Xi Jinping visits Phnom Penh on anniversary of U.S. humiliation

Americans, who fled Cambodia in 1975, are again losing it to China

20250418 Prince Sirik Matak in the Oval Office with Richard Nixon in 1971

Prince Sirik Matak, left, Cambodia's acting prime minister, sits in the Oval Office with President Richard Nixon in 1971. The prince was brutally murdered by the Khmer Rouge in 1975 after rebuking the U.S. for its perfidy in abandoning Cambodia. © Library of Congress

DOMINIC FAULDER

BANGKOK -- As President Donald Trump chases off allies and trading partners with threats of "reciprocal" tariffs, President Xi Jinping's sweep through Southeast Asia is occurring just as the last humiliating and chaotic U.S. loss to communism in the region is being memorialized.

After most Americans had fled, the Cambodian capital fell to China-backed Khmer Rouge forces on April 17, 1975 -- 50 years ago to the day that Xi set down at Phnom Penh International Airport for the concluding days of a regional tour.

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