By Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet told Reuters on Tuesday that Thai forces are occupying Cambodian territory after fighting last year despite a peace accord brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, and called on Thailand to allow a joint boundary commission to begin working on their disputed border.
In his first interview with international media, Hun Manet, who took over power from his father in 2023, hailed warmer ties with Washington and said his government was working to address cyber scam centers that have proliferated in the country.
Hun Manet traveled to Washington to attend a meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace this week, and said he hoped the new body could play a role in de-escalating the situation on the border, which he described as “fragile” despite a December ceasefire that ended renewed fighting.
The board was created to oversee a Gaza peace plan, but Trump has said it could take on a broader role.
Thailand has said it is maintaining troop positions as part of de-escalation measures and has denied it is occupying territory.
“We are adhering to the joint statement, which agreed to maintain existing troop deployments. There has been no reinforcement,” Thailand’s Defense Ministry spokesperson, Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, told Reuters.
‘VIOLATION OF OUR SOVEREIGNTY’
The comments from Cambodia’s leader on the border conflict underscore the risk that the conflict could reignite once again despite Trump continuing to promote the success of the peace deal.
The worst fighting in more than a decade, which broke out in July, has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and disrupted trade across the 508-mile (817-km) border.
An October peace accord signed with Trump and Malaysia’s prime minister broke down within a matter of weeks before a new ceasefire was reached on December 27.
“We still have Thai forces occupy(ing) deep into Cambodian territory in many areas. This is further beyond even Thailand’s own unilateral claim… border line,” Hun Manet told Reuters.
He said Thai troops had laid shipping containers and barbed wire inside what Thailand had long recognized as Cambodian territory and residents were unable to return home.
“This is not an accusation but it’s a statement of the facts on the ground,” he said.
Cambodia could not accept what he called a “violation of our sovereignty or territorial integrity,” he said.
“The only way to verify that is using the technical mechanism that we have, based on treaties, based on all the agreements we have. So we hope that Thailand will agree and start to allow the JBC (joint boundary commission) to work as early as possible,” Hun Manet said.
He added that Thailand had cited its February 8 election as a reason not to begin demarcation work. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul rode a wave of nationalism in the election in the wake of the border conflict.
“Now the election is done, we hope that Thailand can start, at least on a technical level, to start measuring, start demarcating in the hot zone, so that we can go back to life,” Hun Manet said.
A JBC can convene when a new government is formed, Thai defense ministry spokesperson Surasant said.
WEST POINT GRADUATE
Cambodia’s long-ruling leader Hun Sen announced that he would hand over power to his son, Hun Manet, after elections held in 2023 in which his ruling Cambodian People’s Party ran virtually unopposed.
Hun Manet, 48, is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His ascension, followed by Trump’s involvement in the border dispute, has ushered in warmer ties between Washington and Phnom Penh, which had for years been moving closer to China.
Manet said relationships with China and the U.S. were “not mutually exclusive” and said Cambodia had “nothing to hide” on the Ream naval base that was upgraded by China.
“As for Cambodia, to choose (a) relationship … China or U.S. or U.S. over China, is not our choice,” he said. “We are a sovereign country. We pursue the policy of friends with our countries.”
Past U.S. administrations have pushed Cambodia to address issues of human rights and democracy before ties could improve.
Hun Manet said human rights in Cambodia had gotten a lot of attention but his country had maintained strong ties in other areas like security cooperation with Washington.
“Democracy is not just defined by political party expression, but health, education, freedom of press and others,” Manet said.
Reporters Without Borders last year ranked Cambodia 161 out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index, citing detentions of journalists.
The U.S. Treasury Department last year imposed sanctions on scores of people involved in running compounds in Cambodia from which massive amounts of fraud, including online romance scams, were perpetrated on people around the world.
Hun Manet said his government was cracking down on cyber scams and was drafting a law to tackle the issue, and argued online scams were not only a problem stemming from Cambodia.
“Yes, they exist. They have been existing. Does that mean that we allow them, we endorse them or we not do anything? No,” he said, citing efforts to deport people working at the scam centers and close the compounds.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok; Editing by Ethan Smith and Lincoln Feast)
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