Editing Norodom Sihanouk (section)

===1970 coup===
In January 1970, Sihanouk left Cambodia for a two-month holiday in France, spending his time at a luxury resort in the [[French Riviera]].{{sfnp|Langguth|2000|p=557}} On 11 March 1970, a large protest took place outside the North Vietnamese and Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam embassies, as protesters demanded Viet Cong troops withdraw from Cambodia. The protests turned chaotic, as protesters looted both embassies and set them on fire, alarming Sihanouk.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=211}} Sihanouk, who was in Paris at the time, considered both returning to quell the protests and visiting Moscow, Beijing, and [[Hanoi]]. He opted for the latter, thinking that he could persuade its leaders to recall Viet Cong troops to their jungle sanctuaries, where they had originally established themselves between 1964 and 1969.{{sfnp|Chandler|1991|p=195}}

Five days later, Oum Mannorine, the half-brother of Sihanouk's wife Monique, was summoned to the National Assembly to answer corruption charges.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=213}} On that night after the hearing, Mannorine ordered troops under his command to arrest Lon Nol and Sirik Matak, but ended up getting arrested by Lon Nol's troops instead. On 18 March 1970 the National Assembly voted to depose Sihanouk,{{sfnp|Sihanouk|1973|p=51}} allowing Lon Nol to assume [[State of emergency|emergency powers]].{{sfnp|Sihanouk|1973|p=50}}

[[File:Norodom Sianuc72a.jpg|thumb|Sihanouk ''(left)'' visiting Romania in 1972, with Romanian President [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]]]]
On that day, Sihanouk was in Moscow meeting Soviet prime minister [[Alexei Kosygin]], who broke the news as he was being driven to the [[Sheremetyevo International Airport|Moscow airport]].{{sfnmp|Langguth|2000|1p=558|Jeldres|2005|2p=79}} From Moscow, Sihanouk flew to Beijing, where he was received by [[Zhou Enlai]]. Zhou arranged for the North Vietnamese Prime Minister, [[Pham Van Dong]] to fly to Beijing from Hanoi and meet with Sihanouk.{{sfnp|Osborne|1994|p=218}} Zhou greeted Sihanouk very warmly, telling him that China still recognized him as the legitimate leader of Cambodia and would be pressuring North Korea, along with several Middle Eastern and African nations, not to recognize Lon Nol's government, saying that once China issued its declaration of support, "the Soviet Union will be embarrassed and will have to reconsider".{{sfnp|Langguth|2000|p=559}} Both Zhou and Dong encouraged Sihanouk to rebel against Lon Nol and promised him military and financial support.{{sfnp|Langguth|2000|p=558}}