On June 2, Cambodia began binding reconciliation procedures with Thailand under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We did this to protect our national sovereignty and maritime rights after Thailand unilaterally withdrew from a 25-year-old bilateral memorandum of understanding.
This Memorandum of Understanding was intended to facilitate an agreement on where the maritime boundary between our two countries should be drawn and how valuable underwater oil and gas deposits should be divided. Thailand has since agreed to join the UNCLOS conciliation process. This is a positive and welcome step.
However, the importance of this moment is greater than a dispute between the two countries. It offers us all a chance to rise collectively internationally, regionally and locally.
First, it is a chance for the international community – great powers, middle powers and small states alike – to see effective international law in action. And, at a critical moment in history, to provide support for the peaceful resolution of disputes under UN auspices when the multilateral rules-based order is under pressure.
Second, it is a chance for the ASEAN community to build on the region’s rich history of mutual support and the organization’s well-deserved reputation as a model on the international stage. And third, it is a chance for Thailand and Cambodia – neighbors with a history together stretching back centuries – to turn away from confrontation and choose peace.
There is reason for confidence. Ten years ago, binding conciliation under UNCLOS resolved a seemingly intractable maritime dispute between Timor-Leste and Australia.
The asymmetry between these two states was stark: Australia’s population was 20 times larger, its nominal GDP nearly 500 times larger, and its military spending roughly 1,000 times higher.
Faced with that imbalance, Timor-Leste sought the help of international experts to break the deadlock through UN-led reconciliation and agree on a permanent maritime border. At first, Australia opposed the process. However, just two years later, a historic treaty was signed.
For Timor-Leste, the agreement was a nation-changing success. But Australia also appreciated the result. Why? Because both countries agreed to follow the rule of international law, not the rule of the strong over the weak.
Then-Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the treaty “reflects the importance of UNCLOS” and “shows how international law can enable countries to resolve their disputes peacefully”.
This precedent speaks directly to Cambodia and Thailand today. The UNCLOS reconciliation process will require good faith on both sides. It will also require consistency and pragmatism.
Consistency is key. In the Timor-Leste case, Australia had every opportunity to suspend its commitment to bilateral cooperation and talks with Timor-Leste overseen by the reconciliation commission. But it didn’t happen. It was constantly engaged. As a result, relations between the two neighbors improved. And, in the end, a maritime boundary treaty was agreed upon.
Pragmatism is equally essential. The Cambodia-Thailand dispute is not just an abstract legal problem. It is about a real maritime area and real energy resources – resources that can contribute to security and economic development for both countries and the wider region.
A process that only discusses the lines on a map while refusing to address what lies within those lines would leave critical issues unresolved.
Cambodia is not asking the UNCLOS Conciliation Commission to impose a unilateral response. We ask that the process treat the issue as it is: a maritime boundary dispute that has always been linked to the issue of peaceful development of energy resources.
We recognize that Thailand has national interests. Cambodia also has national interests. International law does not require either party to abandon these interests. It requires both parties to pursue them peacefully, respectfully, and within a rules-based framework.
The same commitment to peaceful resolution must extend to our common land border. The current ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand remains stable, but it is fragile. Cambodia remains concerned about the situation on the ground in the occupied areas within Cambodian territory.
Borders and sovereignty should never be changed by force or fait accompli. Both on land and at sea, unwavering adherence to international law and existing treaties and agreements, as well as dialogue, good faith and mutual respect, are key to guaranteeing respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and international borders.
Cambodia remains willing to engage peacefully and sustainably with Thailand on all issues we face, both on land and at sea. There are effective mechanisms to do this, as the UNCLOS process on the sea has shown.
Cambodia attaches great importance to its relationship with Thailand, a close neighbor with a shared commitment to peace and prosperity in our region. We must, by all means, keep talking when the stakes are so high.
The maritime area must not become another theater of distrust. And the land border should not see a further escalation of tension. Instead, Cambodia and Thailand should follow the tradition of how Southeast Asian states resolve difficult disputes.
The Timor-Leste issue began acrimoniously and ended in agreement. It began with uncertainty and ended with evidence that binding reconciliation under international law can break a deadlock and resolve disputes when bilateralism has run its course.
Cambodia welcomes Thailand’s engagement in the UNCLOS reconciliation process. We ask that all parties engage in good faith. Our peoples, our region and the world will bear witness.
HE Prak Sokhonn is the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
