On that day, Sihanouk was in Moscow meeting Soviet foreign minister Alexei Kosygin, who broke the news as he was being driven to the Moscow airport. From Moscow, Sihanouk flew to Beijing, where he was received by Zhou. Zhou arranged for the North Vietnamese Prime Minister, Pham Van Dong to fly to Beijing from Hanoi and meet with Sihanouk. Zhou greeted Sihanouk very warmly, telling him that China still recognized as the legitimate leader of Cambodia and would pressing North Korea together with several Middle Eastern and African nations not to recognize Lon Nol's government, saying that once China issued its declaration of support "the Soviet Union will be embarrassed and will have to reconsider". Both Zhou and Dong encouraged Sihanouk to rebel against Lon Nol and promised him military and financial support. On 23 March 1970, Sihanouk announced the formation of his resistance movement, the National United Front of Kampuchea (FUNK). He encouraged the Cambodian populace to join him and fight against Lon Nol's government. Sihanouk was revered by the Khmer peasantry as a god-like figure, and his endorsement of the Khmer Rouge had immediate effects. The royal family was so revered that Lon Nol after the coup went to the royal palace, knelt at the feet of the queen mother and begged her forgiveness for deposing her son. Khmer Rouge soldiers broadcast Sihanouk's message in the Cambodian countryside, which roused demonstrations rooting for his cause that were brutally suppressed by Lon Nol's troops. Sometime later, on 5 May 1970, Sihanouk announced the formation of a government-in-exile known as the Royal Government of the National Union of Kampuchea (GRUNK), leading Communist countries including China, North Vietnam, and North Korea to break relations with the Lon Nol regime. In Phnom Penh, a military trial convened on 2 July 1970, whereby Sihanouk was charged with treason and corruption in his capacity as Head of State. After a three-day trial, the judges ruled Sihanouk guilty of both charges and sentenced to him death in absentia on 5 July 1970.