China steps out of the shadows to take credit for Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire efforts

For months, China seemed content to cede the diplomatic initiative to a bullish Trump administration as border tensions flared between Cambodia and Thailand, with Beijing stressing that it has "its own way" of mediating the deadly conflict.

- Philip Wen Regional Correspondent Yew Lun Tian Senior Correspondent

But as China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Dec 29 hosted his Cambodian and Thai counterparts for three-way talks in the immediate aftermath of a newly brokered ceasefire, Beijing appeared not just ready for its share of credit as peacemaker, but also eager to assert that its steadier, lower-key diplomatic approach was, in fact, superior to Washington's.

"China's efforts to promote peace and dialogue never impose on others or overstep its bounds," Foreign Minister Wang told his Thai counterpart Sihasak Phuangketkeow in a separate bilateral meeting on Dec 28, in China's southwestern Yunnan province.

The Global Times, a state-run nationalist tabloid, went further. "Unlike many past mediations dominated by the West, China does not adopt a condescending approach, impose political conditions or seek geopolitical advantages," it said in a Dec 29 editorial.

The remarks were a barely disguised criticism aimed at Washington's attempts to defuse the conflict between the two Southeast Asian neighbours.

As fighting first broke out in July, US President Donald Trump threatened punitive tariffs on Cambodia and Thailand as part of ongoing trade negotiations.

The approach was initially heralded as the key catalyst that brought about an unconditional ceasefire on July 28, after five days of fighting. But political analysts say that, with the benefit of hindsight, the manufactured ceasefire papered over fundamental differences that neither side was ready to compromise on.

Mr Sihasak himself would later allude to the Trump administration’s bruising tactics, saying that a subsequent joint declaration which expanded on the July ceasefire with Cambodia had been “rushed”.

The US wanted the declaration, which it calls the “Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords”, ready for when Mr Trump was due to preside over its signing ceremony on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in the Malaysian capital on Oct 26, Mr Sihasak said.