Trump presides over Thai-Cambodia ‘peace deal’ – but what does it mean?

BBC:

It was, as everyone knew it would be, all about US President Donald Trump.

He literally towered over everyone else at the ceremony in Kuala Lumpur where Cambodia and Thailand signed their agreement. He gave the longest speech – and made the biggest claims.

It was all superlatives.

“This is a momentous day for South East Asia,” Trump said. “A monumental step.”

Describing the two slightly sheepish-looking prime ministers who were about to sign the deal as “historic figures”, Trump recalled at length how he got involved in the Thai-Cambodian border conflict while he was visiting his Turnberry golf course in Scotland in July.

“And I said this is much more important than a round of golf… I could have had a lot of fun, but this is much more fun… saving people and saving countries.”

Trump had asked for this special ceremony as a condition for coming to the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit – a gathering US presidents have attended at times in the past, but not always. And he used it to press his campaign to be recognised as a great peacemaker.

“The eight wars that my administration has ended in eight months – there’s never been anything like that,” he said. “We’re averaging one a month… It’s like, I shouldn’t say it’s a hobby, because it’s so much more serious, but something I’m good at and something I love to do.”

But what does the “Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord”, as Trump has renamed it, actually amount to?

Remember, both countries signed a ceasefire back in July.

That, too, was helped – or at least accelerated – by pressure from Trump.

Looking at the details of the latest deal, though, it isn’t much of leap forward.

The two countries have agreed to withdraw their heavy weapons from the disputed border and to establish an interim observer team to monitor it.

They have a new procedure for clearing landmines, and will set up what they call a joint taskforce to address the proliferation of scam centres.

They will replace missing border markers with temporary ones.

This is progress – and Thai diplomats have told me they do feel Trump’s involvement may help these agreements stick.

But the historic differences over the border remain unresolved and are at risk of flaring up again.