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Chinese leader urges Thailand and Cambodia to settle long-running border dispute

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged Thailand and Cambodia to resolve their border dispute after meeting both countries’ leaders on the same day.
The dispute escalated…

By Samantha Johnson / July 18, 2026

The dispute escalated into the deadliest fighting between the neighbours in more than a decade last year, resulting in more than 100 military and civilian deaths and hundreds of injuries.

A ceasefire reached in December 2025 has largely held, but both sides have continued to accuse the other of breaches.

In his meeting with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on the sidelines of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Friday, Xi told him that resolving the conflict was in both countries’ “common and long-term interests”.

He called for dialogue between the two sides and promised that China would play a “constructive role”, according to state news agency Xinhua.

He delivered a similar message in a separate meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, adding that China supported a negotiated solution.

The dispute over their competing territorial claims centred on an ancient temple complex has been rumbling on for decades and has periodically erupted into violence.

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