Cambodia says it will take border dispute with Thailand to top UN court

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Cambodia says it will take border dispute with Thailand to top UN court

2025-06-02 21:43 Last Updated At：21:51

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia said it plans to seek a ruling from the U.N.’s International Court of Justice over border disputes with Thailand, one of which triggered a fatal military clash last week.

Cambodia’s National Assembly, where Prime Minister Hun Manet’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party holds all but a handful of seats, voted on Monday to support the government’s decision.

In 1962, the ICJ awarded to Cambodia the disputed territory on which a historic temple is located, rankled Thailand and to this day remains a major irritant in bilateral relations. The ICJ reaffirmed its ruling in 2013.

Speaking on Monday at a meeting of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Thailand's Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said Cambodia has the right to file a case with the court, but that would not affect talks between the two countries under existing mechanisms He said Thai officials will meet later this week to issue a clear stance on the matter.

Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who is also defense minister, said in a post on Facebook that both countries are working to resolve the crisis by avoiding further confrontations and violence.

“I’d like to assure that we will avoid escalation of the conflict that would only result in losses for both sides in every aspect,” he wrote.

A border dispute near Morokot village, in Cambodia's northwestern province of Preah Vihear, on May 28 left one Cambodian soldier dead. It began when Cambodian troops were conducting a routine patrol along the border when the Thai side opened fire, according to Cambodian officials.

The Thai army says that Cambodian soldiers entered a disputed patch of land and opened fire when Thai soldiers approached them to negotiate.

Hun Manet in social media posts on Sunday declared that his government will ask the court to rule on the demarcation of several disputed areas, including where the centuries-old Hindu-style Ta Moan Thom, Ta Moan Toch and Ta Kro Bei temples are located.

In February, Cambodian troops and their family members entered the Ta Moan Thom temple in disputed territory and sang the Cambodian national anthem, leading to a brief argument with Thai forces.

Following last week's incident, both sides called for calm and talks to ease their differences, while reserving the right to use military action to safeguard their sovereignty. On May 29, the two countries' army commanders met to discuss how to avoid more clashes

On Monday, Hun Manet called for the two countries to have their Joint Border Commission continue the work of border demarcation, as well as having the ICJ take up the issue.

He said his government would take the cases of the other disputed areas to the ICJ to determine ownership even if Thailand did not join in the appeal, in order “to end this problem and extinguish it once and for all so that there is no further confusion.”

“In particular, let’s not fall for the incitement of a handful of extremist groups in Cambodia and Thailand, and let’s not fall into the problem of confrontation by armed forces of the two countries,” he said.

Hun Manet’s intention to appeal to The Hague-based court may touch a raw nerve in Thailand, because the 1962 ruling awarding the major Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia is a touchstone issue for Thai nationalists. and wielded in domestic politics.

Last year, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinatwatra’s government was attacked on nationalist grounds for proposing to resume talks with Cambodia on demarcation of maritime territory believed to hold profitable hydrocarbon resources.

In 2008, there were several deadly clashes between Cambodia and Thai forces at the Preah Vihear promontory, an area on which sits a 1,000-year-old temple that was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site that same year.

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Associated Press writer Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Stocks of credit-card companies slump as Wall Street overall drifts in mixed trading

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks of credit-card companies are tumbling on Monday after President Donald Trump threatened moves that could eat into their profits. The rest of Wall Street, meanwhile, was showing only modest signals of concern after tensions ramped to a much higher degree between the White House and the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% from its all-time high as U.S. stocks drifted through mixed morning trading, while prices for gold and other investments that tend to do well when investors are nervous rose. The value of the U.S. dollar also dipped against the euro and other currencies amid concerns that the Fed may have less independence in setting interest rates to keep inflation under control.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 179 points, or 0.4%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was nearly unchanged.

Some of the market's sharpest drops came from credit-card companies, as Synchrony Financial, Capital One Financial and American Express all fell between 4% and 7%. They sank after Trump said he wanted to put a 10% cap on credit-card interest rates for a year. Such a move could eat into profits for credit card companies.

But it was a separate move by Trump that was grabbing more attention on Wall Street. Over the weekend, the Federal Reserve's chair, Jerome Powell, said the U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed the Fed and threatened a criminal indictment over his testimony about renovations underway at its headquarters.

With an unusual video statement released on Sunday, Powell said his testimony and the renovations are “pretexts” for the threat of criminal charges, which is really “a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”

The Fed has been locked in a feud with the White House about interest rates. Trump has been loudly calling for lower interest rates, which would make borrowing cheaper for U.S. households and companies and could give the economy a kickstart.

The Fed did cut its main interest rate three times last year and has indicated more cuts may be arriving this year. But it’s been moving slowly enough that Trump has nicknamed Powell “Too Late.”

In a brief interview with NBC News Sunday, President Donald Trump insisted he didn’t know about the investigation into Powell. When asked if the investigation is intended to pressure Powell on rates, Trump said, “No. I wouldn’t even think of doing it that way.”

Powell’s term as chair ends in May, and Trump administration officials have signaled that he could name a potential replacement this month. Trump has also sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook.

The Fed has traditionally operated separately from the rest of Washington, making its decisions on interest rates without having to bend to political whims. Such independence, the thinking goes, gives it freedom to make unpopular moves that are necessary for the economy’s long-term health.

Keeping interest rates high, for example, could slow the economy and frustrate politicians looking to please voters. But it could also be the medicine needed to get high inflation under control.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked up to 4.19% from 4.18% late Friday. A less independent Fed and higher inflation in the long term could also erode the value of the U.S. dollar, and it slipped 0.3% against the euro and 0.4% against the Swiss franc.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia. Stocks jumped 1.4% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai for two of the world’s bigger gains following reports that Chinese leaders were preparing more help for the economy.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.