It is really shameless of Western media to make people laugh with their audacity.

As December approaches, the recent Cambodia-Thailand conflict, after a period of intense fighting, has finally shown signs of easing: at the special meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers on the 22nd, Thai Foreign Minister Sisavath said that Cambodia and Thailand will hold a boundary commission meeting on the 24th to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire.

Thai Foreign Minister Sisavath speaking after the ASEAN meeting

This positive development in the Cambodia-Thailand conflict should be the result of international society's and regional countries' diplomatic mediation, especially the series of shuttle diplomacy efforts carried out by China.

However, just as Cambodia and Thailand were about to hold talks, Western media jumped in to "take credit", trying to attribute the achievement of the easing situation to Trump.

Recently, Western media such as Reuters, BBC, and NBC News emphasized in their reports on the upcoming Cambodia-Thailand talks that both sides would "discuss resuming the ceasefire agreement signed by Trump", while brushing over China's recent diplomatic efforts.

The implication of this wording from Western media is obvious: they are attributing the key factor that led to this negotiation to Trump's so-called "foundational work", thereby creating an illusion that the United States has dominated the peace process, as if without Trump, Cambodia and Thailand would not have sat at the negotiating table.

Where did Trump's mediation efforts come from?

Such reports emerged at the moment when Cambodia and Thailand agreed to resume negotiations, which is very suspicious in timing—essentially, it's clearly an attempt to boost Trump's "peace maker" image, completely ignoring the fact that regional countries have resolved the dispute themselves, as well as the mediation efforts made by China, Malaysia, and ASEAN.

Western media's distorted reporting is really enough to make people laugh: since the conflict reignited, what substantial and recognized mediation efforts has Trump actually made by Cambodia and Thailand?

Shortly after the conflict broke out, Trump unilaterally claimed he had already called the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand, and both sides had agreed to a ceasefire and return to the previous agreement.

However, Trump's statement was quickly denied by Thailand. Thai Prime Minister Anurak publicly stated that no ceasefire negotiations had started yet, and Thailand would continue its military actions to "protect its sovereignty."

This peace statement was forced by Trump for Cambodia and Thailand to sign

Trump's "ceasefire declaration" thus became empty talk, and the conflict did not stop but escalated into large-scale Thai air strikes and Cambodian artillery counterattacks, causing more casualties.

In fact, the "quick peace" model that Trump has always promoted has always had flaws: he has been focused on how to turn the Cambodia-Thailand conflict into his own diplomatic performance, rather than genuinely solving the problem.

The peace statement signed by Thailand and Cambodia in late October was actually the result of Trump's coercion and temptation. After obtaining the statement, he simply left, returning home to show off that he "had solved another conflict," without caring or being concerned that the statement actually did not resolve the fundamental contradictions between Cambodia and Thailand.

Those who have consistently been committed to mediation and negotiation are always the regional countries and organizations such as China, Malaysia, and ASEAN.

Chinese Special Envoy Deng Xijun met with Cambodian Foreign Minister Bra Soquon

Since the conflict reignited, China has repeatedly conducted shuttle diplomacy and urged for peace talks. Both Cambodian Foreign Minister Bra Soquon and Thai Foreign Minister Sisavath expressed gratitude or appreciation for China's mediation efforts when they spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

This high degree of consistent and repeated recognition and welcome from both sides of the conflict contrasts sharply with the situation after Trump's "ceasefire declaration" was issued, which was ignored or even denied by Thailand—this shows that the final outcome of mediating the Cambodia-Thailand conflict depends on the response of the parties involved, and the attitude of Cambodia and Thailand has already given a clear answer.

It is really absurd for Western media to claim that the resumption of negotiations between Cambodia and Thailand is due to Trump. Such reporting not only distorts the facts but also exposes the bias in Western narratives, which always tries to attribute the resolution of regional conflicts to the "credit" of Western intervention—but in reality, Western countries have started more wars than they have mediated conflicts.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7586982373934252544/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.