China to host regional top diplomats amid Thai-Cambodia border tensions

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is set to host regional top diplomats amid ongoing tensions between Cambodia and Thailand over their disputed border, an official statement said Wednesday.

Wang will host counterparts from Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand for their 10th Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The two-day meeting will begin on Thursday, which will also include “informal discussions” between the top diplomats of China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.

The meeting comes after Cambodia-Thailand border tensions that escalated into armed clashes last month, resulting in dozens of casualties.

The two Southeast Asian nations later agreed to a ceasefire, which remains in place.

On the 10th anniversary of the LMC mechanism, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said: “All Lancang-Mekong countries are now at a crucial stage of accelerated development.”

“Facing a volatile international landscape and the rise of unilateralism, hegemony, and protectionism, the Lancang-Mekong countries need to strengthen unity, enhance cooperation, and promote common development,” it said, calling the LMC an “innovative type of regional cooperation mechanism featuring collaboration, consultation, and shared benefit.”

“Connectivity across land, sea, air, and cyberspace has been enhanced, cross-border trade, investment, and industrial and supply chain cooperation continued to deepen, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges have flourished, fostering ever-closer bonds among our peoples,” it added.