Editing Norodom Sihanouk (section)

===Continued leadership as Head of State (1966–1970)===
[[File:Sihanouk 1967.jpg|thumb|Sihanouk in 1967]]
In September 1966, [[1966 Cambodian general election|general elections]] were held,{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=187}} and Sangkum legislators with conservative and right-wing sympathies dominated the national assembly. In turn, they nominated [[Lon Nol]], a military general who shared their political sympathies, as prime minister. However, their choice did not sit well with Sihanouk.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=188}} To counterbalance conservative and right-wing influence, in October 1966 Sihanouk set up a [[state within a state|shadow government]] made up of Sangkum legislators with left-wing sympathies.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=156}} At the end of the month, Lon Nol offered to resign from his position, but was stopped from doing so by Sihanouk.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=189}}

In April 1967, the [[Samlaut Uprising]] occurred, with local peasants fighting against government troops in Samlaut, [[Battambang Province|Battambang]].{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=164}} As soon as government troops managed to quell the fighting,{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=190}} Sihanouk began to suspect that three left-wing Sangkum legislators{{snds}}Khieu Samphan, Hou Yuon and Hu Nim{{snds}}had incited the rebellion.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=193}} When Sihanouk threatened to charge Khieu Samphan and Hou Yuon before a military tribunal, they fled into the jungle to join the [[Khmer Rouge]], leaving Hu Nim behind.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=166}}

[[Lon Nol]] resigned as prime minister in early May 1967, and Sihanouk appointed [[Son Sann]] in his place.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=193}} At the same time, Sihanouk replaced conservative-leaning ministers appointed by Lon Nol with [[technocrats]] and left-leaning politicians.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=166}} In the later part of the month, after receiving news that the Chinese embassy in Cambodia had published and distributed Communist propaganda to the Cambodian populace praising the [[Cultural Revolution]],{{sfnp|Cohen|1968|p=18}} Sihanouk accused China of supporting local [[Chinese Cambodians]] in engaging in "contraband" and "subversive" activities.{{sfnp|Cohen|1968|p=19}}

In August 1967, Sihanouk sent to China his Foreign Minister, [[Norodom Phurissara]], who unsuccessfully urged Zhou to stop the Chinese embassy from disseminating Communist propaganda.{{sfnp|Cohen|1968|p=25}} In response, Sihanouk closed the Cambodia{{nsndns}}Chinese Friendship Association in September 1967. When the Chinese government protested,{{sfnp|Cohen|1968|p=26}} Sihanouk threatened to close the Chinese embassy in Cambodia.{{sfnp|Cohen|1968|p=28}} Zhou stepped in to placate Sihanouk,{{sfnp|Cohen|1968|p=29}} and compromised by instructing its embassy to send its publications to Cambodia's [[Ministry of Information (Cambodia)|information ministry]] for vetting prior to distribution.{{sfnp|Cohen|1968|p=28}}

As relations with China worsened, Sihanouk pursued [[rapprochement]] with the US. He learned that Kennedy's widow, [[Jacqueline Kennedy]], had expressed a desire to see [[Angkor Wat]].{{sfnp|Langguth|2000|p=543}} Seeing this as an opportunity to restore relations with the US, Sihanouk invited her to visit Cambodia and personally hosted her visit in October 1967.{{sfnp|Marlay|Neher|1999|p=162}} Jacqueline Kennedy's visit paved the way for Sihanouk to meet with [[Chester Bowles]], the US ambassador to India. To Bowles, Sihanouk expressed his willingness to restore bilateral relations with the US, hinted at the presence of Viet Cong troops in Cambodia, and suggested he would turn a blind eye should US forces enter Cambodia to attack Viet Cong troops retreating into Cambodia from South Vietnam—a practice known as "''hot pursuit''"—provided that Cambodians were unharmed.{{sfnmp|Osborne|1994|1p=195|Clymer|2013|2pp=14–16}}

Silhanouk told Bowles that he disliked the Vietnamese as a people, saying he had no love for any Vietnamese, red, blue, North or South".{{sfnp|Langguth|2000|p=543}} Kenton Clymer notes that this statement "cannot reasonably be construed to mean that Sihanouk approved of the intensive, ongoing [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress|B-52]] bombing raids" the US launched in eastern Cambodia beginning in March 1969 as part of [[Operation Menu]], adding: "In any event, no one asked him.&nbsp;... Sihanouk was never asked to approve the B-52 bombings, and he never gave his approval."{{sfnp|Clymer|2013|pp=14–16}} The bombing forced the Viet Cong to flee from their jungle sanctuaries and seek refuge in populated towns and villages.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=173}}

As a result, Sihanouk became concerned that Cambodia might get drawn into fighting in the [[Vietnam War]]. In June 1969, he extended diplomatic recognition to the [[Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam]] (PRGSV),{{sfnp|Sihanouk|1973|p=40}} hoping that he could get the Viet Cong troops under its charge to leave Cambodia should they win the war. At the same time, he also openly admitted the presence of Viet Cong troops in Cambodia for the first time,{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=184}} prompting the US to restore formal diplomatic relations with Cambodia three months later.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=139}}

As the Cambodian economy was stagnating due to systemic corruption,{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=205}} Sihanouk opened two casinos{{snds}}in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville{{snds}}in January 1969.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=185}} While the casinos satisfied his aim of generating state revenues of up to 700 million riels in that year, it also caused a sharp increase in the number of bankruptcies and suicides.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=185}} In August 1969 Lon Nol was reappointed as Prime Minister, with [[Sisowath Sirik Matak]] as his deputy. Two months later, Lon Nol left Cambodia to seek medical treatment, leaving Sirik Matak to run the government. Between October and December 1969, Sirik Matak instituted several policy changes that ran contrary to Sihanouk's wishes, such as allowing private banks to re-open in the country and devaluing the riel. He also encouraged ambassadors to write to Lon Nol directly, instead of going through Sihanouk, angering the latter.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=189}} In early January 1970, Sihanouk left Cambodia for medical treatment in France.{{sfnp|Jeldres|2005|p=70}} Shortly after he left, Sirik Matak took the opportunity to close down the casinos.{{sfnp|Marlay|Neher|1999|p=164}}