Beijing urges Cambodia to ‘severely punish’ perpetrators after killings of two Chinese nationals

PHNOM PENH: China’s embassy in Cambodia has called on local authorities to “severely punish” the perpetrators of two killings involving Chinese nationals last month. 

In an embassy statement released on Monday (Aug 4), Chinese officials said the incidents had occurred separately in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the surrounding Kandal province. 

Both victims, a 43-year-old woman surnamed Zhang and a 39-year-old man surnamed Dong, had been staying at a hotel in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, according to Cambodian media reports.

Cambodian police first received missing reports of two Chinese nationals on Jul 18. 

After days of searching, police discovered the victims’ bodies in a river in Kandal province on Jul 23.

Forensic examinations confirmed that both victims were killed before their bodies had been dumped into the river.

Cambodian police have also arrested seven Chinese suspects in connection with the case, local media reports said. 

Three suspects were arrested on Jul 31 near the Sihanoukville Expressway while four others, Chinese nationals aged 32 to 48, were arrested in a separate operation carried out at a residential property in Phnom Penh on Aug 2.