Pol Pot and Mao Zedong

(In translation) China had once been a supporter of the Red Khmer.  Up until now, it is rare to see a serious reflection of the history of "oh comrade, oh brother".  Pol Pot claimed to be "Mao Zedong's pupil" (see p.222 of Guoji Guangjiao).  I have Sihanouk's memoir at hand.  The book is about the history before the 1970 Lon Nol coup.  Sihanouk mentions the Red Khmer, his rival: "Because of the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese, my true friends, also proactively supported the Red Khmer (see p.431 of the Chinese edition, Heilongjiang People's Publishing, 1987 August, 1st Edition)."

By Liuyedao
Guangzhou's New Express via 163

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In 1970, Mao Zedong was photographed shaking hands with Ieng Sary, who ranked third in the Red Khmer.  The man in the middle is Pol Pot.  Image: news.china.com

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Baidu "波尔布特" (Pol Pot), Chinese internet users will get a Baidu Baike entry:-

(In translation) Pol Pot or Saloth Sar (1925-1998), a determined warrior for Marxist Communism ...

You've got the flavour.  There is no mention of slaughter or China's support.

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PS:
This post is a response to a Chinese article on Cambodia (an ESWN Recommended Reading, hit tip SN).

In fact, the New Express feature is the only mainstream media source which touches on the Pol Pot-Mao Zedong relationship.  True it is that there are some internet forum or blog posts - but all of which I managed to glean are unsourced.  It is a crude reminder of the nature of Chinese media/internet: it's massive but empty.

Comments

[feng37]

Mao's not flipping Pol Pot the bird is he?

[lfc]

Chairman Mao had a humble moment in his life:-

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,749479,00.html

It is 1975 and Khmer Rouge troops are forcibly evacuating Phnom Penh's residents to the countryside - an exodus that will ultimately lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Monitoring events from Beijing, an elderly Mao Zedong asks visiting Vietnamese leader Le Duan whether he could ever mount such a merciless purge. Le Duan shakes his head. "No," marvels Mao. "We couldn't do it either."

I am Khmer i think all leader of china make khmer fall in genocice regime

[edfa]

pol pot was a dirt man
d

[sifsd]

STInky Stinky