officiates key festivals on the Buddhist calendar. Moreover, he supports the work of the country's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts whom reportedly engages regularly in consultations with him on advancing their overall strategic agenda. Additionally, as King, he presides over the annual Bon Om Touk, a major festive cultural event on the yearly calendar with ancient roots dating back to the Khmer Empire, in conjunction with other traditionally important national events like for example, Independence Day, the Royal Ploughing Ceremony, and Khmer New Year. Furthermore, Sihamoni has been commended for his dedication to archaeological preservation, conservation and research, with specificity to Cambodia. In particular, as Honorary President of ICC-Angkor (International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of Historic Site of Angkor), King Sihamoni places special emphasis on the efforts to protect this national symbol and treasure, engaging frequently with the body's work through fulfilling representative functions or routine briefings given directly to him or via a delegated senior representative. In 2011, he attended the completion ceremony pertaining to restoration works at the Baphuon historical temple in Angkor. In late 2021, he championed Cambodia's bid for the proposed inclusion of Koh Ker, an ancient Khmer archaeological site, alongside Bokator, one of the kingdom's oldest martial arts on the UNESCO Intangible cultural heritage and World Heritage Site lists. Overseas visits In the international arena, his first official foreign trip as King was to China in 2004, where he met with President Hu Jintao, indicative of a strong friendship long established from the days of his father between China and the Cambodian royal family. Here, he routinely also undertakes bi-yearly visits to Beijing for general medical check-ups, though in a private capacity. In 2015, he attended the United Nations COP21 summit, and gave an impassioned speech highlighting the impact of the climate crisis on Cambodia and urging international efforts on this front to be expedited. He represented Cambodia at the 2019 UNESCO Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) in Beijing aimed at enhancing regional cooperation and intercultural exchange. Other notable trips include to Japan, where he was the first Cambodian sovereign since the monarchical restoration of the 1990s to visit, his "second homeland" of the Czech Republic where he spent his childhood, and France, Cambodia's former colonial power. Public image In contrast to his father, former King Norodom Sihanouk's "mercurial" reign, commentators note that Sihamoni has maintained a relatively "quiet"