On the early morning of July 28, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet published an article detailing the arrangements for this ceasefire negotiation. It can be seen that it is a five-party dialogue model of "Thailand-Cambodia + ASEAN + China-US", which is very interesting and worth careful interpretation.

Firstly, in his post, Hun Manet clearly defined the roles of each party in the mediation negotiations:

1. This ceasefire was initiated by President Trump;

2. This ceasefire negotiation was proposed and hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar;

3. The United States co-organized this mediation activity;

4. China will participate in this ceasefire negotiation;

Therefore, the entire logic is very clear. After yesterday's call between Trump and the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia, the US originally wanted to host this negotiation, but Thailand and Cambodia seem to think it is more appropriate for ASEAN to host it, so they requested Malaysia as the host country for this time.

More interestingly, ASEAN has fully demonstrated its own great power balancing diplomatic skills, as well as its "bamboo diplomacy" of swaying between major powers. It is likely that under the arrangement and coordination of Thailand, Cambodia, and ASEAN, China was also invited to participate in this ceasefire negotiation. On one hand, ASEAN aims to achieve strategic balance between China and the US in Southeast Asia; on the other hand, it is also using China to balance the US, preventing the US from imposing its will on the negotiation parties.

Therefore, this five-party dialogue model of "ASEAN + Thailand-Cambodia + China-US" may be the best choice under the current situation. As the two major powers in the international community, China and the US, as important partners of Thailand and Cambodia, can provide important "credit guarantees" for this negotiation, and ensure the long-term and stability of the ceasefire. More importantly, the symbolic significance is that if China and the US can work together to promote peace in Southeast Asia and beyond, it is something that other countries and regions around the world would welcome.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1838845088224263/

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