Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at deadly fighting along the Thailand-Cambodia border, a historic European Union-China summit, and trade wins for India and the United Kingdom.
Deadly Border Clashes
Thai and Cambodian troops clashed in at least six areas along the countries’ shared 510-mile border on Thursday, killing one Thai soldier and nearly a dozen Thai civilians. The fighting—the second instance of armed confrontation between the two countries in almost two months—has sparked fears that the conflict could escalate into open warfare.
Bangkok is “prepared to intensify our self-defense measures if Cambodia persists in its armed aggression and violations upon Thailand’s sovereignty,” Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said.
In late May, an armed confrontation in a contested border area killed one Cambodian soldier, catalyzing a slew of tit-for-tat punishments just short of armed force as both nations blamed the other for the assault. Weeks of Thai border crossing restrictions as well as Cambodian bans on Thai fruit, vegetable, and fuel imports, among other measures, ultimately forced Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and former Cambodian leader Hun Sen to the negotiating table.
That, however, led to more problems than it solved, after a leaked audio recording of the conversation revealed Paetongtarn using a deferential tone toward Hun Sen, ultimately resulting in her suspension pending an ethics investigation.
Thursday’s violence was reportedly sparked by a mine explosion along the border on Wednesday that wounded five Thai soldiers, triggering Bangkok to withdraw its ambassador to Cambodia and expel Phnom Penh’s representative from the country. Like in May, both countries blamed each other for instigating Thursday’s clashes. But this time, they added alleged international law violations to their list of grievances.
According to Thai Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin, Cambodian troops targeted civilian infrastructure, including a hospital, forcing the government to issue evacuation orders for all people living within at least 30 miles of the border. Bangkok has since sealed all land border crossings and urged its citizens living in Cambodia to leave the country.
Cambodia has not released its own casualty statement, but its National Defense Ministry accused Bangkok of targeting the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as of deploying F-16 fighter jets; both sides reportedly fired small arms, artillery, and rockets at the opposition. Cambodia had “no choice but to defend its territory against Thai threats,” Cambodian Defense Ministry spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said, adding that Phnom Penh’s attacks “focused on the military places, not on any other place.”
Open military conflict between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is rare but not unprecedented. Indo-Pacific powers, such as Japan, urged both sides on Thursday to exercise “maximum restraint,” and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet wrote to the United Nations Security Council seeking an urgent meeting to “stop Thailand’s aggression.” Such a meeting could be held as early as Friday.
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What We’re Following
Common ground. Trade issues dominated talks at the European Union-China summit in Beijing on Thursday, which marked 50 years of diplomatic (and often tense) bilateral relations. Expectations were low ahead of the meeting, largely due to concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war would hinder negotiations. But both sides used the event as an opportunity to address long-held grievances and even managed to find some common ground, such as on joint commitments to slash carbon emissions and invest in green technology.
EU-China ties have reached a “clear inflection point,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. She called her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping “excellent” while maintaining that the bloc’s relationship with Beijing “stands on its own merits” and is independent of the EU’s and China’s issues with other countries, likely implying the United States.
For China’s part, Xi expressed hope that the EU would “keep the trade and investment market open and refrain from using restrictive economic and trade tools.” In the past year, European markets have targeted Chinese electric vehicle exports and other key goods, and in 2024, the bloc’s trade deficit with Beijing surged to a historic $360 billion.
Still, one sector within EU-China trade relations remains fraught: rare earths. With China having a chokehold on more than 85 percent of processing and over 90 percent of magnet production, Europeans are worried that the bloc could become vulnerable to China’s relative monopoly over the market, FP’s Christina Lu reports.
Win-win trade deal. India and the United Kingdom inked a landmark free trade agreement on Thursday that sharply cuts tariffs on a raft of goods. Notably, India’s average duty on British products will fall from 15 percent to 3 percent, with substantial reductions targeting Scotch whisky, automobiles, medical devices, and cosmetics, among others. In return, the United Kingdom will offer duty-free access to 99 percent of Indian items, unlocking $23 billion in new opportunities, according to Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal.
With both countries scoring trade wins that are expected to create thousands of new jobs, the deal marks a symbolic end to roughly three years of tough bilateral negotiations. In 2024, bilateral trade sat at nearly $57 billion, with India accounting for 2.4 percent of the United Kingdom’s total trade and the United Kingdom accounting for roughly 2 percent of India’s total trade.
Deadly plane crash. A passenger plane crashed in Russia’s Far East on Thursday, killing all 49 passengers and crew members on board. Having departed from the city of Blagoveshchensk, the Soviet-designed Antonov An-24 was en route to the town of Tynda when it collided with a nearby hillside roughly 10 miles south. An investigation is ongoing, but initial reports suggest that adverse weather conditions may be to blame.
According to the local transport prosecutor’s office, the plane lost contact with air traffic control and disappeared from radars while attempting to land for a second time. The aircraft, operated by Angara Airlines, was almost 50 years old and was fully certified, state-run media agency Tass reported.
Initial rescue efforts proved challenging due to the crash site’s remote location and strong winds. Regional Gov. Vasily Orlov described the incident as a “terrible tragedy” and declared three days of mourning for Amur oblast, where Tynda is located.
Odds and Ends
New Zealand’s most prolific cat burglar may be just that: a cat. The beachside neighborhood of Mairangi Bay is struggling to contend with Leonardo da Pinchy, a 15-month-old feline with sticky paws and expensive taste. Among his many hauls off residents’ clotheslines, Leo has snagged silk boxer shorts, numerous socks, baby clothes, and a cashmere sweater worth more than $180. FP’s World Brief writer is thankful that her own cat, Pepper, isn’t so felonious, but the missing sock from her most recent laundry load may beg to differ.