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On July 17th, 2025, the new German Chancellor, Fedreich Merz, had a message for President Donald Trump: "Stay with us, stay with Europeans. Friday, August 8, 2025
Donald J. Trump U.S. Department of State
On
July 17th, 2025, the new German Chancellor, Fedreich Merz, had a
message for President Donald Trump: "Stay with us, stay with Europeans."
My plea to President Donald Trump is to stay with us, stay with Cambodians.
Let
me address the elephant in the room first: Cambodia was unable to
develop as many international observers had hoped. There are significant
problems and concerns. There seems to be some conflict every decade or
so. Cambodia is addressing these concerns.
Thailand's
5-day assault on Cambodia was a strategic move that cannot be
overlooked. Thailand utilized every tool in its arsenal: airstrikes,
drones, howitzer artillery, and rockets. Was this a mere border dispute
over a temple or a full-fledged invasion? Let's examine the facts:
Thailand launched attacks at 11 different locations, spanning the entire
800km border and several other provinces in Cambodia. The extended
battle line, far from the disputed temples, is clear evidence that this
was not about the temple. The border conflict was a smokescreen for
territorial expansion. Thailand's invasion plan was only halted due to
President Donald Trump's tariff threat. Cambodia was on the brink of
destruction, and it was President Donald Trump who inadvertently
prevented Thailand's expansion plan from materializing.
In
recent years, Thailand, too, has turned increasingly towards China.
Since the 2014 coup in Thailand, China has become the top arms supplier
to Thailand, alarming Washington. Thailand signed up with China's Belt
and Road Initiative. Thailand signed an agreement to procure weapons
jointly with China. The Thai government's Defence Technology Institute
(DTI) will set up Thailand's first commercial joint defense facility
with China in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen, Thailand. Thailand
participates in a Chinese military exercise called "Falcon Strike,"
while pretending to be a US ally. We should note that Russia conducts
military exercises with China. China's arms sales to Thailand are
equivalent to a political and military alliance. Thailand wants to have
its cake and eat it too.
China's
arms sales to Cambodia are relatively small compared to Thailand, which
is in the billions of dollars, and it's increasing every single year,
according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The
only difference is that Cambodia had no choice but to buy arms from
China. Thailand can buy from the United States, but it chooses to buy
from China, a calculated realignment with Beijing. China invests $30B in
Thailand with over $120B in bilateral trade, while Cambodia accounts
for only a fraction of that. Cambodia-China bilateral trade is less than
$20B. China's investment in Cambodia is just several billion dollars.
The real Chinese ally is Thailand, not Cambodia.
While
Bangkok points fingers at Phnom Penh for aligning with China, Thailand
is guilty of the very thing it's accusing its neighbor of, but on a much
larger scale. Unlike Phnom Penh, Thailand not only aligns with China
but also pretends to be a US ally. Thailand's double-dealing is a
betrayal of trust at its finest.
Arms
sales to Thailand are understandable if arms are for defensive
purposes, but to bomb your neighbor into submission over a disputed
temple is not defensive at all. To use American arms to coerce Cambodia
from seeking the world court to adjudicate the disputed claims is not
only Russian-like, but it goes against the spirit of the American
end-user agreement.
The
world cannot ignore Cambodia. Since the United States dropped 2.7M tons
of bombs on Cambodia (more than WW2 combined), it has been through hell
and back. From civil war to genocide, Cambodia came back. Since then,
the world has come together to build this project. Cambodia is the
world's project. Please stay with us. Please help us see that this
project is completed and successful.
I
ask President Donald Trump to stay with us, stay with Cambodia. In the
age of might is right, Cambodia cannot be another victim of imperialist
expansionism, just like what Russia is doing to Ukraine. Thailand and
Cambodia have overlapping cultural claims. We cannot allow Thailand to
swallow Cambodia and erase the Khmer culture and identity that dates
back two millennia. Kyiv was the first East Slavic city. Moscow is now
trying to rewrite history and claim it as Russian. Angkor Wat was the
center of the Khmer state a millennium ago; now, Bangkok, too, wants to
rewrite history and reclaim it as Thailand.
Thank
you, President Donald Trump, for your intervention between Thailand and
Cambodia. Millions of Cambodians and I are rooting for your Nobel Prize
nomination, as you truly deserve it. I will make it my personal goal to
campaign for your Nobel Peace Prize. 360,000 Americans who identified
as Cambodian will also root for you. God bless you and God bless the
United States of America!
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