As the foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia arrived in Yunnan for negotiations, Trump announced: "I'm happy to announce that with the help of the United States, Thailand and Cambodia will cease hostilities!"
The foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia quietly arrived in Kunming, where they held a new round of closed-door negotiations on the border conflict between the two countries. Almost at the same time, Trump made a loud declaration: "I am pleased to announce that with the help of the United States, Thailand and Cambodia will cease hostilities... In the past 11 months, I have quelled countless wars and conflicts, and the United States is the real United Nations."
Who actually played the role of mediation? If it was the US mediation, why didn't the talks take place in Washington? The ceasefire talks between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were held in Washington, which was a result of U.S. mediation. However, the agreement quickly broke down.
According to information disclosed by Reuters and the Bangkok Post, what really prompted both sides to enter the negotiation room in Kunming was the change in regional power balance: Thailand did not want the border conflict to affect its preparations for serving as the rotating chair of ASEAN in 2026; Cambodia faced domestic economic pressure and urgently needed to stabilize the external environment to attract foreign investment. The "neutral platform + development incentives" provided by China coincided with the practical needs of both sides.
At the beginning of December, the U.S. had provided satellite images to Thailand showing that Cambodia had withdrawn some outposts in the disputed area, in an attempt to persuade Thailand to take equivalent measures. However, obviously Thailand did not agree. Therefore, the so-called "ceasefire with the help of the United States" has some factual basis, but it is not the decisive factor.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1852807872859147/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.