Thousands of Cambodians join government rally as border dispute with Thailand intensifies
BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH (Reuters) -Thousands of Cambodians joined a state-organised march in its capital on Wednesday to support the government in an ongoing border dispute with Thailand triggered by the death of a Cambodian soldier last month.
The two neighbours share an 820-km (510-mile) land border, parts of which are undemarcated and include ancient temples that both sides have contested for decades.
The rally comes days after officials held talks in Phnom Penh in a bid to ease tensions. Though talks were inconclusive, both sides pledge to continue dialogue.
Marchers shouted slogans, waved the Cambodian flag and held portraits of the Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father,the influential former Prime Minister Hun Sen. Monks and students were seen at the rally, led by deputy premier Hun Many, the prime minister's brother.
"Cambodia's land! We won't take others' land, we keep our land!" some chanted.
On Wednesday, Cambodia's defence ministry said that Thailand had again violated its sovereignty.
"Thailand has increased activities in the area, including drone flights, trench digging, and troop deployments along the border,"the statement said.
Thailand rejected the accusation.
"These trenches are located well within Thai sovereign territory, and therefore, we refute any allegation that we violated the MOU 2000," foreign ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said, referring to a memorandum of understanding signed in 2000 aimed at resolving border disputes.
"Thailand has not increased activities in the area along the border," he added.
Although both governments have pledged to calm nationalist fervour and handle the issue through dialogue, Bangkok has tightened its borders and threatened to cut off electricity supplies to its neighbour.
Phnom Penh announced it would cease buying Thai electric power, internet bandwidth and produce. It has also ordered local television stations not to screen Thai films.
On the weekend, Cambodiasaid it had brought the four disputed areas to the International Court of Justice. Thailand has repeatedly said it does not recognise the court's jurisdiction and would only use bilateral mechanisms, with the next meeting slated for September.
Cambodia has twice successfully sought ICJ resolutions, in 1962 on the ownership of the disputed 11th-century Hindu Preah Vihear temple and in 2013, after it sought clarification of jurisdiction of the land around the temple.
Tensions escalated in 2008 over Preah Vihear, leading to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, some during a week-long exchange of artillery in 2011.
Both countries have for more than a century contested sovereignty at undemarcated points along their shared border, which was mapped by France in 1907 when Cambodia was its colony.
(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok and Chantha Lach in Phnom Penh; Editing by David Stanway)
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