by Tom Parisi
While visiting Beijing earlier this summer for a conference, NIU Presidential Research Professor Kenton Clymer and his wife, Marlee, received a rare audience with Norodom Sihanouk, the King Father of Cambodia, and his wife Monique, the Queen Mother.
Clymer is a leading scholar on the history of U.S. relations with Cambodia, having written three books on the topic, two of which together won a major award.
Sihanouk figured prominently in those books. He became Cambodia’s king in 1941. He abdicated in 1955 and became a prince, a move that better positioned him to be more directly involved in the country’s political affairs.
“He ran the country as Prince Sihanouk until 1970, when he was overthrown in a coup that Sihanouk blamed on the CIA. He was so angry that he threw in his lot with the Khmer Rouge rebels,” Clymer says.
“Sihanouk wanted to negotiate with Henry Kissinger, but Kissinger refused to talk with him – one of the great tragedies of the early 1970s, in my view,” Clymer adds. “This may have resulted in the Khmer Rouge victory in 1975 and the ‘killing fields’ that followed. Sihanouk became a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge, and they killed several of his children and other family members. Overall, about 2.3 million Cambodians perished during the Khmer Rouge’s bloody rule, which ended only when the Vietnamese army drove them from power at the end of 1978.”
In 1993, Sihanouk again became king but abdicated in 2004, allowing his son, Norodom Sihamoni, to become his successor.
Marlee Clymer knew that Sihanouk was a great admirer of films. The former king has produced many of his own movies, ranging from politically oriented feature films to love stories. Both he and his wife have even had starring roles in some of the films.
Several years ago, Marlee Clymer wrote to Sihanouk to see how she might see his films, and he began sending them to her. In turn, she donated the films to the NIU Libraries’ Southeast Asia Collection, which now boasts what might be the largest collection of Sihanouk films in the United States with more than 80 titles.
“Since we were going to Beijing this summer anyway, Marlee wrote to Sihanouk to see if we might have an audience with him,” Clymer says, adding that the former king spends much of his time at his Beijing residence.
Much to the Clymers’ surprise, they were granted an audience and met with the King Father and Queen Mother on June 1, at the Royal Residence in Beijing, the former French embassy.
The Clymers presented the royal couple with formal letters of appreciation for the films from NIU President John Peters, Center for Southeast Asian Studies Director Jim Collins, NIU Libraries Dean Patrick Dawson and Southeast Asia Collections Curator Hao Phan.
“We spent nearly 40 minutes with them, and we were very fortunate to have been able to meet with them since they have not been seeing very many people these days,” Clymer says. “Sihanouk talked with Marlee about his films. I also talked to him some about Kissinger, but he was not much interested in reviewing the past and commented that, today, relations between the United States and Cambodia are excellent.”