Top diplomats of China, Cambodia and Thailand meet as Beijing seeks stronger role in dispute

This handout photo taken and released by Agence Kampuchea Press on December 29, 2025 shows China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C) looking as Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn (L), who is also the country's Foreign Minister, shakes hands with Thailand's Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow (R) during a meeting in China's Yunnan province. - Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP)/AFP

HONG KONG: Foreign ministers from Cambodia and Thailand convened with their Chinese counterpart on Monday (Dec 29) as the Beijing government, building on its expanding presence in global diplomacy, sought to play a stronger mediating role in the violent border dispute between the two South-East Asian countries.

The trilateral meeting, held in a south-western Chinese province north of the contested border, came two days after Thailand and Cambodia signed a fresh ceasefire agreement to end weeks of fighting that killed more than 100 people and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands on both sides of the border.