By Trevor Hunnicutt and Rozanna Latiff
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia signed an expanded ceasefire deal on Sunday watched over by U.S. President Donald Trump, who landed in Malaysia for the ASEAN Summit and to oversee a series of pivotal trade talks on the sidelines.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet signed the agreement at a ceasefire ceremony in front of a sign that read “Delivering Peace”, building on a truce signed three months ago.
“This declaration, if fully implemented, will provide the building blocks for a lasting peace, but more importantly, it will begin the process of mending our ties,” Hun Manet said.
“Our border communities have been divided by conflict, and innocent civilians have suffered immense losses.”
Trump helped broker an end to the five-day conflict in July by calling the then-leaders of the two countries and urging them to end hostilities or risk their respective trade talks with Washington being put on hold.
“The United States will have a robust commerce and cooperation, transactions, lots of them, with both nations, as long as they live in peace,” Trump said.
Both sides blame each other for escalating an exchange of rockets and heavy artillery, which killed at least 48 people and temporarily displaced an estimated 300,000 in their worst fighting in recent history.
Anutin nearly missed the signing after the death of the kingdom’s Queen Mother Sirikit on Friday, but later decided to fly in for the ceremony.
He said both sides would remove “heavy weapons from the border areas to ensure the safety of our people” and that Thailand would release 18 detained Cambodian soldiers.
TRADE DEALS
On arriving in Malaysia, Trump was greeted by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and a troupe of ceremonial dancers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. He stopped on the red carpet to dance with the performers before taking a U.S. flag in one hand and a Malaysian flag in the other and jumping into his limousine to travel to the city with Anwar.
As Trump mingled with other leaders, U.S. and Chinese negotiators met on the sidelines to avert further escalations in a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Asked by a reporter if rare earths were discussed at the talks, which started on Saturday, top U.S. trade negotiator Jamieson Greer said a broad range of topics were discussed, including extending the truce on trade measures.
“I think that we’re getting to a spot where the leaders will have a very productive meeting,” Greer said.
China’s stranglehold over global supplies of rare earths is at the heart of the negotiations, and Washington has sought to diversify supply chains.
Trump said at the ceasefire ceremony that the U.S. would soon sign critical minerals deals with Thailand and Malaysia, while a wider trade deal with Cambodia was also in the works.
Later on Sunday, he is due to discuss sharp U.S. tariffs with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is among several world leaders attending the weekend summit.
Lula said he plans to argue that the 50% tariffs imposed by Washington on Brazilian goods were a “mistake”, citing a $410 billion U.S. trade surplus with Brazil over 15 years. Trump signalled on his way to Asia that he was open to lowering the tariffs.
A similar meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was not on the cards after talks between the neighbours came to an abrupt end. Trump said on Saturday he was increasing tariffs on Canada by an additional 10% “above what they’re paying now”.
EAST TIMOR BECOMES NEWEST ASEAN MEMBER
Asia’s youngest nation East Timor became the 11th member of the ASEAN bloc on Sunday, fulfilling a vision set out by its current president nearly a half-century ago while the country was a Portuguese colony.
Also known as Timor-Leste, the country of 1.4 million people is among Asia’s poorest and hopes to see gains from integrating its fledgling economy, which at about $2 billion represents only a tiny fraction of ASEAN’s collective $3.8 trillion gross domestic product.
East Timor’s accession follows a 14-year wait and though its membership is not expected to be transformative, it represents a symbolic victory for its President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, the heroes of its struggle for independence.
“For the people of Timor-Leste, this is not only a dream realised, but a powerful affirmation of our journey,” Gusmao said in a speech.
“Our accession is a testament to the spirit of our people, a young democracy, born from our struggle.”
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Trevor Hunnicut; Additional reporting by Danial Azhar and Yukin Zhang; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.