Conflict in Southeast Asia
China invites Thailand and Cambodia for talks
Updated 12/28/2025 – 3:46 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
China now wants to mediate in the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. Foreign Minister Wang Yi has invited his counterparts to talks. The aim is to consolidate the agreed ceasefire.
After the agreed ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia, China invited the foreign ministers of the two quarreling neighboring countries to talks. As the state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the Beijing Foreign Office, Foreign Minister Wang Yi was scheduled to meet his two counterparts in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
The talks are scheduled for this Sunday and Monday. According to official information, both Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and his Thai counterpart Sihasak Phuangketkeow have now arrived in China.
In what was initially a bilateral meeting with his Cambodian counterpart, Wang appealed for both sides to work toward a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire and rebuild trust, according to Xinhua. Sokhonn said he hoped the trilateral talks would help achieve lasting peace.
Representatives of the armed forces of China, Thailand and Cambodia are also expected to take part in the deliberations. The aim is to consolidate the agreed ceasefire, resume exchanges and build political trust between the two neighboring states. China wants to provide a platform for this and says it wants to play a constructive role in stabilizing bilateral relations.
Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an immediate ceasefire on Saturday after weeks of fighting along their shared border. The ceasefire should initially be monitored for 72 hours to ensure its implementation. According to official figures, more than 100 people were killed in the fighting and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee on both sides of the border.
According to reports, the ceasefire initially appeared to be holding. Many residents displaced by the violence have already returned to their home villages on the border, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported.
The background to the hostilities is a decades-long dispute over territorial claims that has its roots in the colonial period in the 19th century. There had already been heavy fighting in July with numerous deaths; After a few days, a ceasefire was agreed under pressure from US President Donald Trump. But in November the ceasefire was suspended after another border incident. Since December 7th, the situation has worsened and, following a border skirmish, new fighting broke out at several points along the border. Both sides accused each other of being responsible for the escalation.
