Wang Xiao Jiao, the Chinese supervisor who tore up the picture of ex-King Sihanouk, was arrested by the police. RFA/Vichey Anandh
By SOPHENG CHEANG,
Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Factory managers expressed regret and
dismissed a Chinese supervisor on Monday after angry Cambodian garment
factory workers demanded that she be punished for tearing up a poster of their late former king.
More than 1,000 workers marched to the
Royal Palace after the head of the sewing section of two related
factories ripped in half a portrait of former King Norodom Sihanouk she
had seized from a worker before the morning shift began. She accused the
employees of shirking work.
Sihanouk, who led Cambodia through a
half-century of peace and war, died Oct. 15 in Beijing. His body was
returned last Wednesday to Cambodia, where a week of official mourning
was declared.
Factory manager Khuch Osaphea said the management of
the Chinese-owned factories expressed regret over the incident and
dismissed the Chinese supervisor and handed her over to authorities for
legal action.
Garment exports are Cambodia's major foreign
exchange earner, and as many as 400,000 people work in hundreds of
factories in the Phnom Penh area.
The government tries to strike a
balance between workers' demands for higher pay and employers' desires
to keep wages low. Many factories are subcontractors for large Western
brands. The factories involved in Monday's incident produce trousers for
U.S. and European markets.
Phnom Penh city police chief Lt. Gen.
Chuon Sovann said the supervisor was arrested on charges of insulting
the king and inciting public disorder, and would be brought to court
Tuesday where she could be formally charged by prosecutors.
He
said that if police had not arrived on time, the woman would have been
in danger of being physically attacked by the workers, "but after
receiving assurances from the police that she would face justice for
what she did, they were fully understanding."
One worker, So
Sareth, said she did not understand why China's government had honored
Sihanouk and yet the Chinese supervisor could act so disrespectfully.
"Today
this woman dares to tear up the picture of our king, next time she will
commit a crime against us workers if she is not punished now," So
Sareth said.
The workers traveled by foot and truck to the palace,
carrying another portrait of Sihanouk. When they arrived, they all
knelt before a giant portrait of the late king on the palace wall, to
which they expressed regret for his portrait being destroyed.
A food vendor who sells meals to the workers in front of the factories said he also stopped business Monday to join the protest.
"She had insulted our king. Her act cannot be tolerated," Sokun Theara said.
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