Chau Seng ( km, ចៅ សេង, 15 March 19291977) was a Cambodian

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

politician. Seng was a Khmer Krom. Born in commune of

Tri Tôn Tri Tôn is an urban municipality (''trấn thuộc huyện'') and town in the Tri Tôn District of An Giang Province, Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country ...

Châu Đốc Province An Giang () is a province of Vietnam. It is located in the Mekong Delta, in the southwestern part of the country. Geography An Giang occupies a position in the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta. The Hậu Giang and Tiền Giang branches o ...

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...

(in present-day

An Giang Province An Giang () is a province of Vietnam. It is located in the Mekong Delta, in the southwestern part of the country. Geography An Giang occupies a position in the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta. The Hậu Giang and Tiền Giang branches o ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

). He was a cousin of

Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum Chau Sen Cocsal ( km, ចៅ សែនកុសលឈុំ, ; 1 September 1905 – 22 January 2009), also known as Chhum (Khmer: ឈុំ, ), was a Cambodian civil servant and politician who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia in 1962 and Pres ...

. Educated in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, he became a communist. On his return to Cambodia, he had become Norodom Sihanouk's private secretary. He joint the

Sangkum The Sangkum Reastr Niyum ( km, សង្គមរាស្ត្រនិយម, , ;Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Langu ...

on 13 April 1957 together with

Hou Yuon Hou Yuon ( km, ហ៊ូ យន់, 1930 – August 1975 (or later)) was a veteran of the communist movement in Cambodia. A member of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as the Khmer Rouge, he served in several ministerial posts dur ...

and

Hu Nim Hu Nim (, 25 July 1930 or 1932 – 6 July 1977), alias "Phoas" (), was a Cambodian Communist intellectual and politician who held a number of ministerial posts. His long political career included spells with the Sangkum regime of Prince Norodom ...

. In the same year, Chau Seng was elected a member of

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. After that he was appointed under-secretary, and later secretary of state for education. In 1967, he was rector of the Buddhist University. Seng made a national attempt at Cambodianization, however it was failed. After the

Cambodian coup of 1970 Cambodian usually refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Cambodia ** Cambodian people (or Khmer people) ** Cambodian language (or Khmer language) ** For citizens and nationals of Cambodia, see Demographics of Cambodia ** For ...

in which Sihanouk was ousted by

Lon Nol Marshal Lon Nol ( km, លន់ នល់, also ; 13 November 1913 – 17 November 1985) was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice (1966–67; 1969–71), as well as serving repeatedly as defence min ...

, Chau Seng served as the Minister for Special Missions of the

GRUNK The Royal Government of the National Union of Kampuchea (french: Gouvernement royal d'union nationale du Kampuchéa, GRUNK; km, រាជរដ្ឋាភិបាលរួបរួមជាតិកម្ពុជា) was a government-in-exile ...

government, the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

-based

government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a Sovereign state, country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Govern ...

that was formed as a coalition between Sihanouk and the communists. Seng was arrested, tortured and later executed by the Khmer Rouge at S-21 prison in 1977.

References

1929 births 1977 deaths Cambodian people of Vietnamese descent Khmer Krom people People from An Giang Province Sangkum politicians Executed Cambodian people Cambodian communists Khmer Rouge party members People who died in the Cambodian genocide {{Cambodia-politician-stub