45th Anniversary of Cambodia-China Diplomatic ties: Joint Commemorative Issue, July 19, 2003

By Graham Shaw

In what is, to my knowledge, the first-ever appearance of a non-Cambodian stamp on a Cambodian First Day Cover (FDC), the Kingdom of Cambodia and the People's Republic of China celebrated the 45th Anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries with a special joint commemorative issue on July 19, 2003.

Figure 1: This commemorative set of two Kingdom of Cambodia stamps show Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the Great Wall of China in the People's Republic.

It appears that the set was issued with the two stamps attached to each other rather than as singular items. Both stamps each have a face value of 2000 Cambodian Riel (approx. US$0.50). So far, I have not seen these stamps used for regular postage from the central post office in Phnom Penh, perhaps because they are only meant to be a symbolic gesture of political good-will rather than for every-day postal use in, and from, the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Figure 2: The Joint Commemorative FDC issued by Cambodia and China on July 19, 2003.

The FDC is unique in Cambodian philatelic history, as far as I know, in that it includes one 80 Yuan stamp issued by the People's Republic of China showing a colourful flower collection. In addition, the FDC includes a commemorative handstamp in Chinese as well as a dual language Cambodian (Khmer) and English commemorative handstamp.

Another point to note is that the FDC postmark cancelling the two Cambodian stamps is in Khmer and English whereas the later FDC commemorating the 50th anniversary of Cambodia's independence from France, on November 9, 2003, has the postmark in Khmer and French. Perhaps this simply relates to the fact that the November 9 FDC clearly relates to an event concerning Cambodia and France and therefore it was decided by the MPTC that it would be more appropriate to use Khmer and French text on the postmark; this is only a hypothesis, however.

Figure 4a-b: The Khmer and English language postmarks on the joint Cambodia-China First Day Cover of July 19, 2003.

Of particular note here is the absence of the Khmer language translation of the English text that appears horizontally in the middle of the postmark. Another point of interest is that the large flags on the bottom left of the joint FDC (see Figure 5a) have the Chinese flag on the left and the Cambodian flag on the right whereas the commemorative postmark has the flags in reverse order; perhaps this is part of the mutual respect being shown by the two countries during the anniversary.

Figures 5a-b: On the left is a close-up of the Chinese and Cambodian flags and on the right are the same flags, but transposed, as shown in the centre of the FDC postmark.

On the reverse side of the FDC is information in the Khmer and Chinese languages (see Figure 6). I am unable to translate the Chinese text. However, the Khmer text states:

"45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic friendship between the Republic of China and the Kingdom of Cambodia – ceremonial anniversary envelope.

The 19th day of July in the year 2003 is the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic friendship between the Republic of China and the Kingdom of Cambodia. A Chinese company made the stamps and envelope published for this anniversary."

The same text appears above the two large flags on the lower, left of the FDC's front cover. Note that the Khmer text does not state the People's Republic of China but simply the Republic of China.

Figure 6: Chinese and Khmer language text provides information related to this limited edition joint FDC issue.

In addition, to the lower right hand side of the rear text appears the names, in Khmer, of the designers of the FDC with – I assume – the equivalent stated in Chinese text to the lower left. The Khmer language text translates as follows:

Therefore, the FDC can be considered as a limited issue. The cost of this FDC at the philatelic sale desk at the central post office in Phnom Penh on the day of issue was US$3.00. It also appears that the printer of the joint FDC is the China National Philatelic Corporation as their logo appears on the rear of the FDC at the top, right hand corner.

Figure 8: A close-up of the logo of the CNPC who appear to have played a major role in funding the production of the joint FDC.

For an interesting review of variations of this FDC, please visit the blog of Patrick Fung at: