Cambodian, Thai officials meet in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR—Thai and Cambodian officials met in Malaysia on Monday for talks since a tense ceasefire last week after five days of deadly border clashes that killed dozens and displaced over 260,000 people.
The four-day General Border Committee meetings were agreed to be held a neutral venue in Malaysia, the annual chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The July 28 ceasefire followed economic pressure from President Donald Trump, who had warned the two warring nations that the United States would not conclude trade deals with them if the fighting persisted. Washington lowered tariffs on goods from the two countries from 36 percent to 19 percent on Aug. 1 following the truce.
Monday’s talks focused on ironing out details to avoid further clashes. Discussions of the decadeslong competing territorial claims over the pockets of land near the shared border are not on the agenda.
Centuries-old feud
Thailand and Cambodia have been feuding neighbors for centuries, since both were mighty empires. In modern times, a 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice awarding Cambodia the land on which the ancient Preah Vihear temple stands marked a new low point in relations, and other border territory remained claimed by both countries.
Fighting erupted in 2011 at Preah Vihear, after which the International Court of Justice in 2013 reaffirmed its earlier ruling, rankling Thailand. Relations deteriorated again sharply in May this year, when a Cambodian soldier was shot dead in a brief fracas in one of the disputed border zones, setting off diplomatic and trade sanctions, one against the other.
Soon after two incidents last month in which Thai soldiers were wounded by land mines in disputed territory, for which Thailand blamed Cambodia, the two sides downgraded diplomatic relations and fighting broke out, each side blaming the other for starting the armed clashes.
Thai Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Natthaphon Nakpanit is leading a delegation that includes representatives of all branches of the military, in addition to the police force and the ministries of foreign affairs, interior and defense, as well as the National Security Council.
