The territorial litigation re -establish. Beijing wants moderation
It is high tension between Thailand and Cambodia. In addition to downgrading their diplomatic relationships in a significant escalation of the crisis on disputed boundaries, the last few hours have seen the focus between the respective armies at the border, the death of 12 citizens of Bangkok, including a soldier skipped on a mine, and dozens of injuries even seriously in a dramatic crescendo made of artillery strokes, over 40 thousand evacuated and the bombing by an F-16 Thai A Cambodian military goal.
At the center of the story, always the temple of Preah Vihear, disputed for decades and whose sovereignty was assigned since 1962 to Cambodia by a sentence of the International Court of Justice of the Hague, confirmed in 2013 after the bloody conflict of two years earlier. The story, which has its roots in the French colonial period in the early 1900s, was re -elected last May when an armed clash caused the death of a Cambodian soldier.
The question seemed remedied with the phone call between the Premier of the Lake Shinawatra and Hun Sen, the historic strong leader of Phnom Penh and the current president of the Senate who sold the premiership to his son Hun Manet. Subsequently, the recording widespread by the Cambodian part of the conversation in which the former Thai premier dared to call ‘Uncle’ Hun Sen, an appellation identified as respect and submission, emerged, making Bangkok infuriate. An onta for the military who control the country, whose pressure has led to the dismissal of July of the premier, a minor daughter of the tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, and to the new political chaos, while laying the foundations for reopening hostilities with the nearby country. The opportunity matured on Wednesday: the respective troops opened fire with the inevitable mutual accusations.
The Cambodian Premier Hun Manet reported that he wrote to the President of the United Nations Security Council, asking for an urgent meeting in order to “stop the attack of Thailand” after Bangkok’s army has made official that one of his six f-6s sided on the border opened fire on Cambodia, destroying a military goal. “We used the aerial power against military objectives as expected,” the Thai Army Deputy Prosterity Richa Suksuwanont told the media.
Cambodia, which does not have aviation, had to collect the blow. The Malaysian Premier Anwar Ibrahim, current president of the 10 nations gathered in the Association of the countries of the Southeast Asia, said he hopes to be able to speak with the leaders of the two countries: “They are important members of the Asean. They are very close to Malaysia and the minimum that you can expect is that the negotiations have started”. China also said “deeply worried by current developments”, inviting the parties “to accommodate the differences through dialogue and consultations”. Beijing, who has solid relationships with both countries, will keep “a fair and impartial position”.
Hun Sen accused the neighbors of bombing two Cambodian provinces, while the Thai army said that Phnom Penh troops opened fire in the contested area near the Ta Moan Thom temple, always on the border, and sent a surveillance drone on its territory. “Attacks of the Thai army against the Cambodian army began. Our troops have no choice but to counterattack,” wrote Hun Sen on social media. The replica of General Nattapol Nakphant, Interim Defense of Bangkok’s Defense: “Our armed forces – has thundered in a hard note – will protect sovereignty and will not allow anyone to invade our territory. We will not be able to endure because this is an action that we cannot accept”. Sinister premises of a crisis difficult to solve.
