France prepared to provide documents, maps to resolve border; analyst warns real problem Thai expansionist ambitions
The January 25 post by Luy David, Cambodian ambassador to France. FB
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Cambodia’s ambassador to France has noted that France is prepared to provide documents and maps to help the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to resolve the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute. However, a leading analyst has remarked that the actual issue lies in the expansionist ambitions of the Thai side.
“France is ready to provide documents and maps to resolve the border issue between Cambodia and Thailand at the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” said Luy David, Cambodian ambassador to France, in a January 25 social media post.
Kin Phea, director of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, believed that resolving the border issue between Cambodia and Thailand based on treaties, agreements, and internationally recognised maps under diplomatic mechanisms and international law is the best option to ensure a clear border line, peace, stability and friendship.
He noted that France is the most important source of legal documents and maps regarding the border between Cambodia and Thailand, as France was a colonial power in Cambodia for nearly a century.
“The complex issue at this moment is not about internationally recognised documents and maps; rather, it is the sincerity and commitment of the Thai side to resolve the border issue between the two countries peacefully and as soon as possible. This is because they still harbour ambitions to encroach upon Cambodian territory through force and the ‘law of the jungle’,” he said.
He added that for Cambodia, in addition to adhering to peaceful solutions based on international legal principles, the country must robustly strengthen its capabilities in national defence, the economy, diplomacy and information sharing. This must be done alongside strengthening solidarity and national unity within the spirit of a single Khmer nation.
“Discrimination, hatred and mutual killing due to political ideology must end in our society. Much Khmer blood has already been shed, and Khmer territory has already shrunk significantly; if we continue to quarrel, the Khmer people will inevitably disappear from the world map one day,” he added.
-Phnom Penh Post-
