A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman issued a statement urging Thailand and Cambodia to immediately cease fire to avoid a wider war, with China pledging to mediate to restore peace.

From this reaction, we can imagine that China may see that “brother” (Thailand) is going too far in its quest to win, even to the point of blocking oil routes from Laos, attempting to block maritime trade, and destroying bridges built by China, as well as invading nearly 70 kilometers of Cambodian territory. The Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia ran a headline saying, “Cambodia accuses Thailand of bombing Siem Reap, home to famous tourist site Angkor Wat.” These actions have made Thailand look like a “mad dog” that bites indiscriminately. 

Thailand’s economy is currently being backed by China, while the US is threatening sanctions. Thailand is jealous of Cambodia’s progress, so it uses “tampering tactics,” but they forget that the more the tampering grows, the more it grows, and the more it reaches out to the tampering, the more it will have its own problems.

 For now, all we can do is defend ourselves and maintain a united national stance to solve the problems at hand. Please listen to the information and keep your spirits up. One of the main intentions is to “break the Khmer spirit.” They want us to be afraid, surrender, and split the national unity voice into two. This is a strategy that the Thai military commanders have already revealed and are actually implementing. So, what you absolutely have to do is stay strong, don’t easily believe or share information that has no clear source. The next task is not to panic, but to continue to do your respective jobs to maintain economic stability and help the refugees as much as possible. Please remember that “Cambodia does not stand to be easily attacked, and we must trust in the capabilities of our army.”

Lam Lay Chong Bek Angkor