Public angered over Chinese woman’s ‘forced kowtow’
A handcuffed Chinese woman (R) kowtows as she apologizes in front of a portrait of the late former King Norodom Sihanouk at a garment factory in Phnom Penh on Monday. At least 1,000 Cambodian workers surrounded the factory to demand that the Chinese woman apologize after she had torn up Norodom's portrait. Photo: AFP
Pictures showing a Chinese woman who tore up former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk's photos being forced by Cambodian police to kneel down in front of the king's portrait have triggered controversy among the Chinese public.
Although the Chinese government Tuesday expressed support for Cambodian authorities in holding the woman responsible for breaking local laws, some said making a Chinese citizen kowtow before a foreign king was illegal and too much to bear.
According to Xinhua, the woman, surnamed Wang, a production manager at a garment factory in Phnom Penh, used scissors to cut up two portraits of Norodom Sihanouk while workers mourned the former king, who passed away on October 15 in Beijing.
After the incident, around 1,000 workers walked to the Royal Palace demanding she be punished. The woman was then handed over to local authorities, media reports said.
A local court sentenced Wang to a suspended one-year jail term and fined her $ 750. She is also facing deportation.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday that the woman's act was "extremely wrong," and it would be dealt with under Cambodian laws.
Sihanouk was considered the father of Cambodia's independence and gained tremendous support from the Chinese government during his tumultuous life. Chinese leaders, led by President Hu Jintao, sent condolences to his widow and the Cambodian people last week.
"At that time, Cambodians were in sadness, and they are sensitive," Nguon Serath, an editor from the Cambodia Herald in Phnom Penh, told the Global Times. "According to Cambodian laws, the king cannot be violated."
He also said that foreigners should understand local culture and laws when they are in a foreign country.
Reactions back in China were mixed. Some said the Chinese woman should respect the dead.
Others said they cannot tolerate seeing a fellow citizen being forced to mourn a foreign leader while handcuffed, and expected the country to do more to protect its people overseas. They cited cases involving foreign citizens breaking laws in China, including a British citizen sentenced to death for drug trafficking, in which their governments still asked China to show some leniency or pardon the suspects.
source: global times
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