China has multiple strong interests to broker lasting ceasefire

China has multiple strong interests in wanting to broker a lasting ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia, not least to protect its extensive strategic investments and economic corridors in both countries.

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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.

“We appreciated the efforts of the US... But sometimes, you know, we cannot always operate on a fixed timeframe,” he told reporters on Dec 22.

Cambodia had welcomed the US efforts then, eager for international intervention to help its cause.

Thailand suspended the US-brokered peace deal in November after accusing Cambodia of laying new landmines, which Thailand says have now maimed 11 of its soldiers, including one on Dec 29.

Fighting reignited after both sides accused the other of firing first in an exchange of gunfire, prompting Thailand to launch air strikes into Cambodia on Dec 8, before a fresh ceasefire was agreed on Dec 27.