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Joseph Sipalan

US President Donald Trump has asked to preside over the signing of a peace deal between Cambodia and Thailand when he attends the Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur later this month, according to four government and diplomatic sources.
Southeast Asia is hoping to negotiate concessions to punishing tariffs imposed by Washington when they meet in the Malaysian capital from October 26 to 28, adding significance to Trump’s request for a peace signing ceremony.
At least 43 people were killed over five days of intense fighting along the shared border between Cambodia and Thailand in early August.
The two Association of Southeast Asian Nations members later agreed to start peace negotiations after Trump threatened to shelve tariff talks without a ceasefire. But diplomatic pressure for peace also came from China, a key ally of both countries.
Trump wanted a special ceremony on the sidelines of the Asean Summit to stake his claim on initiating the peace process, four diplomatic and Malaysian government sources confirmed to This Week in Asia.


That is on top of the ceasefire deal already agreed on August 7, mediated by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
“Yes. That is one of his reasons [for] coming to Kuala Lumpur,” one source close to Asean said of Trump’s visit, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Anwar’s office and Malaysia’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The mercurial US leader has been on a campaign to secure a Nobel Peace Prize this year, claiming to have brought an end to seven global conflicts as “Peacemaker-in-Chief” since his return to the White House in January.
White House officials said the ceremony was a condition for Trump’s attendance at the summit, according to Washington-based news site Politico, which first reported on the plan.
The Politico report also cited White House sources as saying that the summit organisers were requested to exclude Chinese officials from the event.
‘Yet to be finalised’
Washington, however, did not make such ultimatums on Malaysia as this year’s Asean chair and summit host, a second source told This Week in Asia, also requesting anonymity.
“[The peace deal ceremony is] potentially happening, yes, but it has yet to be finalised,” the source said, adding that it would also depend on whether Thailand was agreeable.
Thailand and Cambodia have traded blame for the conflict and at least one skirmish that has followed the ceasefire. The border area remains tense, with militaries on standby on both sides as nationalists in each country amp up the rhetoric and press their leaders not to make territorial concessions.
Just last month, Thailand’s parliament voted in Anutin Charnvirakul as its latest prime minister to replace Paetongtarn Shinawatra. She was removed from office for an ethics violation tied to her conduct in a leaked phone call with Cambodia’s ex-leader Hun Sen in June over mounting border tensions.

But Anutin’s tenure may be short-lived, as he has promised to dissolve parliament in four months to make way for fresh elections and a referendum on charter reform.
This year’s Asean Summit is expected to be unusually high-profile. Besides Trump, China’s Premier Li Qiang, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are due to attend.
All 10 Asean leaders are expected to seek bilateral meetings with Trump in a bid to secure better trade terms with the US, which imposed tariffs of between 10 and 40 per cent on countries in the region from August.
Growth in Southeast Asia is expected to take a hit as tariffs crimp US demand for the region’s vital exports, economists have said, forcing Asean to seek new markets to divert at least some of their shipments.


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Asean

Trump wants Thai-Cambodian peace deal photo op at Asean summit to boost Nobel ambitions

US President Donald Trump talks to the media  on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

Thai army and police prepare to lay barbed wire in a disputed area along the Thai-Cambodian border in Banteay Meanchey province on September 17. Photo: Agence Kampuchea Press/AFP

Anwar’s Trump card: why Malaysia wants US president at Asean summit

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the White House on September 19. He is slated to attend the Asean summit set for October 26 to 28 in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: EPA

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks at the second Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Kuala Lumpur in May. Photo: AFP

Palestinians gather to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, last month. The plight of the Palestinians in Gaza is expected to be discussed at the 2025 Asean summit in Malaysia. Photo: AP

US President Donald Trump gathering with Asean and other leaders at the opening ceremony of the bloc’s summit in Manila in 2017 during his first term in office. Photo: Reuters

Thailand’s PM Anutin pledges swift action on economy and tourism amid political turmoil

Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul delivers the policy statements to the parliament in Bangkok on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Lawmakers in the Thai parliament in Bangkok listen to the policy statement of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Photo: AP

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An employee works at a factory making shoes for export in Hanoi. Vietnam’s shipments to the US are projected to fall by 19.2 per cent, Photo: Reuters

Asean economic ministers meet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on September 23. Photo: EPA

Shipping containers are seen at a port in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, earlier this year. Photo: AFP

An employee works at a factory making shoes for export in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: Reuters

A silicon wafer is displayed during a semiconductor conference in Taiwan on September 11. Photo: EPA

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Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz. Photo: Nora Tam

US President Donald Trump has said tariffs are essential for reducing trade deficits. Photo: Reuters

A silicon wafer on display at a semiconductor expo. The US  has prioritised curbing China’s access to high-end chips. Photo: EPA

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (second from right) poses with representatives to the regional Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat from China (right) and Japan (left) on September 3. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer attends an Asean Economic Ministers’ Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on September 24. Photo: AP 

Durian diplomacy: Malaysia’s Anwar offers Asean ministers ‘king of fruits’ as gala treat

Fresh durians from Malaysia on display for sale at a supermarket in Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Photo: Xinhua

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim attends the 57th Asean Economic Ministers’ Meeting gala dinner in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. Photo: Facebook/anwaribrahimofficial

Durians for sale at a local fruit fair in Bangkok. Thailand is the biggest exporter of durians to China. Photo: EPA-EFE

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The ‘Peacemaker-in-Chief’ is hoping to stake his claim on initiating the peace process between the two Asean members, sources say


The ‘Peacemaker-in-Chief’ is hoping to stake his claim on initiating the peace process between the two Asean members, sources say.


Trump wants Thai-Cambodian peace deal photo op at Asean summit to boost Nobel ambitions

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The ‘Peacemaker-in-Chief’ is hoping to stake his claim on initiating the peace process between the two Asean members, sources say

The ‘Peacemaker-in-Chief’ is hoping to stake his claim on initiating the peace process between the two Asean members, sources say