• Politics

PM Hun Sen Pays Tribute to Japan's Ex-PM Abe at Embassy

• By Phoung Vantha
• July 11, 2022 5:56 PM

PHNOM PENH – Prime Minister Hun Sen led a delegation of senior government officials to pay tribute to the ex-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Japanese Embassy in Phnom Penh on the afternoon of July 11.

Expressing his deep condolences over Abe’s passing, he said that he was a prominent Japanese statesman who was widely recognized and praised for his capable leadership in advancing Japan's progress and its active contribution to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world. 

“On behalf of the Government and the people of Cambodia, I would like to express my deepest condolences and deepest sympathies to the families of the deceased as well as to the Japanese government and the people for this great loss,” Hun Sen wrote on the condolence book displayed by the Japanese representation in Cambodia.

Shinzo Abe has worked closely with him to further enhance bilateral relations between Cambodia and Japan during his tenure as Prime Minister. In 2013, the two countries upgraded their bilateral cooperation to a strategic partnership, the prime minister recalled. 

On July 9, Hun Sen expressed to Japan his condolences and those of the whole country over Abe’s death. July 10 was then set as a day of mourning by the Cambodian government, with flags at half-mast at public and private institutions, also suspending the sale of alcohol. 

The Japanese Embassy said that notebooks of condolences will be on display at the embassy in Phnom Penh on July 13, so people can come and sign them. The Japanese consular office in Siem Reap also gave people the opportunity to sign condolence books on July 11.

Abe, 67, died in hospital in the Western prefecture of Nara on Friday July 7, hours after being shot during a speech in a street.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, of Nara City, had been arrested at the scene. He is detained on suspicion of attempted murder.