'How wonderful it is to be here': Hundreds of cruise ship passengers long stranded at sea by virus fears cheer as they disembark and are welcomed to Cambodia by the nation's authoritarian leader, who handed them flowers.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, gives a bouquet of flowers to a passenger who disembarked from the MS Westerdam, owned by Holland America Line, at the port of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Friday, Feb. 14, 2020. Hundreds of cruise ship passengers long stranded at sea by virus fears cheered as they finally disembarked Friday and were welcomed to Cambodia.
“How wonderful it is to be here. Thank you very much to the prime minister. He has a wonderful heart,” said Anna Marie Melon, from Queensland, Australia. “I’m very excited ,” she said as she waved a rose Hun Sen handed to her. “Cambodia alone, even the United States, Guam, did not let us land, but Cambodia did, so that’s wonderful. Absolutely wonderful,” Spaziani said. “We appreciate it very very much. It’s been a long struggle and we appreciate everyone being here.”
The COVID-19 illness has sickened tens of thousands of people in China and a few hundred elsewhere, including 218 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which made stops in Hong Kong and other ports before arriving in Japan last week.A strong supporter of China, he has played down any threat from the new virus and even threatened to kick out reporters or officials seen wearing protective face masks.
“If no one allows entry, Cambodia does. The kingdom does not just cooperate with China, but with all nations,” Hun Sen said in the interview. “Coronavirus is a global challenge, and ... our humanitarian affairs have no borders.”
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