Cambodian king returns from China after cancer treatment
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni departed for Beijing for health checks earlier in 2026 and shared his cancer diagnosis in April.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- King Norodom Sihamoni returned to Cambodia on July 3 after successful prostate cancer treatment in Beijing, with his health reported as improved by the Royal Palace.
- He was greeted by senior officials, including former leader Hun Sen and current Prime Minister Hun Manet, upon arrival.
- The king, who ascended the throne in 2004, previously lived abroad and follows his father, King Norodom Sihanouk, who also had cancer treatment in Beijing before his death in 2012.
AI generated
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni returned home on July 3 from China where he was treated for prostate cancer, according to state media, with the palace saying his health was improved.
Sihamoni, 73, departed for Beijing for health checks earlier in 2026 and shared his cancer diagnosis in April.
The king has been receiving treatment from Chinese doctors in Beijing after undergoing “successful” surgery, according to the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.
In a statement on June 30, the palace said the king’s health was “getting better” after more than three months of treatment.
Sihamoni touched down in Phnom Penh on the afternoon of July 3 and was greeted by senior Cambodian officials, including influential former leader Hun Sen and his son Hun Manet, the current prime minister, according to state-run TVK.
The king has “arrived in the country safely”, Hun Sen said in a post on his Facebook page, which also broadcast the arrival of the monarch at the airport.
A lifelong bachelor who speaks Khmer, French, Czech and English, Sihamoni spent most of his adult life abroad pursuing a career in the arts before taking the throne in 2004.
He took over the role after his father, King Norodom Sihanouk, abdicated following his own cancer treatment in Beijing. King Norodom Sihanouk died in 2012. AFP
