention and change in Cambodia: Towards democracy? (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2000), p. 113CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 Vickery, Michael, Cambodia 1975–1982 (Boston, MA: South End, 1984), p. 93Google Scholar. A 1973 report by Ith Sarin named the Southwest Zone's ‘most important personalities as Chou Chet, Phouk Chhay, Sieng Po Se, Thuch Rin and Mok’. Kiernan, Ben, How Pol Pot came to power: Colonialism, nationalism, and communism in Cambodia, 1930–1975, 2nd ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004), p. 340Google Scholar; and Vorn Vet, ‘Confession of Vorn Vet’, (Nov.–Dec. 1978), p. 23, Monash Collections Online, http://repository.monash.edu/items/show/1319 (accessed 27 May 2020).

22 Nguyen-vo, Thu-huong, Khmer-Viet relations and the third Indochina conflict (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1992), p. 64Google Scholar. On the Southwest Zone, see Meng-Try Ea, The chain of terror: The Khmer Rouge Southwest Zone security system (Phnom Penh: DC-Cam, 2005).

23 Carney, Timothy M., ‘Continuity in Cambodian communism’, in Communist party power in Kampuchea (Cambodia): Documents and discussion, ed. Carney, Timothy M. (Ithaca, NY: Southeast Asia Program Data Paper no. 106, Department of Asian Studies, Cornell University, 1977), p. 9Google Scholar.

24 Kiernan, ‘Pol Pot and the Kampuchean communist movement’, pp. 228–9; Etcheson, The rise and demise of Democratic Kampuchea, p. 164; and Burchett, Wilfred, The China-Cambodia-Vietnam triangle (Chicago: Vanguard, 1981), p. 66Google Scholar. There was extensive overlap among groups because of the collective nature of the CPK Party Centre. Members in one group also contributed to another. Largely because of the fundamental difficulty of identifying clear factional boundaries within the CPK Party Centre, such groupings are, to some extent, imposed by scholars. Marginal factions included ex-Khmer Issarak and Pracheachon members, and pro-Sihanouk, pro-Vietnamese affiliates.

25 Kalyan San, ‘Phok Chhay before becoming a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge’, Searching for the Truth, 5, May 2000, p. 8; and Solomon Kane, Dictionnaire des Khmers Rouges: Édition revisée et augmentée [Khmer Rouge dictionary: Revised and expanded ed.] (Bangkok: L'Institut de recherché sur l'Asie du Sud-Est contemporaine, 2011), p. 336.

26 ‘Rapports périodiques, politiques et économiques. Résidence de Takéo [Periodic political and economic reports of the Residence of Takeo]’, 1 Nov. 1885, Archives National d'Outre-Mer (ANOM), Résidence Supérieure du Cambodge (RSC) 356. A rebellion in Takéo was led by an achar, an older layperson and veteran of the 1885 Revolt, in November 1898; see ‘Complot contre la sureté, Takéo, 1898 [Conspiracy against security, Takeo 1898]’, ANOM RSC 404. Prince Norodom Yukanthor's son refers to armed uprisings in 1899 in his 1938 letter to the French President, ANOM NF INDO, Carton 47, Dossier 568. See also ‘Renseignement sur la situation politique de la sous-résidence de Takéo [Information on the political situation of the Takéo sub-residence]’, Takeo, 14 Oct. 1885, NAC, Document F. 65 12657; and Milton Osborne, The French presence in Cochinchina and Cambodia (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1969), pp. 214–15, 22–3.

27 ‘Correspondance du Sous-Résident de Takéo [Correspondence of the Sub-Resident of Takeo]’, Jan.–July 1886, NAC, RSC E.03 File no. 11211, Box no. 981.

28 Changfu, Li, Zhongguo zhiminshi [A history of Chinese colonisation] (Shanghai: Shangwu shuju, 1946), pp. 74Google Scholar, 101. On Phouk's early life details, see Phouk, ‘Seknae’, pp. 3–4. On Takeo under French rule, see John Tully, France on the Mekong: A history of the protectorate in Cambodia, 1863–1953 (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002), pp. 163–4.

29 ‘Rapports politiques et économiques du Cabinet de la Résidence Supérieure, 1905–1907 [Political and economic reports of the Cabinet of the Residence Superior, 1905–1907]’, ANOM RSC 426.

30 Tully, France on the Mekong, p. 272, citing La Presse Indochinoise, 7 Mar. 1938.

31 ‘Extraits des rapports politiques des Résidents destines au 2ème Bureau (affaires indigènes) [Extracts from the political reports of the Residents intended for the Second Bureau (indigenous affairs)]’, 1906–10, ANOM RSC 415.

32 Michitake Aso, ‘Rubber and race in rural colonial Cambodia (1920s–1954), Siksacakr: The Journal of Cambodia Research 12–13 (2010–11): 127–38; and Penny Edwards, ‘The tyranny of proximity: Power and mobility in colonial Cambodia, 1863–1954’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 37, 3 (2006): 429, citing Georges Groslier, ‘La fin d'un art [The end of an art]’, Revue des Arts Asiatiques 6, 3 (1929–30): 179–80.

33 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, p. 3.

34 Hu Nim, ‘Les services publics économiques au Cambodge (Economic public services in Cambodia)’ (PhD diss.: Université Royale de Phnom Penh, 1965), pp. 83–4, 92–5.

35 Tully, France on the Mekong, pp. 266–8, citing La Presse Indochinoise, 28 Nov. 1935. As one observer noted, ‘Insofar as it was in the hands of Chinese, the whole commercial structure of Cambodia has crashed. There is practically nothing left of it …’. Charles Robequain, The economic development of French Indo-China, trans. Isabel A. Ward (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1944), p. 43, citing M. Ganay, Bulletin du Comité de l'Indochine, 22 June 1933.

36 Geoffrey Gunn, Monarchical manipulation in Cambodia: France, Japan, and the Sihanouk crusade for independence (Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2018), pp. 52–6.

37 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, p. 3; and Suong, Itinéraire, p. 489. French neglect meant that a lycée ‘was not established in Phnom Penh until the 1930s, but a handful of young aristocrats, like Sihanouk, generally [went] to Saigon or Hanoi [to study]’. Thion, ‘The Cambodian idea of revolution’, p. 14.

38 David P. Chandler, Brother Number One: A political biography of Pol Pot (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1999), p. 6. On Sar's Buddhist views while he was in Paris, see Matthew Galway, ‘From revolutionary culture to original culture and back: “On New Democracy” and the Kampucheanization of Marxism-Leninism, 1940–1965’, Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review 24 (2017): 139–43, citing Saloth Sar, ‘Reacheathibtey ry brachathibtey? [Monarchy or democracy?]’, Khemara Nisit [Khmer Student] 14 (Aug. 1952): 39–47.

39 Ian Harris, Buddhism in a dark age: Cambodian monks under Pol Pot (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2013), pp. 37–9.

40 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, pp. 2–3; and Gunn, Monarchical manipulation in Cambodia, p. 407. On the Asia Foundation and its CIA ties, see ‘Memorandum from the Central Intelligence Agency to the 303 committee’, 22 June 1966, in Foreign relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume X: National security policy, ed. David S. Patterson (Washington, DC: US Department of State, 2001).

41 Kane, Dictionnaire des Khmers Rouges, pp. 335–6.

42 On the colonial era approach to instruction, see M. Humbert-Hesse, ‘Rapport general sur l'enseignement au Cambodge [General report on teaching in Cambodia]’, 10 Jan. 1923, RSC ANOM 304. Humbert-Hesse was the Director of Primary Education in Cambodia at the time. On French education policy, see Thomas Clayton, ‘Restriction or resistance? French colonial education development in Cambodia’, Education Policy Analysis Archives (1995): 9–10; Jean Delvert, L'œuvre française d'enseignement au Cambodge [French education work in Cambodia] (Paris: France-Asie, 1956), pp. 125–7, 309–20; and R. Morizon, Monographie du Cambodge [Cambodia monograph] (Hanoi: Imprimerie d'Extreme-Orient, 1931), p. 181.

43 Emerson, ‘After prison in Cambodia’; and Phouk, ‘Seknae’, p. 3.

44 On this phenomenon with other CPK figures, see Matthew Galway, ‘Boundless revolution: Global Maoism and communist movements in Southeast Asia, 1949–1979’ (PhD diss.: University of British Columbia, 2017).

45 ‘Briefing papers for Saccio visit’, 20 Nov. 1959, in RG59: General records of the Department of State, Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs, Office of Southeast Asian Affairs: Cambodia files 1958–1963, Box 2; and Vorn, ‘Confession’, p. 7. See also ‘Confidential memo from Ambassador Trimble to the Secretary of State’, 1961, in RG59: General records of the Department of State, Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs, Office of Southeast Asian Affairs, Cambodia files 1958–1963, Box 5.

46 Keo, ‘Writing the postcolonial city’, p. 116; and David P. Chandler, The tragedy of Cambodian history: Politics, war, and revolution since 1945 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1991), p. 181.

47 Ingrid Muan, ‘Citing Angkor: The Cambodian arts in the age of restoration’ (PhD diss., Columbia University, 2001), pp. 247, 252.

48 Matthew Galway, ‘Specters of dependency: Hou Yuon and the origins of Cambodia's Marxist vision (1955–1975)’, Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review 31 (2019): 142–3.

49 Chandler, The tragedy of Cambodian history, pp. 125, 166 (on Samlaut). On CPK leadership of the revolt, see Kiernan, ‘The Samlaut Rebellion, 1967–68’, in Peasants and politics in Kampuchea, p. 166.

50 Chandler, The tragedy of Cambodian history, pp. 142–4, 160.

51 Martin, Le mal Cambodgien, p. 115.

52 Um, From the land of shadows, p. 93.

53 Galway, ‘Specters of dependency’, pp. 126–61. See also Sacha Sher, ‘Le parcours politique des Khmers Rouges: de Paris à Phnom Penh, 1945–1979 [The political course of the Khmer Rouge: From Paris to Phnom Penh, 1945–1979]’ (PhD diss., Université Paris X-Nanterre, 2001), p. 85; Suong, Itinéraire, pp. 489–90, 515–16; and Kiernan, How Pol Pot came to power, pp. 181, 204.

54 Suong, Itinéraire, pp. 39–41; and Hou Yuon, ‘A statement by Hou Yuon on 30 September 1974 on the 23rd anniversary of the fighting in Amlaing District’, trans. Sophal Ly, Searching for the Truth 25 (2002): 3–5. On Cambodian–Vietnamese Communist relations, see Dmitry Mosyakov, ‘The Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese communists: A history of their relations as told in the Soviet archives’, Yale University Genocide Studies Program, Working Paper no. 15 (2004), p. 49. On Hou's lasting influence, see Galway, ‘Specters of dependency’, pp. 126–61.

55 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, pp. 3, 8. Phouk's enthusiasm for joining the movement is likely something that he embellished to please his captors. Uch Ven may have disclosed information to him as they were close and disliked Sangkum. Suong, Itinéraire, pp. 59, 515; and Vorn, ‘Confession’.

56 Phouk, ‘Le pouvoir politique au Cambodge’, pp. 208–9. He cites Maurice Duverger, Institutions politiques de droit constitutionnel [Political institutions of constitutional law] (Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1960); and Maurice Duverger, La participation des femmes a la vie politique [The participation of women in political life] (Paris: UNESCO, 1955).

57 Duverger joined the Italian Communist Party in 1989 and maintained membership when it became the Democratic Party of the Left in 1991.

58 Keo, ‘Writing the postcolonial city’, p. 35.

59 Phouk, ‘Le pouvoir politique au Cambodge’, pp. 35, 145, 188, 207. He cites Thiounn Thioum, ‘Le pouvoir monarchique au Cambodge [Monarchical power in Cambodia]’ (PhD diss., Université de Paris, 1952); and Phung Ton, ‘La crise Cambodgienne [The Cambodian crisis]’, (PhD diss., Université de Paris, 1954).

60 On the Maoist nature of Hu Nim's dissertation, see Galway, ‘Boundless revolution’, pp. 179–255.

61 Suong, Itinéraire, p. 57.

62 Phouk, ‘Le pouvoir politique au Cambodge’, pp. 2–10, 109. He references a French translation of Liu Shaoqi, ‘Pour être un bon communiste [How to be a good communist]’ (Beijing: Editions en langues étrangères, I965), p. 38. See also Gunn, Monarchical manipulation in Cambodia, p. 56.

63 On this criticism, see Phouk, ‘Le pouvoir politique au Cambodge’, pp. 207–8.

64 Osborne, Sihanouk, p. 159.

65 Kiernan, How Pol Pot came to power, pp. 30, 276. Poc's precise dates of birth and death remain a mystery. See also Vorn, ‘Confession’, pp. 9–13.

66 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, pp. 4–6.

67 Ibid., pp. 6–8; and Vorn, ‘Confession’, pp. 9–10. Phouk notes a ‘secret coordinating committee’ was established in January 1966 to ‘convey Party directives to AGEK, the Kampuj'bot Associations, [and] railwaymen's, dockers’, and state industrial workers’ groups’. Short, Pol Pot, p. 521.

68 Martin, Le mal cambodgien, pp. 111, 161. On Communists at Chamrœun, see Vorn, ‘Confession’, pp. 10–11.

69 Réalités Cambodgiennes [Cambodian realities], 19 May 1967, p. 3.

70 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, p. 3.

71 David M. Ayres, Anatomy of a crisis: Education, development, and the state in Cambodia, 1953–1998 (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2000), p. 75.

72 Phouk Chhay, ‘The social and economic heritage of the old regime’, New Cambodge 1, May 1970, pp. 50–52. Also in Ayres, Anatomy of a crisis, p. 75.

73 Emerson, ‘After prison in Cambodia’; and Phouk, ‘Seknae’, p. 6.

74 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, pp. 5–6. On Beijing's support for the AAKC, see ‘Jian-Zhong youhao xiehui zhangcheng cao'an [China-Cambodia friendship association draft charter]’, MHRB, 29 May 1961. Hou Yuon was acting First Secretary General-Adjunct in May 1961, whereas Hu Nim was a councillor at this stage. ‘La naissance de l'Association d'amitié Khméro-Chinoise [The birth of the AAKC]’, RT AAKC, 1 (Jan. 1965), p. 15.

75 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, p. 9.

76 RT AAKC 1 (Jan. 1965), p. 6; Le communisme en Asie du sud-est [Communism in Southeast Asia], Communisme 14 (Paris: L'Age d'Homme, 1987), p. 54.

77 MHRB announced a Cambodian delegation that included Sihanouk and his wife, Monique, visiting China in September 1964: ‘Jianpuzhai zhengfu daibiaotuan shoupi chengyuan zuo fu Zhongguo: Jiang zai Sui [Guangzhou] denghou tong yuanshou huihe zai fei Beijing [The first arrivals of the Cambodian government delegation will wait in Guangzhou and then fly to Beijing]’, MHRB, 25 Sept. 1964. See also ‘Xihanuke qinwang he furen dao Guangzhou [Prince Sihanouk and wife in Guangzhou], Renmin Ribao (RMRB) [People's Daily (China)], 27 Sept. 1964.

78 RT AAKC 1 (Jan. 1965), pp. 4–9, 14, 16–21, 46–7. On Ambassador Chen's congratulations, see ‘Chen Shuliang dashi jianghua: Zan Jianrenmin qinlao jianguo [Ambassador Chen Shuliang praises Cambodian people's industrious approach to developing the country]’, MHRB, 10 Sept. 1964. The same year, Mao received the Cambodian ambassador to the PRC Sisowath Sirik Matak (Xisuowa) for an afternoon discussion in early February. ‘Mao Zedong zhuxi jiejian Jianpuzhai zhuhua dashi [Chairman Mao Zedong receives Cambodia's ambassador stationed in China]’, MHRB, 9 Feb. 1964.

79 See ‘Zhong-Jian renminde xintiaodong zai yiqi [The hearts of the peoples of China and Cambodia beat together]’, MHRB, 10 May 1960; ‘Rang Zhong Jian youyi zhihua yongyuan shengkai [Make the Chinese-Cambodian friendship flourish forever]’, MHRB, 7 Jan. 1961; and ‘Liu Shaoqi zhuxi fuhan Shiyanu yuanshou zhichu: Jian renmin fan-Mei douzheng bisheng [Liu Shaoqi states in reply to Cambodian Head of State Sihanouk: The Cambodian people's opposition to US imperialism surely to succeed]’, MHRB, 29 Mar. 1964. Another newspaper, Singapore-based Shenghuo ribao [Life Daily], also expressed support for Cambodia's neutrality: ‘Zai huanyinyan Xihanuke qinwang huishang [At the banquet of Prince Sihanouk]’, Shenguo ribao, 18 Aug. 1958.

80 ‘Zhongguo zeng Jian junshiwuzi: Yijiao yishi longzhong juxing [China donates military supplies to Cambodia, ceremony held]’, MHRB, 16 Mar. 1964; ‘Zhongguo zhengque zhixing JianZhong maoyixieding [China and Cambodia finalise a trade agreement: Chinese experts’ approach will be noninterference in Cambodian domestic affairs]’, MHRB, 10 July 1964; and ‘Jian diantaiping ZhongJianyouhao tiaoyuezhounian: ZhongJian jinmiyouyi shuoming wuxiangyuanze bing mosiwang [Cambodian radio broadcast on the anniversary of bilateral treaty: Inseparable Sino-Cambodian friendship united in commitment to five principles unto death]’, MHRB, 22 Dec. 1961. Sihanouk described the China–Cambodia bond at Bandung as a friendship brought about by ‘destiny’. See Norodom Sihanouk and Bernard Krisher, Charisma and leadership: The human side of great leaders of the twentieth century (Tokyo: Yohan, 1990), pp. 48, 82–3. Sihanouk made ‘five official visits to Beijing in eight years’: Zhang Xizhen, Xihanuke jiazu [The Sihanouk family] (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenpian chubanshe, 1996), p. 114.

81 ‘Zhichi Jianpuzhai renminde aiguo zhengyi zhanzheng [Support the patriotic and just war of the Cambodian people]’, RMRB, 17 Mar. 1964.

82 ‘Gongtong zhiyuan pujian Mao Zedong dadao [Jointly support the construction of Mao Zedong Avenue]’, MHRB, 25 Dec. 1964; and Qiang Zhai, ‘Zhong-Jian “teshu guanxi” de xingcheng, 1954–1965 [The making of a special relationship between China and Cambodia, 1954–1965]’, Nanyang wenti yanjiu 1, 153 (2013): 12.

83 Hu Nim, ‘Chamlay Hu Nim Haphoa Krasuongkhosaneakar Ampi Bravot baksa seheyah [Confession of Hu Nim, alias Phoas, Minister of Information, on his time with the CIA]’, Tuol Sleng prison, 2 May 1977, p. 16, DC-Cam, Document no. D00067. For the fullest account, see Kiernan, ‘The Samlaut Rebellion’, pp. 166–205.

84 Melvin Gurtov, China and Southeast Asia: The politics of survival (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975), pp. 77–8.

85 Chieu, Wo yu Zhonggong he Jiangong chise huaren jiemi, p. 36.

86 Zhou Zhongjian, ‘Zhanhou wushinian Jianpuzhai huarende quzhelicheng [The twists and turns of Cambodian Chinese in the fifty years after the war]’, Nanyang wenti yanjiu 1 (1996): 25.

87 Lee Khoon Choy, Golden dragon and purple phoenix: The Chinese and their multi-ethnic descendants in Southeast Asia (Singapore: World Scientific, 2013), p. 283.

88 Norodom Sihanouk, Les paroles de Samdech Norodom Sihanouk [The writings of Samdech Norodom Sihanouk] (Phnom Penh: Ministère de l'Information, 1969), pp. 328–9.

89 Chieu, Wo yu Zhonggong he Jiangong chise huaren jiemi, p. 44.

90 Kiernan, ‘The Samlaut Rebellion’, p. 181. Emphasis added. On Sihanouk's citing Chinese interference, see Carney, ‘Continuity in Cambodian communism’, in Communist Party power in Kampuchea, pp. 14–15.

91 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, p. 10; and Suong, Itinéraire, p. 490.

92 Hu, ‘Chamlay’, p. 14; and ‘Confessions of Tuon Sok Phalla, alias Keuan (CMR167.3/TSA T3), Responses of Tuon Sok Phalla on contacts between Khuon and Phok Chhay’ (11 Feb. 1977), pp. l–6, cited in Stephen R. Heder, Cambodian communism and the Vietnamese model Volume I: Imitation and independence, 1930–1975 (Bangkok: White Lotus, 2004), pp. 103, 221. Hou and Hu ‘work[ed] independently’ of the underground CPK, ‘but with other radical and reformist intellectuals in Phnom Penh to organize students, teachers, civil servants, technocrats, businessmen and workers against the Sangkum regime. They were tapping some of the same social and political currents the Party was trying to use as a recruiting base.’

93 Martin, Le mal Cambodgien, p. 109. See also Hu, ‘Chamlay’, p. 14.

94 Ben Kiernan, ‘Le révolte de Samlaut, 1967–1968’, in Thion and Kiernan, Khmers Rouges!, p. 109.

95 Martin, Le mal Cambodgien, p. 114.

96 Emerson, ‘After prison in Cambodia’.

97 French-language editions available to Khmer students in Paris included: Mao Tsé-toung, La nouvelle Démocratie [On New Democracy] (Paris: Editions sociales, 1951); or Mao Tsé-toung, La nouvelle Démocratie (Beijing: People's Press, 1952). On Communist reading groups, see Kiernan, How Pol Pot came to power, p. 120; Chandler, Brother Number One, pp. 26, 33; and Short, Pol Pot, p. 50. On French versions of Mao's works as Cercle materials, see Sher, ‘Le parcours politique des Khmers Rouges’, pp. 78, 121.

98 On the huaqiao in Cambodia, see William Willmott, The Chinese in Cambodia (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1997), pp. 10–11.

99 Chieu, Wo yu Zhonggong he Jiangong chise huaren jiemi, p. 36. Wang's poem was entitled ‘Third Daughter's resentment’ (San Niang Yuan), which references the Lu Lin Hui drama wherein the main character, Jiang Shi, heeds his mother's demands and tells his wife, Pang Sanniang, to return to her parents’ home. She does so, and then one day, meets Jiang among the reeds of a river as she searches for fish to give to her mother-in-law.

100 Chandler, The tragedy of Cambodian history, p. 347.

101 Short, Pol Pot, pp. 179–80.

102 ‘“Zhong-Jian youhao wansui”: Huan husheng xiangche yunxiao [‘Long live the China-Cambodia friendship’: Cheers rang through the heavens as Prince Sihanouk reaches Beijing yesterday]’, MHRB, 28 Sept. 1964.

103 See ‘Zhong-Jian youhao guanxi dashiji’ [Chronicle of China–Cambodia friendly relations], MHRB, 1 Jan. 1961; Norodom Sihanouk, ‘Message de SAR le Prince Norodom Sihanouk à la radiodiffusion chinoise’ [Message from HRH Prince Norodom Sihanouk to Chinese broadcasting], 1956, NAC, Box 689, ID unknown, pp. 1–2; Norodom Sihanouk, ‘Pour nous, Cambodgiens, la Chine est bien notre amie numero un [For us Cambodians, China is definitely our number one friend]’, in MI, RT AAKC 1 (Jan. 1965), p. 8; Pei Jianzhang, Zhongguo renmin gongheguo waijiaoshi, 1945–1966 [Diplomatic history of the People's Republic of China, 1949–1956] (Beijing: Shijie zhishi Chubanshe, 1994), pp. 147–52; and Zhonghua renmin gongheguo waijiaobu waijiao shipian, Zhongguo waijiao gailan [Overview of Chinese diplomacy] (Beijing: Shijie zhishi chubanshe, 1987), p. 59.

104 Zheng Xinbin, ‘Jianpuzhai Huaqiao jiji zhichi dangdijianshe [Cambodian Overseas Chinese actively support local construction]’, Dongnanya yanjiu ziliao 1 (1965): 48, cited in Richardson, China, Cambodia, and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, p. 50. See also ‘Zhou Enlai zongli jiejian zai Jianpuzhaide Huaqiao [Premier Zhou Enlai received by Overseas Chinese in Cambodia]’, Xihuashe, 7 May 1960, on Zhou addressing Cambodian Chinese.

105 Qiang Zhai, ‘Zhou Enlai yu Zhong-Jian hezuo guanxide jianli [Zhou Enlai and the establishment of cooperative relations between China and Cambodia]’, Nankai xuebao (zhexue shehui kexue ban) 1 (2014): 27–8; and Zhai, ‘Zhong-Jian “teshu guanxi” de xingcheng’, pp. 7–8. On the 1960 Joint Statement of support, see ‘Zhong-Jian liangguo lianhe shengming zi Jinbian qianzi [China and Cambodia sign joint statement in Phnom Penh]’, Xinhuashe, 9 May 1960. See also ‘Zhou zongli qian wanhui jizhe: Qianze qin Jian daoyu xingwei, zhichu Jain ru shou qin ce Zhongguodingyu zhichi [Premier Zhou Enlai to a reporter at an evening event condemns the aggression against Cambodian islands and points out that if Cambodia is aggressed upon, China will support it]’, MHRB, 10 May 1960; and ‘Zhong-Jian youyi qingshen sihai [The China–Cambodia friendship is as deep as the sea], MHRB, 11 May 1960.

106 Timothy Carney, ‘Unexpected victory’, in Jackson, Cambodia, 1975–1978, p. 32.

107 Sophie Richardson, China, Cambodia, and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), pp. 50, 52.

108 Tsi Ya-Min, ‘Prasapousa chophear ne Sameakom Mittpheap Khmer-Chen [Blessings to the Khmer-Chinese friendship association]’, RT AAKC 1 (Jan. 1965), p. 9.

109 Ding Xilin, ‘Prasapousa chophear ne Sameakom Mittpheap Khmer-Chen’, RT AAKC 1 (Jan. 1965), p. 10.

110 Richardson, China, Cambodia, and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, p. 50; and ‘Jian-Zhong youhao xiehui zhangcheng cao'an’.

111 Justin Corfield, Khmers stand up! A history of the Cambodian government, 1970–1975, Monash University Centre of Southeast Asian Studies Papers on Southeast Asia no. 32 (1994), p. 38.

112 ‘Premier Chou on Sino-Cambodian friendship’, Peking Review, 22 Oct 1965, p. 15. Emphasis added. Zhou visited Cambodia months earlier to an ‘enthusiastic welcome’. ‘Zhou zongli zuochen di Jian shou kongqian relie huanyin [Premier Zhou arrived in Cambodia yesterday morning and received an uprecedented warm welcome]’, MHRB, 6 May 1960.

113 Carney, ‘Biographical sketches’, in Communist Party power in Kampuchea, p. 64. On warm China–Cambodia relations between 1954 and 1965, see Zhai, ‘Zhou Enlai yu Zhong-Jian hezuo guanxide jianli’, pp. 24–32.

114 Richardson, China, Cambodia, and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, p. 52. On precursor events to the AACC's founding, notably a treaty of mutual non-aggression and diplomatic exchange, see ‘Zhong-Jian youhao guanxi xinde lichengbei: Zhong-Jian youhao he hubuqinfan tiaoyue shengxiao [China-Cambodia friendly relations reach a new milestone: China–Cambodia friendship and nonaggression treaty takes effect]’, Xiamen ribao, 4 May 1961; and ‘Zhu Zhong-Jian renmin youyiru riyue yongheng [Wish the friendship between the Chinese and Cambodian peoples springs eternal]’, Xiamen ribao, 4 May 1961.

115 Emerson, ‘After prison in Cambodia’.

116 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, 18 Mar. 1977, p. 16; and 20 Mar. 1977, p. 21. Also cited in Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), ‘Phok Chhay: Democrat or communist?’, https://www.eccc.gov.kh/sites/default/files/documents/courtdoc/2015-06-11%2012:05/E3_1878_EN.PDF (accessed 18 May 2020). Suong Sikoœn also visited Havana in January 1971 as part of a Cambodian journalists’ delegation. Suong, Itinéraire, pp. 122–6.

117 Phouk, ‘Seknae’, 15 Mar. 1977, p. 9.

118 Ibid., p. 9.

119 Alexander L. Hinton, Man or monster? The trial of a Khmer Rouge torturer (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016), p. 114.

120 See Stephen R. Heder, ‘Khmer Rouge opposition to Pol Pot: “Pro-Vietnamese” or “pro-Chinese”’, in Reflections on Cambodian political history: Background to recent developments, ed. S.R. Heder (Canberra: Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1991), p. 8, quoting Keo Meas documents (25 Sept. 1976), pp. 8–10.

121 Suong, Itinéraire, pp. 115–21. For another account of a CPK figure's visit to Beijing, see Huot Sambath, ‘Confessions of Huot Sambath’, pp. 9–12 (10 Sept. 1976) Monash Collections Online, http://repository.monash.edu/items/show/1292 (accessed 27 May 2020).

122 Hu, ‘Chamlay’, pp. 12–13. See also ‘Visite de la délégation de l'association d'amitié Chine-Cambodge [Visit of the AACC delegation]’, 4–12 Sept. 1964, in MI, RT AAKC 1 (Jan. 1965), pp. 23–47.

123 ‘A son excellence monsieur Leng-Ngeth, Président de l'association d'amitié Khméro-Chinoise [To his Excellency, Mr Leng Ngeth, president of the AAKC]’, Beijing, 2 Dec. 1964, in MI, RT AAKC 1 (Jan. 1965), p. 40; and Ding Xilin, ‘Nouvelles victoires du Peuple Cambodgien (New victories of the Cambodian people)’, in MI, RT AAKC 1 (Jan. 1965), p. 46. Leng Ngeth was the former Cambodian ambassador to Beijing, and although he was the AAKC President, Hu Nim led the Association.

124 Hu, ‘Chamlay’, p. 12. See also Ding Xilin, ‘Nouvelles victoires du Peuple Cambodgien’, in MI, RT AAKC 1 (Jan. 1965), pp. 46–7.

125 Pol Pot, interview with Cai Ximei, Phnom Penh, May 1984 (unpublished); and Zhang, Xihanuke jiazu, p. 154.

126 John Byron and Robert Pack, The claws of the dragon: Kang Sheng — the evil genius behind Mao — and his legacy of terror in People's China (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992), pp. 356–7. Pol Pot spoke to his hosts through an interpreter because he did not speak Chinese. ‘Renwu jieshao: Bo'er Bote, Qiao Senpan, Ying Sali (Introduction: Pol Pot, Khieu Samphan, and Ieng Sary]’, Dongnanya yanjiu ziliao 1 (1979): 92; and Galway, ‘From revolutionary culture to original culture and back’, pp. 144–5.

127 ‘Excerpts from the document entitled “Pol Pot presents the Cambodian Party's experiences to Khamtan, the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Thailand: Informal talks held in August 1977”’, trans. Thomas Engelbert [Hanoi: Thu Vien Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1977], p. 23. On the Pol Pot–China connection, see Galway, ‘From revolutionary culture to original culture and back’, pp. 132–58.

128 Sihanouk, ‘Pour nous, Cambodgiens, la Chine est bien notre amie numero un’, in MI, RT AAKC1 (Jan. 1965), p. 8; and ‘Gaomian renmin he Zhongguo renmin laobukepode youyi he tuanjie wansui: Xihanuke qinwang fabiao heci zhuhe woguo guoqing [Long live the unbreakable Cambodian and Chinese peoples’ friendship: Prince Sihanouk delivers a congratulatory message to celebrate China's national day]’, RMRB, 30 Sept. 1964.

129 Chandler, Brother Number One, p. 83.

130 Chieu, Wo yu Zhonggong he Jiangong chise huaren jiemi, p. 37. See also Chandler, The tragedy of Cambodian history, pp. 169–70.

131 Sihanouk, Les paroles, p. 363.

132 Kiernan, ‘The Samlaut Rebellion’, p. 181. See also Chieu, Wo yu Zhonggong he Jiangong chise huaren jiemi, pp. 44–5. Another Chinese source insisted that renewed Sino-Cambodian relations would ‘give the gift of struggle’. Zhang, Xihanuke jiazu, p. 161.

133 Chieu, Wo yu Zhonggong he Jiangong chise huaren jiemi, p. 45.

134 Short, Pol Pot, p. 180.

135 Kiernan, How Pol Pot came to power, p. 263.

136 Sihanouk, Les paroles, pp. 674–7, 718. See also Hu, ‘Chamlay’, pp. 17–18; and Tie Ge, Zhulang meihe: Hongse Gaomian shilu [Waves through the Mekong River: A faithful record of the Khmer Rouge], vol. 2 (Hong Kong: Ming Pao, 2008), pp. 487–503.

137 Chandler, The tragedy of Cambodian history, pp. 170–71. See also Phouk, ‘Seknae’, 15 Mar. 1977, p. 10. The AAKC re-emerged as the Sangkum-run National Committee for Khmer-Chinese Friendship (Comité National pour l'Amitié Khmero-Chinoise) with Penn Nouth as president.

138 Emerson, ‘After prison in Cambodia’.

139 Ibid.

140 Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Report, ‘Sihanouk conditionally extends UN mission’, 27 Oct. 1967, FBIS-FRB-67-210, p. 0010.

141 Emerson, ‘After prison in Cambodia’.

142 Ibid.

143 FBIS Daily Report, ‘Sihanouk stresses merits of neutrality’, 21 May 1968, FBIS-FRB-68-100, p. H2.

144 On Phouk's February release, see ECCC, ‘Phok Chhay: Democrat or communist?’. On his April release, see Kiernan, How Pol Pot came to power, p. 313; and David P. Chandler, Ben Kiernan and Chanthou Boua, eds, Pol Pot plans the future: Confidential leadership documents from Democratic Kampuchea, 1976–1977 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, Center for International and Area Studies, Monograph Series 33, 1988), p. 337.

145 Emerson, ‘After prison in Cambodia’. See also FBIS Daily Report, ‘Sihanouk defends executions of Khmer reds’, 4 June 1968, FBIS-FRB-68-111; and Kiernan, ‘Le révolte de Samlaut, 1967–1968’, p. 120.

146 FBIS Daily Report, ‘Sihanouk views Red takeover, corruption, US’, 29 Apr. 1968, FBIS-FRB-68-084.

147 Chieu, Wo yu Zhonggong he Jiangong chise huaren jiemi, p. 52. Vorn Vet recalled that Comrade Khmao corresponded with the Chinese and Vietnamese before Lon Nol's coup. Vorn, ‘Confession’, p. 22.

148 Zhang Qing, ‘Huiyi xin Zhongguo diyidai lingdaoren dui Jianpuzhaide bangzhu [Recollection of the assistance by the People's Republic of China's first generation leaders to Cambodia]’, Around Southeast Asia 2 (2003): 21–6, cited in Wang Chenyi, ‘The Chinese Communist Party's relationship with the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s: An ideological victory and a strategic failure’ (Washington, DC: Cold War International History Project, Working Paper 88, 2018), p. 12. See also Galway, ‘Boundless revolution’, p. 146.

149 Phouk Chhay, ‘Ampi sakammopheap robsa khnhom nhoum now knongmonitir Angkar [On my activities in the office of the Organisation]’, S-21, Tuol Sleng prison, 5 Apr. 1977, pp. 11–12. On SONAPRIM, see Laura Summers, ‘The sources of economic grievance in Sihanouk's Cambodia’, Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science 14, 1 (1986): 16–34.

150 Gina Chon and Sambath Thet, Behind the killing fields: A Khmer Rouge leader and one of his victims (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvannia Press, 2010), pp. 107–10.

151 Kiernan, The Pol Pot regime, p. 350.

152 Hu Nim, ‘Planning the past: The forced confessions of Hu Nim (Tuol Sleng prison, May–June 1977)’, trans. Chanthou Boua, in Chandler et al., Pol Pot plans the future, pp. 245, 281. See also Chandler, Voices from S-21, pp. 62–3; and Koy Thuon, ‘Sakam mapheap kabot padevat rebos khnom (Koy Thuon) [On my (Koy Thuon's) activities in betrayal of the revolution]’, Tuol Sleng prison, 5 Feb. 1977, pp. 3–7.

153 Phouk Chhay, ‘Ampi’, p. 3. Also quoted in Ben Kiernan, The Pol Pot regime: Race, power and genocide under the Khmer Rouge, 1975–1975 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008), p. 320.

154 For details of his arrest and alleged ‘plots against Angkar’, see Toch Kham Doeun, ‘Confession of Toch Kham Doeun, alias Tauch’, pp. 59, 77–8. Monash Collections Online, http://repository.monash.edu/items/show/1310 (accessed 27 May 2020).

155 Phouk, ‘Ampi’, pp. 13–15; and Kiernan, The Pol Pot regime, pp. 352, 447, citing Hu, ‘Planning the past’, p. 227. On the CPK takeover of Phnom Penh (so described as a ‘ghost town’, sicheng) from the perspective of underground CCP spy Ng Xibeng (aka Tie Ge), see Zhulang meihe, pp. 648–73.