Cambodian youth lavish praise on China for 'safe, splendid' Winter Olympics

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian youth have praised the "safe and splendid" Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022, saying that the event has brought about peace, unity, solidarity and international cooperation.

Heang Sreypich, a third-year student majoring in Chinese literature at the Asia Euro University in Phnom Penh, said she had watched the opening ceremony of the Games and was impressed with the giant snowflake comprised hundreds of smaller counterparts featuring the names of all countries and regions participating in the Games.

"The Beijing Winter Olympics is internationally significant and it promotes world peace and cooperation as well as enhancing mutual understanding among peoples across the world," she told Xinhua.

Sreypich said the Games was a platform not only for sports but also for international exchanges of science, technology and culture.

Hor Raksmey, vice president of the Association of Cambodian Students in China, said the Games' good organization clearly reflected China's high attention to sport, which is a potential tool to promote peace, togetherness, development and international cooperation.

"I fully support the Games because it is an opportunity for athletes to show their physical ability or talent fairly after they have spent years to train," she told Xinhua.

"I believe that the Beijing Winter Olympics will bring closer friendship, solidarity and cooperation between China and other countries and it is also a good opportunity for foreign athletes and visitors to enjoy the Chinese richness of culture and civilization," she added.

She said the recent presence of Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni at the Beijing Winter Olympics truly demonstrated Cambodia's full support for the Olympics and it was a new historical milestone in China-Cambodia relations.

Raksmey said her favorite winter sport is ice hockey, and she likes the Chinese national ice hockey team led by captain Brandon Yip.

Heang Chanthou, a junior at the Asia Euro University, said the Beijing Winter Olympics was "splendid and fascinating", saying that hosting the Games on schedule in the difficult time of COVID-19 proved China's high commitment and responsibility.

"China has achieved a great success and has shown its capacity in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic to the world," he told Xinhua.

Chanthou said he likes freestyle skiing, and his idol is Chinese freestyle skier Gu Ailing.

"I can say that she is very capable since this kind of sport is difficult and dangerous, but she could overcome those obstacles and contested successfully," he said.

Sharing his view on the slogan of the Games "Together for a Shared Future", he said the phrase showed a common desire for peace, unity, common development and prosperity among the people.

"It is really meaningful, especially in the current context that the world is facing a common crisis, so the world must work together towards peace as well as sustainable development," he added.

Roeun Salong, another junior at the Asia Euro University, said he had watched the opening ceremony and competitions of different sports.

"I'm very happy to watch sports played on ice or snow because Cambodia, as we all know, has no snow like Beijing."

He said despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, China has performed its duties as the host well and the event has been held smoothly and magnificently.

Salong said his favorite sports are freestyle skiing and figure skating, and his idols are Chinese freestyle skier Gu Ailing and Russian figure skater Alexandra Trusova.

"Chinese freestyle skier Gu Ailing is a beautiful and talented athlete, and she is fiercely competitive," he said. "For Russian figure skater Alexandra Trusova, she performed a quadruple lutz jump very well and I like her pretty eyes and she is beautiful."

Speaking of the official song for the Games named after the slogan "Together for a Shared Future", he said the song was well composed and sung.

"The song is really meaningful and inspires solidarity, unity and love towards a shared future," he said.