One interesting thing is that while the Cambodian government proposed US President Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize and a good number of Cambodian people expressed admiration for Trump after he pushed for a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia (with some even calling for the US to establish a military base there), there was really no such widespread praise in Thailand.
Part of this is because some ultranationalist Thais felt that the military conflict wasn’t conclusive. Some even wanted the Thai armed forces to invade Phnom Penh, “to settle the score once and for all.” However, Cambodians saw it differently—they believed that without Trump’s intervention, the casualties and damage would have been much worse. Cambodians see themselves as the victims of the conflict, saved by Trump’s intervention.
Meanwhile, some groups in Thailand, particularly the progressive or leftist factions, viewed Trump as not a true man of peace. They pointed to his blatant support for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his comment about Gaza being prime real estate, and the attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. Ordinary Thais also do not see Trump’s handling of illegal immigrants in the US in a positive light.
Another point of interest is that while Cambodians were outraged with the Swedish government for having sold the Gripen jets that Thailand used to attack military targets in Cambodia, they didn’t criticise the US for selling F-16s to Thailand, even though the F-16s were also used in the operation against Cambodian military targets, and used first. I believe this is because Cambodians were trying to be considerate and wanted to maintain a good relationship with the US.
In all of this, China, which has enormous influence in Cambodia to the point of Cambodia almost being its semi-client state, must be feeling very uneasy. They’ll need to quickly find a way to counter this before the US’s influence in Cambodia grows too strong, as this is happening so close to their backyard.
One of the key lessons from the undeclared five-day war between Thailand and Cambodia is that the two nations can’t help but become a stage for the rivalry between the two superpowers—the US and China. Thais and their government should be mindful and act with a clear head when dealing with both the US and China, avoiding the tendency to see things in black and white, and continue to maintain a delicate balance with the two superpowers.
On another level, Cambodia’s pro-American stance will likely push China to compete to be more generous with Cambodia.
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